To provide financing for the Superfund program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants Congress to reinstate the tax on polluters that expired in 1995. The agency said in a June 21 letter to Congress that an excise or corporate tax on manufacturers of substances that commonly cause environmental problems would create a dedicated source of revenue for the Superfund program and speed up the pace of clean-ups.
The Senate was expected at press time to try again to vote on a revised package of tax-break extensions for companies and individuals. A June 17 attempt to bring the “extenders” bill up for a vote failed. The House passed its tax measure in May. The Senate bill, scaled back from an earlier version, has items that construction groups like, including an extension for the Build America Bonds program. But the bill also would hike taxes on firms organized as “S” corporations, though not as much as the earlier version would have. Groups such as the Associated Builders and Contractors
On June 22, the Senate confirmed the appointments of Brian Hayes, a Republican, and Mark Pearce, a Democrat, to the National Labor Relations Board, upping its membership to five. The newly confirmed members will serve five-year terms. The confirmations come just days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the NLRB was unqualified to render decisions during a 27-month period when it lacked a legal quorum. The board operated with two members from January 2008 to late March 2010, and in that time period, reviewed about 600 cases. In April 2010, President Obama recess-appointed two additional members to the board:
As the Gulf oil-spill disaster worsens, there appears to be growing support in the Senate for a slimmed-down energy bill that would hold BP accountable and may also include many elements of a measure the Energy and Natural and Resources Committee cleared last summer, industry sources say. House Democrats also are working on oil-spill legislation but appear to be leaning toward taking up a series of targeted bills, not a big package. KERRY In the Senate, a key question is whether energy legislation will include climate-change provisions. Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) proposed a measure in May
A new study by the Hartford, Conn.-based non-profit organization Environment and Human Health Inc. took aim at the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification process, saying the program does not adequately address human health needs, particularly those relating to indoor air quality. Related Links: View the Full Report Lead author John Wargo, a Yale University professor, said that although the LEED certification program effectively encourages energy efficiency in buildings, “tighter buildings often concentrate chemicals released from building materials, cleaning supplies, fuel combustion, pesticides and other hazardous substances.” The report makes several recommendations to help
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set more stringent new air-quality standards for sulfur dioxide (SO2). In a final regulation announced on June 3, EPA is jettisoning the current standard, which is 140 parts per billion over 24 hours, in favor of a one-hour, 75-ppb level. The estimated cost to fully implement the new standard by 2020 is $1.5 billion, EPA says. The agency says the new one-hour standard will protect public health by reducing exposure to high short-term concentrations of SO2, which is commonly emitted from powerplants and industrial facilities. EPA also is revising ambient-air monitoring requirements for SO?.
In a new report to Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that $298.1 billion in capital investment is needed for the nation’s wastewater and stormwater treatment and collection systems over the next 20 years. EPA’s report, released on June 3, is based on 2008 data. The total needs figure is a 17% increase over the agency’s last estimate, which used 2004 data. EPA’s numbers are significant because construction and water industry groups frequently use them to make the case for more funding for clean-water state revolving funds. Of the total capital needs, EPA says $192.2 billion is for publicly owned
A new process that measures the value of the social and environmental benefits of projects is generating buzz among academics, the private sector, public entities and government agencies. Developed by Omaha, Neb.-based engineering consultant HDR, the Sustainable Return on Investment (SROI) process allows decision-makers to evaluate a potential project’s overall sustainability benefits by assigning monetary values to environmental, social and economic impacts. Image Photo: Diagram Courtesy Of HDR The values on the vertical axis show the probability that the corresponding return on investment values, described on the horizontal axis, will not be exceeded by the actual ROI outcome. “Communities want
Funding to help Haiti recover and rebuild from the Jan. 12 earthquake moved through the Senate but slowed down in the House. The Senate on May 27 passed a spending bill with $2.8 billion for Haiti, including $438 million for infrastructure. House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) included $2.8 billion for Haiti in a draft spending bill, but he postponed a committee vote until after the Memorial Day recess.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s $8 billion for high-speed rail (HSR) has begun to flow to states. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation said on May 27 it had disbursed the first $79.6 million of the ARRA aid. With $7.9 billion still to go, further installments will be released in coming weeks. DOT announced on Jan. 28 which states won shares of the $8 billion but had to reach grant agreements before disbursing the money. Florida receives $66.6 million for program management and preliminary engineering for a Tampa-Orlando line. California gets $6.2 million to relocate tracks between San Francisco and
