State budgets are getting healthier but spending remains tight, and some states are calling for cuts in programs such as transportation. A National Governors Association-National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) survey, released on June 2, reports 14 states are recommending a total of $212.8 million in 2012 general-fund transportation cuts. Six states made midyear 2011 transportation reductions totaling $357.2 million, including $262.4 million in California and $84.4 million in Texas. The report doesn’t cover capital budgets, but capital spending on infrastructure is likely to be under pressure, says Scott Pattison, NASBO executive director. States’ fiscal 2012 general-fund spending is

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says it will release a final rule that will streamline its safety standards and reduce employers’ paperwork. The changes, announced on May 26, are in step with a presidential executive order issued in January requiring federal agencies to simplify regulations and ease burdens on companies. The new regulation includes changes to OSHA’s existing respiratory-protection standard and deletes several requirements for companies to transmit exposure and medical records to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. OSHA estimates the rule will save companies more than $43 million a year and trim the number of

The outlook isn’t bright for a quick deal on a new, multiyear aviation bill, because the Senate and House haven’t bridged a wide gap on funding levels for airport construction grants. They also have been unable to resolve a disagreement on a labor issue. Negotiators, led by Senate commerce committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.), have been working to settle differences between the long-term Federal Aviation Administration authorizations the two chambers passed this year. But with no agreement yet in sight, lawmakers cleared another short-term extension to keep Airport Improvement Program

The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has released a draft plan that seeks to ensure adequate U.S. freshwater supplies in light of the expected effects of climate change. The plan, released on June 2, recommends a new vulnerability index to help managers of drinking-water facilities set priorities for adapting their infrastructure to the effects of climate change. CEQ’s draft is open for comment until mid-July.

A criminal jury trial in Denver began on May 31 against Xcel Energy Inc., Minneapolis, and its local subsidiary Public Service Co. of Colorado, over a combined 10 federal safety violations that led to five worker deaths on Oct. 2, 2007. Five painters, ranging in age from 19 to 52, died when they were overcome by carbon monoxide when a fire erupted while they were spraying an epoxy coating sealant inside a 12-ft-dia., 4,000-ft-long water drainage pipe, or penstock, at an Xcel facility. The accident occurred at the 44-year-old, 1.2-MW Cabin Creek hydroelectric plant, located 35 miles west of Denver.

  In the latest development in a U.S.-China trade dispute, China has agreed to close down a fund that the U.S. says violated World Trade Organization rules by subsidizing Chinese wind-energy equipment makers.U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said on June 7 that China had shut its Special Fund for Wind Power Equipment Manufacturing, which Kirk's office said provided grants to Chinese wind-turbine companies that used componehts made in China instead of imported parts.According to USTR, the grants from the fund ranged from $6.7 million to $22.5 million and may have totaled several hundred million dollars since 2008.Kirk said, "Subsidies requiring

State budgets are bouncing back from the recession, but many governors and legislatures are keeping a tight rein on spending for the coming fiscal year, and some are calling for cuts in programs such as transportation. The latest Fiscal Survey of States, which the National Governors Association (NGA) and National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) released on June 2, shows that 14 states are recommending a total of $212.8 million in general-fund cuts in transportation programs for fiscal year 2012.  Most states' fiscal years begin on July 1.In addition, six states implemented mid-year fiscal 2011 transportation reductions, totaling $357.2.

The National Labor Relations Board has upheld unions’ right to display large, inflatable rats at workplaces of secondary employers, including companies that hire nonunion firms to build or retrofit buildings. In a May 26 decision, NLRB’s three Democrats—Chairman Wilma Liebman and members Craig Becker and Mark Pearce—said the use of rats at such workplaces is not coercive. They said unions protesting at a hospital did not shout, block access or otherwise disrupt hospital operations. The board’s only Republican, Brian Hayes, dissented. He said, “For pedestrians or occupants of cars passing in the shadow of the rat balloon, which proclaims the

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) has outlined a proposal that essentially would transfer the responsibility to develop high-speed rail (HSR) on the Northeast Corridor from Amtrak to the private sector. Amtrak wants to keep control over the route and last September proposed its own $117-billion, 30-year HSR plan. Map Courtesy Of Amtrak Mica says his proposal, which he unveiled at a May 26 hearing, would let public-private partnerships design, build, operate, maintain and finance high-speed passenger service along the corridor from Washington, D.C., to Boston. He says his plan would be finished in 10 years—much faster

Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick, President Obama’s choice to be the next chief of the Army Corps of Engineers, got a generally positive reception from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) at a May 25 hearing. Bostick next must appear before the Armed Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over his nomination. A floor vote would follow. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) expressed concern about Bostick’s lack of civil works experience. Bostick said that in 1993 he was executive officer to then-Corps chief Lt. Gen. Arthur Williams during severe Midwest floods. In 2007, Vitter and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) held up