Related Links: Link to final regulation Link to industry complaint Republican lawmakers and the oil and gas industry are ramping up their plans to block newly finalized regulations for hydraulic fracturing—also known as “fracking”—on federal and tribal lands.Industry advocates say the rules, which wil will be published in the March 26 issue of the Federal Register, are unnecessary and could make work more bureaucratic and expensive for firms in the oil and gas sector.The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) and the Western Energy Alliance filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming on March
Related Links: Link to executive order Fact sheet on Executive order President Obama has issued an executive order calling for the federal government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% compared to 2008 levels over the next decade. He also set a target for increasing the government’s use of renewable energy for electricity to 30% by 2025.The same day Obama released the announcement, several major federal contractors, including CH2M Hill, GE, AECOM, SAIC, Battelle, Honeywell and others made various commitments at a White House roundtable meeting to monitor and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade.The companies represented
Related Links: Portman and Shaheen press release on reintroduced bill (3/11/2015) Senate Passes Keystone Pipeline Bill (enr.com 1/29/2015) [subscription] Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) again have proposed an energy-efficiency bill that includes provisions that construction industry groups generally support. But the American Institute of Architects opposes the measure, introduced on March 11, because of language that would repeal a section of the 2007 energy law that phases out fossil fuels in new federal buildings and renovations by 2030.AIA President Elizabeth Chu Richter said, "It doesn't make sense that a bill touted to encourage energy conservation throughout the
Related Links: DBIA DBIA Best Practices The Design Build Institute of America (DBIA) is seeking industry comment through April 1 on a draft document that highlights best practices for design-build projects in the water-wastewater sector.The document, circulated at DBIA's water-wastewater sector conference in San Antonio March 11-13, is based on DBIA's universal best practices for design-build document released last year. The group released a similar draft of best practices for transportation projects at its transportation conference March 9-11.Lisa Washington, DBIA's executive director, said the "market drill-downs" are meant to supplement the association's universal best practices, which apply to all types
SAME Graduates of one military engineers' sponsored summer camp pose with a tool of the trade. Related Links: Website: SAME Engineering and Construction Camps SAME E&C Camps: Immersing Students in STEM Can a one-week summer engineering camp experience be "life changing?" High school students with industry aspirations who've attended any of three camps sponsored by the Society of American Military Engineering (SAME) at U.S. service academy sites for the last 15 years seem to think so. They've said as much in Facebook posts, in letters to camp mentors and, OMG ... they're even telling their parents! One student kept his
Related Links: Spate of Lawsuits Flows from Nashville Inundation of 2010 Information on West Riverfront Park Plan The city of Nashville, still recovering from a devastating flood in 2010 that caused more than $2 billion in damages to Davidson County, Tenn., is planning to build a $100-million flood protection system over the next three years.City officials announced the plan on Feb. 25. The centerpiece of the program, originally unveiled in 2013, is a 2,100-ft floodwall intended to help protect the city from major floods."Like other river cities, Nashville can be protected by a floodwall system," said Metro Services director Scott
Related Links: Crane Operator Testing Will Continue, Examiners Say (ENR 10/6/2014 issue) [subscription] Testing Companies Debate OSHA Crane Operator Delay (ENR 03/24/2014 issue) [subscription] Leaders of a House committee are urging the Occupational Safety & Health Administration to revise its 2010 construction cranes and derricks rule, saying the language that spells out how operators are to be certified is problematic."We encourage you to work with the stakeholders to resolve the discrepancies," House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-Minn.) and Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), a subcommittee chair, told OSHA chief David Michaels in a Feb. 11 letter.At issue
Related Links: NLRB Issues Final Rule to Accelerate Union Elections (ENR, subscription) NLRB Representation Case Procedures Fact Sheet House and Senate GOP leaders plan votes in early March on a measure to block a National Labor Relations Board rule that would reduce the time for union representation elections. The rule, which cuts the election period to an average of 11 days from 39 now, became final in December and is to take effect on April 14.Associated Builders and Contractors and other construction and business groups strongly oppose the regulation. They call it the "ambush" rule and say it wouldn't give
Related Links: Construction Groups Say Obama Immigration Directive Will Slow Search for Legislative Fix (enr.com 11/20/2014) [subscription] DHS Feb. 17 Statement on Judge's Ruling A fight is heating up in the courts and in Congress over President Obama's executive order to protect millions of illegal immigrants from deportation.The Justice Dept. on Feb. 23 sought a stay of a federal judge's injunction, issued one week earlier, that temporarily blocked the directives that Obama issued last Nov. 20 from going into effect.JOHNSONOn Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats stalled action on a House-passed Dept. of Homeland Security spending bill, objecting to a provision barring
Related Links: EPA Seeks More Input on CO2 rule for Existing Powerplants (ENR, subscription) EPA Sets Ambitious Goal for Reducing CO2 Emissions from Existing Powerplants Speakers at a climate-focused conference on Feb. 23-25 were generally upbeat about efforts the government, states, non-profits and corporations have been making to address climate change over the past decade.Carol Browner, a former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator, pointed to the nation's ability to improve air quality through the Clean Air Act, which was enacted in 1970. "It is because of government and the private sector working together that we have made the progress that
