Federal grants and loans under new infrastructure funding laws will favor applicants with strategies to retain and attract skilled workers for “high-quality jobs," a move observers say is timed with escalating auto industry labor battles.  

Occidental Petroleum and Battelle lead Texas and Louisiana projects set for award of first-round federal funds, with 19 regional direct air capture hub teams—that include AEC firms—set to gain a total of $100M.

The U.S. Dept. of Energy will invest more than $231 million to accelerate carbon management at large-scale U.S. geologic storage areas and support new grid resilience and energy storage projects and research for nine states and three Tribes.

TIC, Sargent & Lundy, Mitsubishi lead team picked to build $1.2B hydrogen-capable Texas power plant, as U.S. Energy Dept. aims first half of infrastructure law funds to expand fuel's use and refine technology gaps some market observers see.

U.S. Energy Dept. picks 33 hub proposals out of 79 submitted that it says are the strongest candidates for federal funding infusion, but agency declines to release names or plan details. 

The bill funds federal agencies through Dec. 16. 

With President Joe Biden’s Nov. 15 signing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or IIJA, federal agencies are stepping up plans to implement the landmark package, estimated at $1 trillion over five years.

Stopgap spending bill extends through Dec. 3.

Interplay between appropriations and bipartisan infrastructure framework is yet to be determined.