The House has approved a fiscal 2010 spending bill that would give a modest boost to the Corps of Engineers' construction account, but would trim funding for the Dept. of Energy defense environmental cleanup program. The 2010 energy and water programs appropriations measure, which the House passed on July 17, includes $2.1 billion for Corps construction, up $2 million from 2009, excluding emergency spending. It also recommends $5.4 billion for DOE’s cleanup account, which is a 5% cut from this year’s level. In the Senate, the energy-water bill that the Appropriations Committee approved on July 9 cuts the Corps construction

Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) has blocked floor action on the nomination of Robert Perciasepe to be the Environmental Protection Agency's deputy administrator. The Environment and Public Works Committee on July 15 cleared Perciasepe, a former top EPA water and air official, for the No. 2 post. But Voinovich put a hold on the nomination, citing concerns over EPA’s analysis of a climate bill the House passed in June.

The Senate commerce committee has approved a two-year Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization, with a boost in Airport Improvement Program (AIP) construction aid but no broad hike in passenger facility charges (PFCs). The $34.5-billion bill, cleared by the panel on July 21, includes $8.1 billion for AIP. If the full Senate passes the bill, it would go to conference with a three year, $53.5-billion bill the House passed in May. Like the Senate panel’s bill, the House’s has $4 billion for AIP in 2010 and $4.1 billion in 2011. AIP’s 2009 appropriation is $3.5 billion. The House bill also raises the

A case challenging the patentability of business methods will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in December. The outcome may rock innovators and inventors in the construction industry. Bilski v. Doll is Bernard Bilski’s last appeal. Doll is John Doll, acting director of the U.S. patent office, which has rejected Bilski’s patent for a method to hedge risks in commodities trading. The case would normally be a far cry from construction, except the language of the most recent rejection, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in October, added a new bar for any business-method patent

A federal district judge has issued a ruling that creates a significant setback for the state of Georgia in the ongoing water wars among Florida, Georgia and Alabama. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson, from the District of Minnesota, on July 17 ruled Georgia must stop using water from Lake Lanier to meet Atlanta’s drinking-water needs within three years unless Congress permits it. He also ruled withdrawals over the next three years must be frozen at current levels. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) called the ruling a “monumental milestone....The judge’s decision allows the governors to come together to reach an agreement

As fiscal 2010 spending bills advance on Capitol Hill, water infrastructure programs look like big winners. The House’s 2010 bill for the U.S. Interior Dept. and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency passed on June 26 includes $5.2 billion for EPA water grants, a 76% jump from 2009’s mark. It also includes $2.3 billion for state clean-water spending, more than triple this year’s level, and $1.4 billion for state drinking-water funding, up 74%. The version the Senate Appropriations Committee cleared on June 25 is less generous but still well above 2009 totals. The measure recommends $4.95 billion for EPA water grants, including

A move by a Hawaii Democratic congressman to insert labor provisions into the House version of the 2010 military spending bill that would affect Guam's multibillion-dollar troop redeployment facility expansion program is raising concern among U.S. officials and potential contractors about big cost impacts. Photo: CDM DOD-funded projects would pay Hawaii wage rates. The bill, enacted late last month, includes language added by Rep. Neil Abercrombie, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. It would require contractors involved in the estimated $15-billion Guam military facility expansion to pay construction workers prevailing wages equivalent to those paid in Hawaii, and

Efforts to develop a magnetic levitation train system between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area could be affected by a pact between California and Nevada to extend a high-speed rail corridor between the cities. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Nevada Sen Harry Reid (D) announced the deal on July 2. Reid had endorsed high-speed rail over maglev in June. The pact calls for an 184-mile route from Las Vegas to Victorville, Calif., with speeds of up to 150 miles per hour. Maglev has operated in excess of 250 miles per hour in Europe and Asia. Reid says the

Top GOP lawmakers told open-shop advocates they face an uphill battle on Capitol Hill. At the Associated Builders and Contractors’ legislative conference on June 25, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) raised concerns about the outlook for the Employee Free Choice Act, which ABC and other opponents call the “card check” bill. When Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) switched to the Democratic party in April, he vowed to oppose the bill. But McConnell doubts Specter will keep that promise and thinks the GOP needs at least two Democrats to block the bill. House GOP Leader John Boehner (Ohio) called the American

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to revise rules governing nitrogen-dioxide air emissions, the first new NO2 standards in more than 35 years. The June 26 proposal includes a new one-hour standard of 80 to 100 parts per billion and would add monitoring for NO2 within 50 meters of major roads in cities with populations of 350,000 or more. EPA would keep the present annual average standard at 53 ppb.