Related Links: Text of Senate-passed WRDA House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee background on its water resources bill (including text of bill as introduced and of committee-approved amendments) Corps of Engineers Institute for Water Resources report on alternative funding and financing for civil works As a new Water Resources Development Act, or WRDA, chugs ahead on Capitol Hill, it's looking more likely that Congress will give the Corps of Engineers a go-ahead to use innovative financing techniques on water infrastructure projects.In addition, on its own, the Corps is in the early stages of investigating how it might add to its financing

Related Links: NAVFAC Facebook page (See Sept. 20 and Sept. 16 posts) A Naval Facilities Engineering Command employee and a NAVFAC contract security guard were among the 12 people killed in the Sept. 16 shootings at the Washington Navy Yard, according to NAVFAC statements on its Facebook page. Kenneth "Kenny" Proctor, 46, of Waldorf, Md., a NAVFAC utilities plant supervisor, was working in the central heating plant behind the Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters (NAVSEA) and was shot in the alley between those buildings, NAVFAC said in a Sept. 17 Facebook posting.Proctor joined NAVFAC's Washington. D.C. region in 2003 as an

Related Links: EPA blog post announcing draft proposal action EPA background on "Waters of the U.S.," including links to court cases Supreme Court Decision Leaves Wetlands Definition Murky (ENR 6/19/06) The Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers have moved forward on a proposed rule that the agencies say aims to spell out more clearly which bodies of water fall under federal regulatory jurisdiction and which do not.EPA and the Corps said they had sent the draft proposal on Sept. 17 to the White House Office of Management and Budget, which now will coordinate a review of the proposal

Photo courtesy of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District House bill would authorize channel deepening at Savannah Harbor and 22 other projects. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee House committee's "whiteboard" video on the need for the water-resources bill Related Links: Link to summary and text of bill Link to House committee "whiteboard" video on need for the water resources bill The drive to put the first new Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) on the books in more than five years picked up some steam on Sept. 11, when House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster introduced a measure

Related Links: Court Tells NRC To Resume Review of Yucca Mountain Proposal Despite a recent federal court directive and pressure from Republican lawmakers to move forward with a review of the stalled Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste repository, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has not yet decided on its next step. However, the NRC has set in motion a process to help it determine what that future action will be, its chairman says.The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled on Aug. 13 that NRC violated a federal energy law when it halted its review of a Dept of

Related Links: Bureau of Labor Statistics release, with data tables Associated General Contractors of America release, analysis Associated Builders and Contractors release, analysis The construction industry’s jobless rate leveled off in August at 9.1%, the same as July’s rate, but improved from the August 2012 mark of 11.3%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported.The BLS August employment numbers, released on Sept. 6, showed that construction’s jobs total last month also was flat, compared with July’s figure.The August bright spots among construction sectors were residential specialty trade contractors, which gained 4,900 jobs, and heavy-civil engineering construction, which added 1,200.All other

Image courtesy of Kansas City Streetcar Authority Planned Kansas City streetcar line won $20-million grant, the largest in the fifth TIGER round. Related Links: DOT list of TIGER grant winners, amounts for 2013 round The U.S. Dept. of Transportation has announced that 52 projects—including highways, bridge, transit, ports, rail and pedestrian paths—will share $474 million in grants in the latest round of its popular TIGER program.In announcing the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program winners on Sept. 5, DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx told reporters, “TIGER has helped get large, multimodal projects off the ground that would otherwise struggle to find

Related Links: Labor Dept. Affirmative-Action Rules Draw Construction Groups' Ire (enr.com 8/28/13) Associated Builders and Contractors statement Associated General Contractors of America statement Two newly issued Labor Dept. affirmative-action rules for federal contractors have sparked harsh criticism from construction- contractor organizations.The final rules, which Labor announced on Aug. 27, set new requirements for federal contractors in recruiting and hiring veterans and people with disabilities.The department says the regulations will provide more job opportunities for people in those groups. Advocacy groups for veterans and people with disabilities viewed Labor's move as a positive step. But Sherman Gillums Jr., a Paralyzed Veterans

Photo by Don Wilson, Port of Seattle Port Support Senators Murray and Cantwell say their tax proposal would recapture for U.S. ports, such as Seattle, freight now moving through ports in Canada and Mexico. Related Links: Focus on Water-Resources Bill Shifts to the House (ENR 6/3/13) Lawmakers Eye Harbor Maintenance Fund's Surplus (ENR 2/11/13) Washington state's U.S. senators, Democrats Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, want to repeal the harbor maintenance tax (HMT), a major funding source for dredging projects, and replace it with a new fee on maritime freight. They say their plan, announced on Aug. 15, would double funding

Related Links: Summary of Labor Dept. rule regarding veterans (with links to text of rule, other info) Summary of Labor Dept. regulation applying to individuals with disabilities (with links to rule, other data) The Labor Dept. has issued a pair of final rules that set new requirements for federal contractors in recruiting and hiring veterans and individuals with disabilities. The department says the regulations, announced on Aug. 27, will provide more job opportunities for people in those groups.But major construction contractor organizations blasted the rules, particularly their new record-keeping requirements, and say they are studying possible court challenges.Both regulations are