The owners of the Alabama landfill that is taking about 10,000 tons per day of coal-ash waste from a collapsed Tennessee Valley Authority storage site in Kingston, Tenn., have filed for bankruptcy. Perry Uniontown Ventures I LLC, which owns the Arrowhead Landfill in Perry County, filed papers in federal court in Mobile last month saying facility operators Phillips & Jordan and Phill-Con Services are withholding money they have received from TVA. The operators claim an “outstanding balance” owed them by the owners. A spokesman for the landfill owners says the site will continue to operate, and a TVA official says
A battle is brewing in the Senate over Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski’s proposed “resolution of disapproval” to block the Environmental Protection Agency from moving forward with plans to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Murkowski’s proposal, introduced on Jan. 21, expresses congressional disapproval for EPA’s finding issued late last year that greenhouse gases pose a danger to public health and welfare. The resolution would need Senate and House approval and President Obama’s signature before taking effect. At least 25 Republicans and Democrats Ben Nelson (Neb.), Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) and Mary Landrieu (La.) back Murkowski’s measure. It needs
The Supreme Court’s decision to lift campaign-finance restrictions on corporations has sparked mixed reactions in construction circles. Some contractors’ organizations hail the Jan. 21 ruling as a free-speech victory that will give more groups a stronger political voice. But labor unions and non-profit advocacy groups worry the decision will unleash a wave of corporate spending that could sway election results. Campaign finance decision is expected to have a dramatic impact on the political process. The high court’s 5-4 ruling in the case, Citizens United v. Federal Communications Commission, permits corporations to spend unlimited amounts on political advertising 60 days before
An estimated 262,000 construction-sector jobs have been produced or saved by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds through the end of 2009, the White House Council of Economic Advisers says in its second quarterly report on the stimulus measure’s impact. That total is nearly double the 133,000 ARRA construction jobs CEA estimated in its first ARRA snapshot, issued on Sept. 10. In its new report, released on Jan. 13, CEA notes that its numbers “are only estimates,” but those figures are in line with job counts reported by states and localities to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The panel
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed water-quality standards for Florida that would for the first time set numeric limits on nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen in that state. Nitrogen and phosphorous pollution comes from stormwater and agricultural runoff as well as municipal wastewater treatment. Normally, states are responsible for developing their own water-quality standards. EPA says it is taking the action, announced on Jan. 15, as a result of a 2009 consent decree between the EPA and the Florida Wildlife Federation. The wildlife organization filed a lawsuit in 2008 seeking to require EPA to develop numeric water-quality standards for
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Jan. 19 in a case involving a dispute between construction materials company Graniterock Co. and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The case centers on whether a company may sue a third party—in this case, an international union—that was not a signatory to a collective-bargaining agreement but waged a strike against the company. Graniterock, a Watsonville, Calif., supplier of rock, concrete and other materials, claims the Teamsters’ international union unlawfully interfered with the collective-bargaining agreement Graniterock had established with Teamsters Local 287. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the company’s
As the 111th Congress begins its new session, construction groups will be keeping an eye on House-Senate negotiations on a final health-care bill and Senate action on a jobs measure expected to include billions for infrastructure. Also on the agenda are successors to stopgap surface-transportation and aviation authorizations soon to lapse. Jeffrey Shoaf, the Associated General Contractors’ senior executive director for government affairs, says, “You’ve got the first quarter of this year chock-full of big issues.” Talks continue on a final health-care bill (see below). Shoaf says lawmakers are “very close to getting it done but...every time they’ve voted on
Health-care legislation remains front and center, as the White House works with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to reconcile House and Senate versions of the bill. Union and nonunion groups are concerned about the direction in which the negotiations seem to be going. Unions don’t like the Senate bill’s tax on “Cadillac” health plans, and 10 union leaders met with President Obama on Jan. 11 to discuss their concerns. Those present included top officials of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Laborers’ International Union of North America and the AFL-CIO. Union leaders agreed
Two prominent Democratic senators announced on Jan. 5 and 6 that they will not seek re-election in November: Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Byron Dorgan. Their departures could potentially upset the delicate 60-vote Democratic majority needed to block GOP-led filibusters, if Republicans were to win their seats. Both lawmakers were considered vulnerable in the upcoming elections. Two prominent Democratic senators announced on Jan. 5 and 6 that they will not seek re-election in November: Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Byron Dorgan. Their departures could potentially upset the delicate 60-vote Democratic majority needed to block GOP-led filibusters, if Republicans were to
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s regulatory agenda for the first half of 2010 contains some major construction rules, including a long-awaited final regulation on cranes and derricks and a proposed rule on crystalline-silica exposure. Both regulations are expected to be issued by July. Construction industry groups and labor unions say they expect OSHA to be more active on the regulatory front under Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and new OSHA chief David Michaels, confirmed to the post on Dec. 3. But industry organizations say they find the agency’s shift toward enforcement from cooperative alliances troubling, although not unexpected in a
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