Sentiment against the Environmental Protection Agency is running high among Republicans in the House of Representatives, where GOP legislators have pushed to pass or introduced measures that would restrict EPA's ability to move forward with key water and air regulations.Environmental advocates have cried foul, but construction industry officials say many of the EPA rules could stall construction projects. They also say the Republicans are merely responding to businesses' legitimate worries.Steve Hall, the American Council of Engineering Cos. vice president of government affairs, says, “I think Congress is sensitive to [business] concerns. [Business] affects the economy; it affects jobs.” But Hall

Key Senators have reached agreement on more elements of a two-year, $109-billion highway transit bill. However, attaining that funding level requires identifying $12 billion to add to the amount that the Highway Trust Fund can provide, they acknowledge.Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), an architect of the plan, noted at a July 21 hearing that the current authorization expires on Sept. 30. “It's clear that we have to act,” she said. The measure's title will be Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, or MAP-21. But by ENR press time, the bill had not been

Prosecutors are pressing ahead with new charges against contractors for workplace-related accidents.James F. Lomma, a crane company owner who was charged last year in connection with a May 2008 crane accident in New York City that killed two workers, is scheduled to go on trial on Sept. 19. Paul Schechtman, an attorney representing Lomma's firm, has said there is no basis for criminal charges in the case.Lomma, 64, two other firms and a former employee have pleaded not guilty to charges that include second-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault.Manhattan district attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said, “[The indictment] is an important

As an Aug. 2 deadline looms on raising the federal debt limit and with no deal yet in sight (at ENR's press time), anxious construction industry officials await Washington's next move as lawmakers negotiate a plan to steer the U.S. clear of a default on its debt obligations. Photo by AP Wideworld DEADLINE NEARS: McConnell (2nd from right) floated back-up plan with phased debt-limit boost. He has been discussing the plan with Reid (3rd from right). Related Links: Center for American Progress Report on Perils of Not Raising Debt Ceiling Construction economists say if congressional leaders and the White House

Related Links: 2010 Inspector General Report on Iraq Reconstruction Three former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project officials and two foreign contractor employees have been charged with 54 counts of bribery, fraud and conspiracy linked to $50.2 million worth of Corps construction contracts in Iraq, the U.S. Justice Dept. says. The new charges, unsealed on July 14, expand the list of defendants and their alleged offenses brought in a criminal complaint last October.Charged in the federal indictment are John A. Salama Markus and Onisem Gomez, two U.S. citizens and former Corps project engineers in Iraq. Also named is Ammar Al-Jobory,

New clean-air regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency will force electric utilities in the eastern U.S. to spend tens of millions of dollars on pollution-control equipment to trim sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from coal-fired powerplants. Data courtesy of the EPA Map shows clean air rules and policies by state. EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, announced on July 7, requires utilities in 27 states to cut emissions or buy allowances from the market, starting in 2012. Even tougher rules take effect in 2014, when EPA and state actions will require SO emissions to be cut 73% from 2005 levels

A new environmental document from the Interior Dept.'s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement could speed development of wind farms off the East Coast. BOEMRE's blanket draft environmental assessment, issued on July 11, covers areas off the coasts of Delaware, New Jersey and Virginia. The assessment cuts by at least two years the application process for leasing offshore parcels for wind-farm development. After a comment period, BOEMRE expects to begin issuing leases as early as this year and continue through 2012.

President Obama has issued an executive order that broadens an earlier directive aimed at making federal regulations less burdensome. The July 11 executive order would apply to independent agencies, such as the National Labor Relations Board and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Building on a directive issued in January for Cabinet departments, the order asks agencies to develop plans in 120 days to streamline redundant or overly burdensome rules. Cass Sunstein, administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, says the January order could save $1 billion a year and eliminate millions of hours of paperwork. 

The House Appropriations Committee at press time neared approval of a bill that would slash Environmental Protection Agency water infrastructure accounts. The bill would cut EPA aid for clean- water state revolving funds (SRFs) by 55%, to $689 million, and would trim drinking-water SRFs by 14%, to $829 million.

The AFL-CIO says it is seeking to pull together at least $10 billion in private and public funds over the next five years to invest in infrastructure projects, with the money coming from pension funds, federal, state and local governments, contractors, financial companies and non-profit organizations. The plan, which union officials announced on June 29 at a Clinton Global Initiative meeting, also includes spending at least $20 million in union-related funds over the next 12 months to make energy-efficiency improvements to public and private buildings. The AFL-CIO will kick off that effort by issuing a request for proposals to do