Environmental advocates and industry groups have differing views about the newly issued Environmental Protection Agency guidance to state and local agencies to help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions using the best available control technologies. The EPA released the guidance document on Nov. 10, aiming to assist air-permitting authorities in identifying cost-effective options under the Clean Air Act to cut pollution from greenhouse gases. A new federal preconstruction permit program begins on Jan. 2, 2011. Nathan Willcox, Environment America’s federal global warming program director, calls the EPA’s approach “reasonable.” But industry officials have blasted the guidance, saying it could stall construction of new

In its current session, Congress faces deadlines on key appropriations, surface transportation, aviation and tax measures. Construction officials would love to see lawmakers pass multi-year transportation and aviation bills, but they say further stopgaps are likely. The first deadline applies to a continuing resolution (CR) that keeps appropriations flowing through Dec. 3. American Highway Users Alliance President Greg Cohen says an omnibus spending bill is in the works, but adds, “I think that that will be very difficult. … If they have to go to a CR, then it’ll probably be extended … at least until January 31 or later.”

Wanted for the nuclear powerplant industry: skilled engineers with experience in nuclear plant construction. Gray hair welcome. As a decades-long lull in nuclear plant construction gives way to a new generation of reactors slated to come online in the U.S. and around the globe, the industry is scrambling to get top engineering talent to join and lead major projects. Recruitment was one of the key themes to emerge during the Construction Users Roundtable’s (CURT) annual meeting, which focused on nuclear safety and was held in Orlando, Fla., on Nov. 8-10. No question, executives attending the CURT conference said, key challenges

Republicans’ takeover of the House and gains in the Senate could spell bad news for construction’s goal of seeing large funding increases for infrastructure programs in 2011. Graphic: Walter Konefal With some races still unsettled, the GOP projects a net increase of 65 seats, which would total 243 House seats. Democrats did hang on to the Senate, though their majority dwindled to 53 from 59. Among the Democrats’ House casualties were three committee chairs, including Transportation and Infrastructure panel leader James Oberstar (Minn.), a fixture on the committee for more than 30 years. Jeffrey Shoaf, the Associated General Contractors’ senior

The frustration given voice in the midterm elections also played out in how bond referenda and other initiatives fared. Other election news: Organizing Bill Faces Longer Odds of Passage Environmentalists Say Goodbye, Prepare to Work with New Congress Voters rejected some big-ticket state and local finance measures while others passed with smaller margins than in better times. Also enacted were new restrictions that could complicate public-works procurement. One key loss was a road construction funding measure in Alabama. Strong lobbying from construction groups was not enough to save a proposed constitutional amendment that would have earmarked $1 billion over a

With a split Congress set to take office in the wake of the Nov. 2 elections, labor unions are setting their legislative agenda firmly on an issue they believe members of all parties can rally behind: jobs. Passing the overdue highway-transit bill will be a major focus for organized labor. With Republicans' taking control of the House and increasing their number of seats in the Senate in 2011, another top labor-related bill, the Employee Free Choice Act, faces even longer odds than it did this year. That bill has been a top priority of organized labor, but has drawn strong

While environmental groups acknowledge that they lost many supporters in the 2010 mid-term elections, they add that the election was not a referendum on environmental issues, but on the economy and jobs. “This was an election about unhappiness over the economy, first and last, and the majority paid the price,” says Rodger Schlickeisen, president, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund. “We lost a lot of champions and a lot of long-timer supporters,” says Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. But he adds that voters still overwhelmingly support clean energy and curbing pollution. Brune points to California voters’ rejection of

Investigators have found large disparities in the capacities and public perceptions of two water treatment plants built by the same contractor as part of the Iraq reconstruction program. A report released on Oct. 28 by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) evaluates the Nassiriya water treatment plant and Ifraz water treatment plant. The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) awarded two separate task orders in April 2004 to a joint venture of Fluor Corp., Irving, Texas, and London-based AMEC to construct the Nassiriya plant for $277 million and the Ifraz plant for $185 million. The projects were completed in September

With the Obama Administration’s decision to defund the Yucca Mountain nuclear- waste repository, many industry observers wonder what the next step for permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel will be. Many are keeping a watchful eye on the president’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, which Obama established in January 2010 to develop recommendations to guide future policies for nuclear waste. The 15-member commission or its subcommittees have met several times this year, and the full commission plans to meet on Nov. 15 in Washington, D.C. The group is expected to release a preliminary report in spring 2011. “It’s

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Dept. of Transportation have put forth the first national standards to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and raise the fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and buses. The proposal, which the agencies announced on Oct. 25, would apply to work vehicles ranging from large, heavy-duty pickup trucks in Class 2b to the largest Class 8 tractor-trailer trucks, weighing 80,000 lb or more. The EPA and DOT action follows a directive issued by President Obama. The benchmarks would kick in for vehicles manufactured in model years 2014 through 2018. EPA and DOT estimate the standards will