A battle is brewing in the Senate over Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski’s proposed “resolution of disapproval” to block the Environmental Protection Agency from moving forward with plans to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Murkowski’s proposal, introduced on Jan. 21, expresses congressional disapproval for EPA’s finding issued late last year that greenhouse gases pose a danger to public health and welfare. The resolution would need Senate and House approval and President Obama’s signature before taking effect. At least 25 Republicans and Democrats Ben Nelson (Neb.), Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) and Mary Landrieu (La.) back Murkowski’s measure. It needs
The Supreme Court’s decision to lift campaign-finance restrictions on corporations has sparked mixed reactions in construction circles. Some contractors’ organizations hail the Jan. 21 ruling as a free-speech victory that will give more groups a stronger political voice. But labor unions and non-profit advocacy groups worry the decision will unleash a wave of corporate spending that could sway election results. Campaign finance decision is expected to have a dramatic impact on the political process. The high court’s 5-4 ruling in the case, Citizens United v. Federal Communications Commission, permits corporations to spend unlimited amounts on political advertising 60 days before
By the time they leave on Jan. 28, the 10 U.S. structural engineers sent to Haiti to assess the condition of buildings slightly damaged in the magnitude-7 earthquake will have done about 100 surveys. However, some 100,000 buildings still will need to be inspected so that the sound structures can be reoccupied, say local sources. Photo: Daniel O’neil, PADF High-end Oasis development, under construction, is undamaged, unlike an older completed building nearby (foreground). Photo: Eduardo Fierro, BFP Engineeers Inc. Light-metal roof of reinforcing-steel plant collapsed during the quake because it was not properly connected to the building’s reinforced-concrete columns. Related
When President Obama sends his 2011 budget plan to Capitol Hill, he will propose freezing non-defense discretionary spending—which includes most construction programs—at 2010’s level for the next three years. Construction executives hope Obama will keep some infrastructure line items unscathed or maybe even recommend some hikes. But the final numbers are up to Congress and won’t emerge until after months of partisan, election-year budget battling. Complicating the picture further, Democrats have seen their razor-thin, filibuster-proof 60-vote majority slip to a vulnerable 59 votes with Republican Scott Brown’s win in the Jan. 19 Massachusetts Senate race. + Image On the Board:
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed water-quality standards for Florida that would for the first time set numeric limits on nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen in that state. Nitrogen and phosphorous pollution comes from stormwater and agricultural runoff as well as municipal wastewater treatment. Normally, states are responsible for developing their own water-quality standards. EPA says it is taking the action, announced on Jan. 15, as a result of a 2009 consent decree between the EPA and the Florida Wildlife Federation. The wildlife organization filed a lawsuit in 2008 seeking to require EPA to develop numeric water-quality standards for
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Jan. 19 in a case involving a dispute between construction materials company Graniterock Co. and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The case centers on whether a company may sue a third party—in this case, an international union—that was not a signatory to a collective-bargaining agreement but waged a strike against the company. Graniterock, a Watsonville, Calif., supplier of rock, concrete and other materials, claims the Teamsters’ international union unlawfully interfered with the collective-bargaining agreement Graniterock had established with Teamsters Local 287. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the company’s
Health-care legislation remains front and center, as the White House works with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to reconcile House and Senate versions of the bill. Union and nonunion groups are concerned about the direction in which the negotiations seem to be going. Unions don’t like the Senate bill’s tax on “Cadillac” health plans, and 10 union leaders met with President Obama on Jan. 11 to discuss their concerns. Those present included top officials of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Laborers’ International Union of North America and the AFL-CIO. Union leaders agreed
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed new standard for ground-level ozone, if enacted, would be the most stringent ever proposed. The measure would cost industry billions of dollars to reach compliance, by the agency’s own estimates. The proposal, signed on Jan. 6, would set the “primary” standard, which protects public health, at a level of between 0.060 parts per million and 0.070 ppm measured over eight hours. EPA also proposes a “secondary” standard to protect plants and trees. EPA estimates it will cost between $19 billion and $90 billion to implement the proposal. In 2008, the Bush administration revised the
Two prominent Democratic senators announced on Jan. 5 and 6 that they will not seek re-election in November: Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Byron Dorgan. Their departures could potentially upset the delicate 60-vote Democratic majority needed to block GOP-led filibusters, if Republicans were to win their seats. Both lawmakers were considered vulnerable in the upcoming elections. Two prominent Democratic senators announced on Jan. 5 and 6 that they will not seek re-election in November: Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Byron Dorgan. Their departures could potentially upset the delicate 60-vote Democratic majority needed to block GOP-led filibusters, if Republicans were to
A new law went into effect on Jan. 1 in Washington, D.C. requiring building owners to begin measuring the energy use of new and existing commercial buildings using the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool. The law, approved and signed in 2008, is the first in the nation to require building owners to publicly disclose their energy ratings to prospective tenants and buyers. Building owners must begin revealing their energy ratings beginning on Jan. 1, 2012. You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” says Cliff Majersik, executive director of the Institute for Market Transformation, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit