The San Francisco Public Utility Commission’s $4.6-billion regional water-system improvement program is racing against the clock as the construction team retrofits facilities to withstand a potential earthquake that, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, could come at any time. Set for completion by December 2015, the Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) is a mammoth undertaking, consisting of 86 separate water-supply and storage projects spanning counties in northern and central California. Construction is well under way on some of the projects; others won’t break ground until 2011. Julie Labonte, the commission’s WSIP program director, says that while some of the projects
Construction labor unions and industry groups agree that a newly issued National Labor Relations Board ruling upholding union “bannering” is significant and precedent-setting. Unions are jubilant about the outcome, but industry officials contend that the Aug. 27 ruling, announced on Sept. 2, could wreak havoc on construction projects. In its decision, the NLRB ruled the posting of stationary union banners by members of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America at the workplace of a secondary employer does not violate federal labor laws. A secondary employer is a company that employs a contractor with which a union has
The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that the posting of stationary banners by members of a construction union at a secondary employer’s workplace does not violate the nation’s labor laws. Photo: Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters Related Links: National Labor Relations Board Ruling Knoxville Carpenters Protest Drywall Contractor Carpenters Target Businesses in Tulsa with Banners Pacific Northwest carpenters’ council website The 3-2 decision, split along party lines, is one of the first major rulings on a controversial issue from the board’s new roster of members. Organized labor considers the case a significant victory. The board has at least
A presidentially appointed multi-agency panel has sent a strong signal that clean coal, which is achieved through carbon capture and sequestration, should be a significant part of the nation’s future energy mix. The Interagency Task Force on Carbon Capture and Storage, led by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Dept. of Energy, sent a report to President Obama on Aug. 12 outlining steps that should be taken to overcome barriers to widespread commercial deployment of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology. Industry officials say the report is a step in the right direction, but many say commercial deployment of CCS
Four more associations have joined the ConsensusDOCS coalition, bringing the total number of groups affiliated with the group to 28. Established three years ago, ConsensusDOCS focus is on developing construction contract documents through a consensus-oriented approach. The group started out with 20 member associations, including the Associated General Contractors, the Construction Users Roundtable and the American Subcontractors Association. The four new members are the American Society of Professional Estimators, the National Ground Water Association, Women Construction Owners & Executives USA and the Construction Specification Institute. Brian Perlberg, executive director of ConsensusDOCS, says the addition of the four groups shows ConsensusDOCS
The Environmental Protection Agency has released a final rule to reduce emissions of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants at portland-cement manufacturing facilities. When fully implemented in 2013, the rule, announced on Aug. 9, will require cement manufacturing facilities to limit emissions of mercury, total hydrocarbons, hydrochloric acid and particulate matter. EPA estimates implementation of the rule will reduce mercury emissions by 92% by 2013. Brian McCarthy, the Portland Cement Association’s CEO and president, says the emissions targets are “very low” and “will not be achievable” by many facilities. Ultimately, the U.S. cement production capacity could be affected, he adds.
Democratic solons are gearing up to try to pass Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) scaled-back oil-spill/energy legislation when Congress returns after Labor Day. REID Reid says all the bill’s provisions have bipartisan support. But some industry sources say the bill is too narrow and would do little to address the nation’s energy challenges or the economic crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. They say they would like to see included in the bill key provisions of legislation approved in 2009 by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Reid pulled the package from the floor on Aug. 3 after
Sources say they don’t expect to see major changes in the direction of rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court with the addition of Elena Kagan, confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 5. She will replace Justice John Paul Stevens, who stepped down from the court in June. “I would be surprised if [her confirmation] would cause any changes in results in the near future,” says Mike Kennedy, general counsel for the Associated General Contractors of America.
A recent Government Accountability Office report on the Highway Trust Fund could inform lawmakers’ discussions as they continue to work toward the next surface- transportation authorization act, says House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.). The report, released on Aug. 3, found that nearly all states received more funding from the Highway Trust Fund than they contributed. Oberstar says the report will be useful as Congress reconsiders the way it distributes highway funds to states. Drafts at the committee level have not yet determined the formulas for funding. “I have long believed that a federal surface transportation program
The general contractor on the Connecticut powerplant project that suffered a fatal explosion in February says it plans to contest $8.3 million in federal penalties proposed on Aug. 5 for safety violations. O&G Industries Inc., Torrington, Conn., was one of 17 site contractors fined a total of $16.6 million by the U.S. Labor Dept.’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 371 alleged violations related to the blast at the 620-MW Kleen Energy LLC combined-cycle plant in Middletown. Six workers were killed; 50 were injured. Photo By AP/WideWorld Kleen Energy powerplant project in Connecticut was the site of a fatal explosion
