As city and county officials and local trade unions work out the kinks in adhering to San Francisco's new local hire law, which went into effect on March 25, a state assemblyman from a county to the south is pushing new legislation that will shut down main elements of the ordinance. Photo: Courtesy of Webcor Webcor is building the San Francisco General Hospital replacement project, which would have been severely hampered by the new local-hire law. The new San Francisco law, commissioned by Supervisor John Avalos, mandates that 20% of all project hours within each trade be performed by local

As city and county officials and local trade unions work out the kinks in adhering to San Francisco’s new local hire law, which went into effect March 25, a state assemblyman from a county to the south is pushing new legislation that will shut down main elements of the ordinance. Webcor Builders� San Francisco Public Utilities Commission headquarters building project. The new San Francisco law, commissioned by Supervisor John Avalos, mandates that 20% of all project hours within each trade be performed by local residents on city/county projects in excess of $400,000. That percentage rises 5% every year until reaching

The California Public Utilities Commission and Pacific Gas and Electric agreed on a penalty of at least $3 million for failure to supply all its records for pressure tests of natural gas pipelines in high-consequence areas (HCA) as requested earlier this month. Photo courtesy of NTSB The deal was reached March 24 during a CPUC �Order to Show Cause� hearing on the matter. The commission will discuss the order Monday, March 28, before an administrative law judge with a final decision made �thereafter,� says the CPUC. The CPUC�s Executive Director Paul Clanon says the stipulated outcome would fine PG&E $6

While Pacific Gas and Electric prepares to explain to the California Public Utilities Commission at a March 24 hearing why it didn�t supply all its records for pressure tests of natural gas pipelines in high-consequence areas (HCA) as requested, other federal entities and elected representatives are getting more involved in the gas pressure spike controversy. Photo courtesy of NTSB PG&E failed to satisfy CPUC�s terms under a March 15 deadline to provide data on its pipeline system. The utility says it supplied records for pressure tests or historical operating pressure for more than 90% of its 1,805 miles of natural

While Pacific Gas and Electric prepares to explain to the California Public Utilities Commission at a March 24 hearing why it didn’t supply all its records for pressure tests of natural gas pipelines in high-consequence areas (HCA) as requested, other federal entities and elected representatives are getting more involved in the gas pressure spike controversy. Photo: NTSB Utility as-built drawings showed San Bruno pipeline sections as seamless, but investigators found pipe fragments that had been welded. PG&E failed to satisfy CPUC’s terms under a March 15 deadline to provide data on its pipeline system. The utility says it supplied records

The March 11 tsunami battered U.S. coasts and ports from Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest to southern California. Related Links: Nuclear Nightmare Pacific Northwest Faces Tsunami Risk The waves were much less powerful after crossing the Pacific. The epicenter of the 8.9 magnitude quake was the northeast coast of Japan. The governor’s office in Hawaii expects damage to run to about $10 million. Estimates are heading toward $50 million in California and one county in Oregon one of three damaged ports is reporting $25 million worth of destruction there alone. Witnesses describe a day of violent wave action inside normally

Despite a delayed $2.3-billion bond sale and possible budget cutbacks, California�s Dept. of Transportation is moving ahead with a number of highway projects that have already broken ground as the governor and legislature continue to try to resolve a $26-billion deficit. A spring infrastructure bond sale was delayed until the fall in order to save $250 million in state debt service, says Tom Dresslar, spokesman at the state treasurer�s office. Dresslar adds that Treasurer Bill Lockyer and the governor�s office consulted about the bond sale and decided to postpone rather than cancel. �It was a good thing to do,� he

Following three days of hearings at the Washington, D.C. offices of the National Transportation Safety Board, PG&E concludes that the event did itself, its customers and the entire pipeline industry �a great service by exploring a wide range of issues, including inspection and testing methods, public awareness, emergency response and regulatory oversight.� At the conclusion of the hearings, Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-San Francisco/San Mateo), whose district includes the city of San Bruno, the site of the Sept. 9, 2010 natural gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes, introduced a measure to �greatly improve natural gas pipeline

After failing in court to stop the California Dept. of Transportation from using a public-private partnership contract on the Park Presidio replacement project in San Francisco, the Professional Engineers in California Government union plans to appeal that decision as it prepares for months of political sparring over the state’s budget deficit and the role of public unions. Image: Courtesy Of Presidio Parkway.org San Francisco’s Park Presidio replacement project will be delivered under a public-private partnership, unless a professional engineers’ union successfully appeals an adverse court ruling. On Feb. 18, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Wynne Carvill shot down PECG’s lawsuit,

An Alameda County Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit brought on by the Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG) to halt the Dept. of Transportation�s plan to use a public-private partnership for the second phase of the $1-billion Presidio Parkway project in San Francisco. Latest ruling on San Francisco project, valued at $1 billion, pleases ACEC California chapter. Related Links: Caltrans Tries to Head Off Opposition to the Presidio Parkway P3 Phase After the union successfully got the court’s approval for a temporary restraining order in late November, which the judge dissolved Dec. 22, Caltrans selected one of its P3