Related Links: American Subcontractors Association's Supreme Court Brief PDF Atlantic Marine Construction's Reply Brief PDF There are no direct flights and 1,505 miles between Killeen, Texas, and Virginia Beach, Va., the base cities of J-Crew Management Inc. and Atlantic Marine Construction Inc., respectively. J-Crew says Atlantic Marine owes it $160,000 for work it performed as a subcontractor on a $7.4-million child development center in 2011 at Fort Hood, near Killeen. Instead of suing in Virginia, which its contract requires, J-Crew sued in federal court near the U.S. Army base. A federal appeals-court judge in Austin upheld J-Crew's right to sue

Related Links: OMB 9/17/13 guidance to agencies on implementing shutdown USDOT info on shutdown impact at FHWA, FTA, FAA and its other agencies As Senate Democrats and House Republicans unleashed streams of blame at each other for the fiscal standoff that closed much of the federal government on Oct. 1, construction industry officials were studying how the shutdown will affect federal contracts and grants. Federal construction aid totals tens of billions of dollars a year.The Office of Management and Budget made clear in a Sept. 17 memo that, during a funding lapse, an agency cannot award, extend or renew contracts

Related Links: Supreme Court to Hear NLRB Recess Appointment Case Supreme Court Argument Calendars One of the most highly charged cases dealing with presidential legal authority and labor policy will come before the U.S. Supreme Court when its 2013 term opens on Oct. 7. The court also will hear arguments this fall in other key construction-related cases.Topping the list is NLRB v. Noel Canning, which focuses on the legality of appointments to the National Labor Relations Board made during a pro forma session of Congress. The high court's decision could influence construction-industry labor practices, too. The Obama administration has said

Related Links: Press release from office of U.S. Attorney for D.C. A former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official has pled guilty to a federal charge that over more than a decade, he carried out a scheme to cheat the government of almost $900,000 in salary and benefits that he was not entitled to, the Dept. of Justice said.John C. Beale, 64, who worked for EPA from 1989 until last April 30 in the agency’s Office of Air and Radiation, entered a guilty plea to a charge of theft of federal property on Sept. 27 in U.S. District Court for the

Related Links: EPA Blog Announcing Draft Proposed Rule Action EPA Background on "Waters of the U.S." Definition, Including Links to Court Cases The Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers have drafted a proposed rule that they say aims to clear up the issue of which bodies of water fall under federal regulatory jurisdiction and which do not.Construction officials are concerned that EPA and the Corps will define federally regulated waters too broadly. Environmental groups praised the agencies' action.EPA and the Corps sent their draft proposal on Sept. 17 to the Office of Management and Budget, which will coordinate

Photo Courtesy of AEP AEP halted work in 2011 on a CCS system at its Mountaineer plant in West Virginia. Related Links: Information on EPA's proposed carbon pollution standard for new powerplants President Obama's Climate Action Plan Toxic Air: The Case for Cleaning Up Coal-fired Power Plants (PDF) Environmentalists and public-health advocates are lauding a plan to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from new electric powerplants, but electric utilities and other industry groups say the proposal would effectively kill new coal-fired generation plants in the U.S."We do not expect to see a whole lot of new coal being proposed, and once this

Related Links: Text of Senate-passed WRDA House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee background on its water resources bill (including text of bill as introduced and of committee-approved amendments) Corps of Engineers Institute for Water Resources report on alternative funding and financing for civil works As a new Water Resources Development Act, or WRDA, chugs ahead on Capitol Hill, it's looking more likely that Congress will give the Corps of Engineers a go-ahead to use innovative financing techniques on water infrastructure projects.In addition, on its own, the Corps is in the early stages of investigating how it might add to its financing

Photo Courtesy of N.J. Governor's Office The section of the boardwalk that was destroyed in the blaze had only recently been rebuilt after Sandy destroyed it 11 months ago. Related Links: Moving Beyond the Storm Ocean County, N.J., investigators say that faulty electrical wiring caused the wind-swept fire that destroyed more than 50 businesses along the Jersey Shore's iconic boardwalk on Sept. 12. Corrosive saltwater and sand from Superstorm Sandy, which destroyed the same boardwalk 11 months ago, "defected" the wiring, which was in a "totally inaccessible" area of the boardwalk, investigators note.Joseph D. Coronato, Ocean County prosecutor, announced the

Related Links: EPA Information on 2012 proposed carbon pollution standard Information on original--now withdrawn--2012 proposal The Environmental Protection Agency has unveiled a proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from new electric powerplants.The proposed regulation, which EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy announced on Sept. 20, drew praise from environmental and public-health advocates. But electric utility companies and other industry groups say the proposal essentially would kill new coal-fired generation plants in the U.S. If the proposal becomes final, it could force some engineering and construction firms that have relied on coal as part of their portfolio of work to shift their focus, says

Related Links: EPA blog post announcing draft proposal action EPA background on "Waters of the U.S.," including links to court cases Supreme Court Decision Leaves Wetlands Definition Murky (ENR 6/19/06) The Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers have moved forward on a proposed rule that the agencies say aims to spell out more clearly which bodies of water fall under federal regulatory jurisdiction and which do not.EPA and the Corps said they had sent the draft proposal on Sept. 17 to the White House Office of Management and Budget, which now will coordinate a review of the proposal