Related Links: Judge Blocks California High Speed Rail Bond Sale (enr.com 12/3/2013) [subscription] California High-Speed Rail Moves Forward, Slowly (ENR 5/6/2013 issue) [subscription] A key financial deadline is looming for California's $68-billion high-speed-rail project. The California High-Speed Rail Authority is due to make a $63-million matching payment on April 1. But a 2013 Superior Court ruling has blocked the state, at least for now, from using its preferred source: selling bonds that voters approved in 2008's Proposition 1A. The state and federal government are sharing the project's cost.On Capitol Hill, House railroads subcommittee Chairman Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) introduced a bill

Related Links: Pew Charitable Trusts study Proposals Sought for Largest Ever Army Renewables Program A new study says the Dept. of Defense is well on its way to meeting its goal of an electric grid that uses more renewable and energy-efficient components.The report, which the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Charitable Trusts released on Jan. 15, found that DOD energy-efficiency projects more than doubled, to 1,339 in FY 2012 from 630 in FY 2010. Renewable-energy projects jumped 54%, to 700, in that same period.By the end of 2018, renewable-energy capacity on U.S. military bases could rise more than fivefold, to 2.1 GW,

Related Links: Text of spending bill and explanatory report, as introduced Bill summary from Senate Appropriations Committee A $1-trillion compromise spending package to fund federal agencies through Sept. 30 provides welcome increases over enacted 2013 levels for some construction programs but cuts others.The bill, which the appropriations committees' chairs—Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.)—released late on Jan. 13, won final congressional approval on Jan. 16 when the Senate passed it with a strong 72-26 vote. The House has approved the measure one day earlier, 359-67. The bill next goes to the White House for President Obama's expected

Related Links: No Deal Yet on New WRDA Bill (ENR 12/20/13 issue) [subscription] Congressional Budget Office testimony on Highway Trust Fund status (7/23/2013) A new highway-transit reauthorization bill and the first water-resources measure since 2007 lead the list of unfinished construction legislation as the 113th Congress begins its new session.By far, construction's top 2014 legislative priority is a successor to the 2012 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, or MAP-21, the current surface-transportation law. The statute expires on Sept. 30, putting public-works committees under severe time pressure to produce a new bill.House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman

Googlemaps Three towns, Saluda (B), Tryon (A) and Columbus (C), are unhappy with water pressure in their multi-community system in the hills of North Carolina. Three small towns in the mountain country of North Carolina, not far from Asheville, say they are suffering from poor water pressure and they are blaming the engineering firm that designed the water delivery lines connecting the towns. The towns of Columbus and Tryon and the city of Saluda are suing Asheville, N.C.-based engineer Joel E. Wood and Associates, LLC.A judge recently transferred the lawsuit from state superior court in Polk, N.C. to federal court

Related Links: Jan. 13 oral argument transcript High Court to Hear Arguements in NLRB Appointments Case The U.S. Supreme Court Justices seemed to be skeptical of the Obama administration’s position during Jan. 13 oral arguments in a case centering on the president’s ability to make recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board, courts, and other government offices.The case, NLRB v. Noel Canning, is significant for construction because it involves two appointments to the NLRB, the body that adjudicates labor cases important to construction firms and unions, that were invalidated as unconstitutional by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the

Related Links: Nuclear Energy Institute Statement on Nov. 19 Court Ruling Nov. 19 Court Ruling The Dept. of Energy on Jan. 2 asked the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review a November ruling by that court's three-judge panel that the fee utilities pay to fund long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel must be zeroed out.DOE also has sent Congress a proposal that would make nuclear-waste fees comply with the court's mandate, says spokesman Bill Gibbons. He says DOE will work with Congress, local and tribal officials, and the nuclear industry to "develop a

Related Links: Supreme Court to Hear NLRB Recess Appointment Case Petitions in Supreme Court case Construction industry groups will be watching closely when the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments on Jan. 13 in a case dealing with presidential authority to name appointees to senior agency positions.The case, National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning, centers on the question of whether a president can make such appointments during a recess that occurs within a session of the Senate or is limited to recesses occurring between Senate sessions. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said in a January

Related Links: SBA Final Rule (Federal Register 12/23/2013) SBA Size-Standard Summary, by Industry Dredging companies and construction firms that do land-subdivision work soon will face a higher maximum revenue level to qualify for federal small-business aid programs offering, for example, loans and contracts.A Small Business Administration final rule, which takes effect on Jan. 22, hikes dredging firms' "size standard" in average annual receipts, to $25.5 million from $20 million. Land-subdivision firms' mark rises to $25.5 million from $7.5 million.Other SBA construction category standards were unchanged: General contractors' level remains at $33.5 million; specialty-trade contractors' mark is still at $14 million.

Related Links: Link to text of Corps report Corps press release on report A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study has identified eight plans, costing as much as $18.4 billion, to block Asian carp and other harmful species from moving from the Mississippi River basin through waterways around Chicago and into the Great Lakes.The Corps’ Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study, released on Jan. 6, holds out the possibility of hundreds of billions of dollars in design and construction work over many years, but it does not pick a preferred plan from among the eight options, nor does it