The Interior Dept. is maintaining its aggressive pace in committing economic-stimulus funds for construction and maintenance projects around the country. Interior’s National Park Service on April 22 released a $750-million list of projects to be funded under the stimulus measure, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The roster contains 766 projects, including work on a wide range of buildings, monuments, trails and water and sewer lines. Plan includes $30.5 million for repairs to the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar followed up the park news on April 25 by rolling out the $500-million stimulus plan for the Bureau
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar D-Minn.) says he plans to unveil a new multi-year surface transportation bill in "a couple of weeks" and adds that it will move to the House floor during the first week of June. Oberstar, who discussed the legislation at an Apr. 24 press conference, declined to disclose the price tag for the measure, which his panel's staff is now drafting. But highway and transit groups released a report that says annual capital spending by all levels of government must more than double to meet projected needs. The report, issued Apr. 24 by
Continuing the rollout of federal agencies’ economic-stimulus plans, the Interior Dept.’s National Park Service has released its $750-million list of projects to be funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The list, published on April 22, totals 766 projects, including work on buildings, monuments, trails and water and sewer lines. Photo: National Park Service Jefferson Memorial Related Links: State-by-state park service stimulus projects and funding allotments California receives the largest allocation, $97.4 million for 97 projects, including $16.1 million for work on trails, buildings and water lines in Golden Gate National Park in San Francisco. The District of Columbia
Drawing on $8 billion from the federal economic stimulus, the Obama administration has laid out a blueprint for developing high-speed rail in 100- to 600-mile-long corridors around the country. The plan, which the U.S. Dept. of Transportation unveiled April 16, does not say which projects will be funded. DOT will start awarding the first round of grants for ready-to-go upgrades to existing routes by late summer. A second phase would have a longer-range focus. However, carrying out the plan’s lofty aims will require much more than $8 billion. It is uncertain where that new money will come from. + Image
The amount of federal economic-stimulus work continues to grow, with the April 15 announcements that the Interior Dept.’s Bureau of Reclamation has committed $1 billion to projects throughout the West and that the Environmental Protection Agency is dividing $600 million among Superfund projects at 50 sites. Photo: Bureau of Reclamation Red Bluff Diversion Dam to get pumping plant. BuRec included about 30 large projects and an unspecified number of smaller ones that it plans to finance through the stimulus, the title of which is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). California will receive the largest share at $260 million.
The Dept. of Transportation has released a blueprint aimed at developing high-speed rail in 100- to 600-mile-long corridors around the country. The plan, released April 16, does not say which projects will be funded, but it does include a map of high-speed rail corridors that could qualify for federal aid. The program could provide significant design and construction opportunities. DOT's Federal Railroad Administration will start awarding the first round of grants by late summer. Related Links: Rail Strategic Plan Map of High-Speed Rail Corridors The plan, mandated by the recently enacted economic-stimulus legislation, proposes a three-pronged approach: "Ready to go"
A flurry of April announcements illustrates how the White House is moving to fill top spots at federal agencies that oversee major construction programs. The designees need Senate confirmation, but the lineup is winning praise from industry officials. At the Dept. of Transportation, Obama’s pick to be under secretary for policy, Roy Kienitz, an aide to Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell (D), “is a person who hasn’t been captured by conventional thinking,” says John Doyle, special counsel for law firm Jones Walker LLP. Doyle was a lead House staffer and Kienitz a key Senate aide in drafting the 1991 Intermodal Surface
Lists of stimulus-funded projects are now rolling out of federal agencies, but there are still many questions about how government entities will effectively manage the nearly $135 billion in work hitting the market in coming months. With many agencies hampered by staff cutbacks in key areas such as procurement and contract oversight, federal officials are seeking answers from within their ranks and debating the need to tap private industry for help. Many project-management and construction-management firms believe trends are in their favor. Photo: AP / Wideworld Obama meets road crews at DOT headquarters while marking transportation stimulus milestone. Todd Wager,
Maryland's transportation secretary, John D. Porcari, is President Obama's choice to hold the number-two post at the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, the White House announced on April 10. His nomination is subject to Senate confirmation. PORCARI Porcari has led Maryland DOT since 2007, his second stint in the job. He also was the state agency's secretary from 1999 to 2002. Both times he served under Democratic governors. Between those two periods, Porcari was the University of Maryland's vice president for administrative affairs. Jane F. Garvey, former head of the Federal Aviation Administration and acting Federal Highway Administration chief in the
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis has named Jordan Barab, a House Education and Labor Committee staffer, as deputy assistant secretary for the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. Barab, whose appointment was announced April 8, also will be acting head of OSHA, beginning April 13. House committee Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) said that Barab "will bring a tremendous amount of valuable health and safety experience to an agency that has been neglected for far too long." Barab, senior policy advisor for the committee, has worked for the panel for two years on health and safety matters. He came to the House committee
