The Obama administration has announced the launch of a $10-billion loan fund—initially drawing on private capital—to help finance water, electric-power and other infrastructure projects in rural areas.Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters in a conference call, that the new U.S. Rural Infrastructure Opportunity Fund, which the White House Rural Council announced on July 24, “means that we can begin to address aggressively the infrastructure deficit that exists in the United States in the rural communities today.”CoBank, a cooperative bank based in Greenwood Village, Colo., is the fund’s “anchor” investor, providing $10 billion in capital, said CEO Robert Engel. The fund

Related Links: White House backgrounder on rural infrastructure fund CoBank release describing new infrastructure fund The Obama administration has announced the launch of a $10-billion loan fund that, initially, draws on private capital to help finance water, electric-power and other infrastructure projects in rural areas.Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters in a conference call that the new U.S. Rural Infrastructure Opportunity Fund, which the White House Rural Council announced on July 24, “means that we can begin to address aggressively the infrastructure deficit that exists in the United States in the rural communities today.”CoBank, a cooperative bank based in Greenwood

Related Links: EPA Study says Pebble Mine Could Destroy Salmons' Habitat Proposed Controversial Mine Loses Key Investor The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken a step toward curbing discharges associated with a planned open-pit gold and copper mine near Bristol Bay, Alaska.Proponents of the proposed $6-billion to $8-billion Pebble Mine project, which would be one of the world's largest of its type, say the action is just the latest in a series of EPA efforts to prevent the mine from being developed.An EPA regional office on July 18, citing the Clean Water Act, proposed restricting all mining-related discharges of dredged

Photo by AP Wideworld Focal point Initiative includes a new DOT "one-stop shop" to help remove barriers to the greater use of private dollars in infrastructure. Related Links: White House transcript of Obama July 17 speech on infrastructure White House summary of infrastructure-finance initiative President Obama is seeking to tap more private-sector dollars to help finance a wide range of U.S. infrastructure projects, but his new plan consists of modest, incremental actions and doesn't include any new federal spending.The Build America Investment Initiative, which Obama announced on July 17, includes what he calls a new U.S. Dept. of Transportation "one-stop

Related Links: Text of Senate-passed TRIA extension House Financial Services Chairman Hensarling's statement on Senate-passed bill A move to reauthorize the federal backstop for terrorism insurance has gained ground, with the Senate's July 17 approval of a seven-year extension. But House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) criticized the Senate bill and said resolving the issue will take months.Industry officials want Congress to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, or TRIA, before it expires on Dec. 31. Jeffrey D. DeBoer, Real Estate Roundtable CEO, said that, if TRIA lapses and commercial real estate owners lack terrorism coverage, it would

Related Links: White House summary of infrastructure finance initiative Obama July 17 memo to agency heads President Obama has launched a program that aims to find ways to tap more private-sector dollars to help finance a wide range of U.S. infrastructure projects, but the plan doesn’t include any new federal spending.The Build America Investment Initiative, which Obama kicked off in a July 17 memorandum to agency heads, consists of several modest, incremental actions, including what he called a new “one-stop shop” at the U.S. Dept. of Transportation to identify barriers to greater use of private transportation infrastructure investment and find

Photo Courtesy of VDOT Related Links: Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation analysis: Trust-fund impact of House bill, as approved by Ways and Means Committee Joint Committee on Taxation analysis of Senate Finance bill's impact on trust fund Legislation to add $10.8 billion to the ailing Highway Trust Fund, which could keep the fund in the black into next spring, is moving ahead in Congress as the House passed the measure on July 15 by a strong 367-55 vote.The House-approved trust-fund "patch" has the same bottom line as a measure that the Senate Finance Committee cleared on July 10. But the

New York State Court lawsuit exhibit An aerial view of the excavation for Barclays Center in New York City entered as an exhibit in Laquila's lawsuit against Hunt. A New York State judge has ruled that Laquila Construction Group, the excavation and foundation subcontractor for the Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn, can sue prime contractor Hunt Construction Group for additional payment even though Laquila signed releases when it accepted progress payments during the project.The arena open on time in September 2012.New York City-based Laquila filed a complaint against Hunt in state court in Brooklyn in May, 2013. Although Hunt paid

Source: National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans Related Links: Joint Labor-Management Committee's Framework The Partnership For Multiemployer Retirement Security A committee of industry and labor officials, including many in construction, is hopeful a new report from the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) will prompt Congress to shore up weakening multi-employer pension plans. But pension-reform advocates face a struggle. No bills have been introduced yet in the House or Senate. Reformers' best hope may lie in an expected lame-duck session.PBGC's fiscal year 2013 projections report, released on June 30, paints a grim picture for its multiemployer-plan program. Without changes, PBGC

Related Links: New Hollywood Map Shows Two Projects Atop Active Fault Millennium Hollywood On July 1, the California State Geological Survey started mapping the Santa Monica fault in Los Angeles, part of almost 2,000 miles of unmapped fault lines. The project could delineate new earthquake zones and restrict future developments in the state.CSGS was able to ramp up its mapping efforts weeks after Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed the state's $156.3-billion budget, which includes $1.49 million this year for fault zoning and $1.3 million in dedicated annual funding. State officials had been under increased pressure to provide fault-line data to