Related Links: Text of final SEC regulation (see pp. 206-231) PDF Text of SEC's proposed version of the rule (from Jan. 6, 2011 Federal Register) In a win for engineering firms, a recently issued Securities and Exchange Commission rule largely excludes design firms from having to register with the SEC as "municipal advisors."Approved by the SEC on Sept. 18, the final rule says engineering firms won't have to register if they provide "engineering advice" to municipal agencies. The SEC says such advice can include feasibility studies that contain projected output capacity, utility rates, market demand or revenue based on a
Related Links: Supreme Court to Hear NLRB Recess Appointment Case Supreme Court Argument Calendars One of the most highly charged cases dealing with presidential legal authority and labor policy will come before the U.S. Supreme Court when its 2013 term opens on Oct. 7. The court also will hear arguments this fall in other key construction-related cases.Topping the list is NLRB v. Noel Canning, which focuses on the legality of appointments to the National Labor Relations Board made during a pro forma session of Congress. The high court's decision could influence construction-industry labor practices, too. The Obama administration has said
Related Links: Blog from lead attorney representing environmental groups on the case Information on NACWA's motion to intervene in the case The U.S. District Court in eastern Louisiana has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to determine within six months whether to set new limits on nitrogen and phosphorus pollution that is causing large algae blooms throughout the Mississippi River basin, the Gulf of Mexico and other waters in the U.S.A decision by the EPA to set numeric limits in states with tributaries that feed into the Mississippi River basin or the Gulf of Mexico that currently do not have
Photo Courtesy of AEP AEP halted work in 2011 on a CCS system at its Mountaineer plant in West Virginia. Related Links: Information on EPA's proposed carbon pollution standard for new powerplants President Obama's Climate Action Plan Toxic Air: The Case for Cleaning Up Coal-fired Power Plants (PDF) Environmentalists and public-health advocates are lauding a plan to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from new electric powerplants, but electric utilities and other industry groups say the proposal would effectively kill new coal-fired generation plants in the U.S."We do not expect to see a whole lot of new coal being proposed, and once this
Related Links: EPA Information on 2012 proposed carbon pollution standard Information on original--now withdrawn--2012 proposal The Environmental Protection Agency has unveiled a proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from new electric powerplants.The proposed regulation, which EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy announced on Sept. 20, drew praise from environmental and public-health advocates. But electric utility companies and other industry groups say the proposal essentially would kill new coal-fired generation plants in the U.S. If the proposal becomes final, it could force some engineering and construction firms that have relied on coal as part of their portfolio of work to shift their focus, says
Related Links: Court Tells NRC To Resume Review of Yucca Mountain Proposal Despite a recent federal court directive and pressure from Republican lawmakers to move forward with a review of the stalled Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste repository, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has not yet decided on its next step. However, the NRC has set in motion a process to help it determine what that future action will be, its chairman says.The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled on Aug. 13 that NRC violated a federal energy law when it halted its review of a Dept of
Related Links: DOE Approves Plan to Export LNG from a Third Terminal Third Largest U.S. Utility Is Set To Spend Billions on Power and Gas Projects in Next Five Years U.S. LNG Boom Fueling Port Projects Construction on a $3.4-billion to $3.8-billion facility to liquefy and export natural gas could begin as early as 2014, according to Richmond, Va.-based utility Dominion Resources Inc.The U.S. Dept. of Energy on Sept. 11 gave conditional approval for Dominion’s Cove Point facilities in Calvert County, Md., to export 770 million cu ft of natural gas a day for 20 years to countries that don't
Related Links: HUD Selects Ten Winners of Post-Sandy Rebuild by Design Competition HUD's Sandy Rebuild by Design Competition Crossing jurisdictional boundaries and strengthening relationships between private- and public-sector leaders is key to enhancing the resiliency of infrastructure around the world, federal administration officials said on Sept. 5.At a meeting of an international group of public- and private-sector decision-makers held at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., Shaun Donovan, U.S. housing and urban development secretary, and Caitlin Durkovich, assistant secretary for infrastructure protection at the Dept. of Homeland Security, outlined efforts federal agencies have made to work with local,
Related Links: OSHA Proposes Tougher Limit for Silica-Dust Exposure (enr.com 8/23/13) Text of OSHA proposed silica-dust rule A newly formed 11-member construction safety coalition says it is concerned about the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Aug. 23 proposal to reduce construction workers' exposure to crystalline silica dust.The groups object to the more-stringent exposure limits OSHA proposed and are urging the agency to consider factors that are unique to construction. OSHA has said it welcomes input from industry.
