Related Links: Delayed FEMA Projects, Listed by State Thanks to another near-the-deadline deal in the Senate, Congress seems to be on the way to averting a government-wide shutdown and replenishing the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s nearly empty disaster-aid fund. On Sept. 26, the Senate approved a short-term spending measure that, if the House agrees to it, will keep federal agencies operating through Nov. 18.The new stopgap, which the Senate passed by a strong 79-12 vote, also would provide $2.65 billion for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund.The Senate action on the continuing resolution, or CR, came just four days before the 2011 federal

President Obama and congressional Republicans are squaring off again in a budget fight, this time over Obama's new plan to slice the deficit by $3.6 trillion over 10 years. The plan, released on Sept. 19, includes tax hikes to get more revenue from wealthy taxpayers and modifications to Medicare and Medicaid. Congressional Republicans blasted the proposal, signaling a deal will be hard to achieve.The legislative package also would cover the $447-billion cost of Obama's Jobs for America Act, unveiled on Sept. 9 (ENR 9/19 p. 9), which includes $105 billion for transportation, schools and other infrastructure.GOP lawmakers have balked at

The launch of a new career mentoring program for public-works professionals was the headline event at the annual American Public Works Association convention, which was held in Denver on Sept. 18-21 and attended by more than 6,000 APWA members.The association has created the Donald C. Stone Center, named for the federal planner who founded APWA in 1937. It supports career education and organizes the association’s 96 newly inaugurated Fellows to mentor industry professionals.“We inducted our first-ever group of industry Fellows at the convention, and they will be linked as mentors for a full year to people entering the careers program,”

The House Energy and Power Subcommittee on Sept. 13 approved two bills that would delay the Environmental Protection Agency's implementation of rules setting maximum achievable control technology (MACT) and other standards for boilers and cement kilns. The two bills cleared the subcommittee by a voice vote that followed party lines.The measures would require the EPA to replace existing regulations with a new set of rules that are intended to be achievable and that would provide industry facilities with more time to comply.Proponents of the legislation said the EPA's current rules would cost jobs and are not realistically achievable. They also

With the Oct. 1 start of fiscal year 2012 around the corner and none of the spending bills for that year enacted yet, congressional appropriators are again turning to a stopgap funding measure to keep federal agencies operating.On Sept. 12, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) said he planned to introduce a continuing resolution soon. There was no word at press time on how many weeks' funding the bill would provide.As of Sept. 12, the House had approved six of the 12 appropriations bills funding various departments and agencies for 2012. The Senate had passed just one: the military

Construction companies that rely on federal highway, transit and airport contracts can breathe a little easier as legislation is moving in Congress to extend surface-transportation and aviation programs as well as the taxes that finance them. But the relief is only temporary. The new legislation continues highway and transit programs through March 31 and extends airport grants and other Federal Aviation Administration programs through Jan. 31.The House passed the new stopgap measure on Sept. 12, on a voice vote. Senate action was expected to follow. Lawmakers were aiming to wrap up the bill before the current short-term aviation bill expired

This story was updated Sept. 15. The earlier version had an incorrect figure for the total allocated to infrastructure spending. President Obama's $447-billion job-creation package would offer a significant lift to the struggling construction industry, including $105 billion in infrastructure spending plus new or extended tax incentives aimed at small businesses. The tax breaks could find receptive ears in Congress, but the funding for transportation, school upgrades and housing faces a steep, uphill trek.In outlining his proposed “American Jobs Act” on Sept. 8, Obama urged lawmakers to pass it “right away.” Immediate action isn't likely, however. House Republicans, who have

President Obama's Sept. 2 decision to withdraw draft ozone standards appears to be simply a symbolic olive branch to the electric utility industry. The industry is facing a slew of tougher Environmental Protection Agency air regulations that are having an immediate impact, at least in Texas.Dallas-based utility Luminant announced on Sept. 12 it was closing down two units at a powerplant in northeast Texas and laying off 500 workers, because, it says, it cannot meet EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule by next year's deadline. The utility, however, still plans to spend $280 million by the end of 2012 and $1.5

In a move that business praised and environmentalists decried, President Obama told the Environmental Protection Agency on Sept. 2 to withdraw an ozone rule issued in July. He said the rule would harm the economy. The rule required utilities in 27 states to trim emissions or buy pollution allowances starting in 2012. Then, in 2014, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions would have needed to be cut by 73% and 54%, respectively, from 2005 levels.

A congressionally established commission estimates that between $31 billion and $61 billion have been lost due to contract waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan. The panel says reforms are needed to prevent the same problems from cropping up in future contingency operations.In a final report, released on Aug. 31, the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan made 15 recommendations to cut down on future fraud and waste. They include establishing a full-time inspector general for contingency operations and taking action to mitigate the threat of additional waste from projects that are not sustainable. The panel did not