A recent U.S.-Canada trade agreement that attempts to resolve a dispute over the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s “Buy American” provisions will provide some help for water and wastewater companies in both countries, but in many ways it is too little, too late, industry sources say. + Image The agreement, which took effect on Feb. 16, waives the Buy American requirements for ARRA-funded contracts awarded through September 2011 that use components manufactured in Canada. On both sides of the border, the Buy American spat has been of keen interest to water and wastewater firms, which contend the mandate has unnecessarily
A battle royal may be brewing as opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed regulation of greenhouse-gas emissions mounts. Recently, three states, along with several industry groups, filed lawsuits challenging the EPA’s December “endangerment finding,” which said greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare. Meanwhile, the EPA says it is confident the finding will withstand legal challenge, and 16 states and New York City say they may intervene on behalf of the EPA. On Feb. 16, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) announced that Texas, which emits more carbon dioxide than any other state, filed suit in the
Industry groups and GOP leaders are critical of President Obama’s health-care proposal, which was unveiled on Feb. 22. But the White House calls the proposal a “starting point” and says it hopes congressional leaders from both parties will make some progress in kick-starting the stalled negotiations at a Feb. 25 summit. The proposal seeks to bridge the gap between the legislation passed by the House in November and the Senate on Dec. 24. Its framework is built on the Senate bill but includes several key changes. Among them, it calls for increasing the penalty—to $2,000 from $750 per worker—for employers
The Senate voted to end debate on a $15-billion jobs bill on Feb. 22. Five Republicans, including fledgling Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, joined all but one Democrat in voting to advance the bill, which the Senate plans to take up later in the week. Key provisions include an extension of the Highway Trust Fund—set to expire on Feb. 28— through September 2010 and an expansion of the Build America bond program.
The Congressional Oversight Panel’s new report predicts more trouble ahead for the already suffering banking industry. The Feb. 11 analysis says a wave of commercial real estate loan defaults over the next four years could jeopardize the stability of midsize and small banks. As much as $1.4 trillion in commercial real estate loans made over the last decade will require refinancing in 2011 through 2014. Nearly half of those loans are currently “under water,” the panel says, meaning the borrower owes more on the loan than the underlying property is worth. The panel, created in 2008, concludes government intervention may
President Obama’s three nominees to serve on the National Labor Relations Board remain in limbo as controversy embroils one of them: Craig Becker, associate general counsel to the Service Employees International Union and the AFL-CIO. Photo: Senate Help Committee Becker has strong support from unions but is opposed by business groups. Business groups strongly oppose Becker’s nomination, contending his academic writings on topics such as the Employee Free Choice Act, which is organized labor’s top priority and would make it easier for unions to organize, demonstrate a strong pro-union bias. Organizations like the Associated Builders and Contractors and the U.S.
The United States and Canada signed a trade agreement on Feb. 12 that seeks to address concerns over “Buy American” provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as well as other long-standing procurement issues between the two nations. U.S. Trade Rep. Ron Kirk says that the deal will result in “tens of billions of dollars” in new job-supporting contracts for U.S. firms. “For years, U.S. firms have sought market access to Canadian provincial procurement under the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement [GPA], which Canada resisted,” Kirk adds. The pact provides permanent U.S. access to Canadian provincial and territorial
As the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act nears its one-year anniversary, waste-cleanup firms anticipate another year of backlog boosts. But their peers in the water and wastewater infrastructure sector hope a U.S.-Canada agreement signed on Feb. 5 will ease “Buy American” tensions that have been dogging progress of their stimulus-funded work. Photo: Courtesy of PCL Design firms and contractors have seen few ARRA drinking-water and wastewater projects. Georgia, Minnesota and Wisconsin have put nearly all their ARRA-financed water projects out for bid, but work in other states is being held up by the ‘Buy American’ requirement. Related Links: As Federal
President Obama has proposed a $3.8-trillion budget for fiscal year 2011 that would freeze total “non-security” domestic discretionary spending—the category that includes most federal construction programs—and result in cutbacks in most of the key construction accounts. Industry sources say the proposed reductions are not surprising given current economic realities, and they point to a few bright areas in the budget’s long list of cuts. Slide Show DOT: Federal-aid highway obligation The DOT program funding highway projects was one of the few programs to receive a modest boost. Industry sources such as the American Road and Transportation Builders Association say the
The White House announced on Jan. 29 that the federal government will reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 28% by 2020. The announcement comes on the heels of President’s Obama’s pledge on Jan. 28 that the United States would reduce GHG emissions by 17% by 2020 as part of an international climate agreement. The Jan. 29 announcement follows up on an executive order signed by the president this fall, which required federal agencies to set sustainability goals by Jan. 4. The 28% reduction target is the aggregate of 35 federal agency self-reported targets required by the executive order. Among
