Related Links: Business Groups Challenge New NLRB Rule NLRB Members Vote in Favor of Streamlining Union Election Process President Obama on Jan. 4 said he will recess appoint three individuals to serve on the National Labor Relations Board—two Democrats and one Republican. The appointments bring the nation’s top labor panel back to a full complement of five members.The appointees are Sharon Block, a Democrat, currently the deputy assistant secretary for congressional affairs at the U.S. Labor Dept. and previously an aide to former Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) on the Senate’s labor committee; and Republican Terence Flynn, currently chief counsel to

A coalition of industry groups and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit in federal court on Dec. 20 to block implementation of a new National Labor Relations Board rule that they say would speed up the union election process.The rule by the nation’s top labor panel would, among other things, consolidate all appeals of regional director decisions to the Board into a single post-election request for review. Parties can currently appeal regional director decisions to the board at multiple stages in the process. “This rule is about giving all employees who have petitioned for an election the right to

Environmental advocates were quick to praise the Environmental Protection Agency for releasing standards to reduce mercury and other pollutants emitted by powerplants. But industry groups say the final rule, issued Dec. 21, will force the early retirement of a number of coal plants and could cause electrical reliability problems as a result.The EPA’s mercury and air toxic standards (MATS) will require the most heavily polluting powerplants to reduce emissions of mercury, arsenic, acid gas, nickel, selenium and cyanide within the next four years. The EPA says utilities can rely on “widely available, proven pollution controls that are already in use

Related Links: Text of the bill State Dept.'s Dec. 12 statement on Keystone XL pipeline Resolving a heated dispute, the House and Senate have cleared a bill to extend, through February, the current payroll tax cut for individuals and require the Obama administration to decide soon whether to let the controversial Keystone XL crude-oil pipeline move ahead.The stopgap measure, which the chambers approved in brief morning sessions on Dec. 23, was signed the same day by President Obama. Other provisions extend, through February, unemployment insurance benefits and prevent a cut in Medicare payments to doctors. Brian Turmail, a spokesman for the Associated

The House has rejected a Senate-passed bill that would extend the about-to-expire payroll tax cut for individuals, setting the stage for a end-of-year showdown between the two chambers.The Senate on Sept. 17 had approved a $33-billion package, which the Obama administration supported, to continue the tax reduction for two months past its current Dec. 31 expiration date.But House Republican leaders, who say they want a year-long extension for the tax break, pushed through a bill on Dec. 20 that in effect rejected the Senate measure by calling for a conference to reconcile the House- and Senate-passed bills.After the vote, House

Related Links: Text of omnibus spending bill (title by title) House Appropriations Committee summaries of omnibus and disaster relief bills Design and construction firms that focus on federal work now know how much funding many key government programs will receive through next fall, thanks to a massive, newly enacted fiscal 2012 omnibus spending package. But as industry officials examine the results for construction accounts scattered through the $915-billion omnibus, they mostly see bad news: Most programs were cut from 2011 levels, though a few line-items did score increases.The new package includes funding for the Depts. of Defense, Energy and Veterans Affairs--among

Construction of bridges and other infrastructure over western rivers would be more difficult if the U.S. Supreme Court decides in favor of hydroelectric powerplant owner and operator PPL Montana in the company's case against the state of Montana, the state's attorney, Gregory Garre, told the justices on Dec. 7, during oral arguments in the case.On the other hand, if the court rules for the state, about 1,000 existing dams on U.S. rivers, including some dams that have been operating for more than a century, could be subject to back rent, PPL allies contended in briefs filed earlier.In the case, PPL

A federal appellate court didn't fully satisfy industry or environmentalists with its ruling in a case concerning federal rules that govern cement kilns' air emissions.In its Dec. 9 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided partly with the petitioner, Portland Cement Association (PCA), by blocking one Environmental Protection Agency standard. The court also agreed partly with EPA by letting two other rules stand.The ruling by a three-judge panel deals with two final EPA rules issued in 2010: National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollution (NESHAP) and New Source Performance Standards. NESHAP applies to particulate

Related Links: DOT list of grant winners and project summaries The Dept. of Transportation has awarded $511 million to projects in 33 states and Puerto Rico in the third round of the department's popular TIGER grants, which help to fund an array of infrastructure and other transportation projects around the country. The Round III Transportation Investment Generating Economic Results grant winners, which DOT announced on Dec. 15, included 46 projects.  As with the two previous TIGER grant rounds, demand for federal money far outpaced the amount available.  States, cities and other agencies submitted 828 applications, requesting about $14.1 billion, “which

House Republicans' planned multiyear surface-transportation oil-and-gas drilling measure won't be ready this year. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said the bill would hike domestic oil and gas production "and use those [energy] revenues to repair and improve … roads and bridges."On Dec. 17, Boehner said he was hopeful the not-yet-introduced measure would clear the House by the end of December. But Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) said on Nov. 30 the bill won't move until early 2012.Lawmakers' deadline is March 31, when a highway-transit stopgap expires. It is the eighth extension since Sept. 30, 2009, when the