The Senate confirmed a batch of nominees for top federal positions, including officials to fill several key posts at the Dept. of Transportation and a new head for the Interior Dept.'s Bureau of Reclamation. Those confirmed on May 21, just before the start of the Memorial Day recess, include former Maryland Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari, who was approved to be deputy secretary of U.S. DOT. Porcari served two terms as head of Maryland DOT, both times under Democratic governors--from 1999 to 2003 and from 2007 until he is sworn in to his new federal job. Peter M. Rogoff, a

The House has approved a $53.5-billion measure to fund Federal Aviation Administration programs for the next three years, including an increase for airport construction grants and a hike in airport passenger facility charges (PFCs), which finance infrastructure work. But prospects for final congressional approval rest with the Senate, where a multi-year FAA bill has yet to emerge. Photo: Aileen Cho for ENR Funding levels are uncertain for airports, like this one, now completed, in North Carolina. The last multi-year FAA measure lapsed last Sept. 30. But with a successor bill bogged down in the Senate, FAA programs have been operating

The House Energy and Commerce Committee on May 21 approved an ambitious energy/global warming bill by a 33-25 vote, largely along party lines. The massive bill—more than 930 pages—is the result of weeks of hearings and negotiations in the House and is supported by a wide range of environmental groups, corporations and electric utilities and energy companies. But the bill’s ultimate prospects are uncertain. The legislation still has numerous critics, and must be approved by the Ways and Means and other House committees before it can move to the floor for a vote. Meanwhile, the Senate does not have a

The $13.5 billion in stimulus dollars for water projects announced in February could be just the start of a robust funding stream that will keep contractors busy in California for years to come. More than $441 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money will go to California wastewater and drinking water projects through the existing Environmental Protection Agency/California Water Board Clean Water and Drinking Water revolving fund grant programs. News of the influx of funding without the usual 20% match requirement brought a flood of projects to the state Water Board for consideration. Since the beginning of the year,

The Senate has confirmed Ines R. Triay, a long-time Dept. of Energy environmental official, to be the department's assistant secretary for environmental management. In that post, Triay will be in charge of the department's massive effort to clean up former nuclear-weapons facilities at more than 100 sites across the country. TRIAY Triay, whom the Senate approved on May 20, has spent 24 years working in DOE environmental programs, rising in 2007 to be principal deputy assistant secretary for "EM," the program's senior career post. Last November, she was named acting assistant secretary. One of her challenges will be to manage

Just over a year into a long-term partnership with the U.S. Dept. of Energy to transform Hawaii into a model clean-energy economy, 1,000 MW of alternative-energy projects are in the works along with an undersea-cable transmission project to deliver power among the state’s islands. One goal of the partnership is to offer Hawaii’s experience as a test bed for island economies globally as they make the transition to clean energy. Photo: Castle & Cooke Hawai’i Castle & Cooke’s La Ola solar station recently began generating 1.2 MW. The Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI) was launched in January 2008 with a

Electric-utility executives are cheering the announcement that the federal government will promote standards for interoperability and security of a “smart grid” and that Energy Dept. grants for smart-grid investments and demonstration projects will be greatly enlarged. On May 18, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced the first set of 16 standards required for smart-grid implementation. DOE also will provide $10 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to the National Institute of Standards and Technology to support development of the standards. DOE’s maximum award of ARRA funds for the Smart Grid Investment Grant Program

Wind-power owners, developers and suppliers are preparing to soar under a new round of federal incentives. The news had 23,200 visitors—78% more than last year—blowing into the world’s largest conference on wind-generated electricity. On tap was February’s passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which boosts production tax credits (PTCs) to reduce owners’ tax burden for the first 10 years of operation. Wind PTCs are extended two years, through Dec. 31, 2012. Developers also can claim an alternate investment tax credit (ITC) or Treasury Dept. grant to recoup 30% in the first year. Photo: Sarah Klose / ENR John

As a standard-bearer for French plans to control one-third of the global nuclear powerplant market, Finland’s Olkiluoto project falls short of expectations. Delayed and mired in contractual disputes, the project is the world’s first to include new Franco-German reactor technology on which Paris-based Areva NP is hanging its ambitions. Slide Show Photo: TVO First Franco-German EPR reactor for Finland’s Olkiluoto plant is late. Olkiluoto’s third unit (OL3) is the first of a kind, say Areva officials, in explaining some of the project’s difficulties, hinting that the joint venture may have bid too optimistically for the turnkey contract. Now in arbitration,

The Clinton Climate Initiative, a project of the William J. Clinton Foundation, has announced the Climate Positive Development Program, in collaboration with the U.S. Green Building Council. The program will support 16 large-scale urban developments on six continents that strive to reach below-zero on-site carbon-dioxide emissions. Among the projects, supported by local governments and property developers, are those in Australia, Brazil the U.S. and India.