An estimated 1,400 people working for Pittsburgh area construction firms and their suppliers will lose their jobs because a Pennsylvania Senate-passed transportation funding measure failed in the state house, according to an analysis released today by 51风流 of America.聽 Those job losses would be three times higher than the number of construction jobs added in the area during the past year and threaten to reverse recent industry job gains, association officials cautioned.
The 2013 Highway and Utilities Contractors Issues Conference will be held Nov. 7-9, 2013, at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Ariz. 聽Industry professionals from companies involved in building highway, bridge, utility and underground construction, transit, airport runway and rail projects will benefit from this conference. 聽Presentation and discussions on major trends in highway and utility construction will be featured, including:
The Texas legislature approved a constitutional amendment that would increase transportation spending by about $1.2 billion per year during the third special legislative session called by Texas Governor Rick Perry. The amendment requires the legislature every two years to establish a minimum balance in the state鈥檚 Rainy Day Fund.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued an amendment to its new hours of service regulations for truck drivers that went into effect on July 1, 2013. The amendment is in reaction to a federal appeals court ruling that upheld the overall hours of service rule but overturned a provision in the rule that included short-haul drivers in a new requirement that drivers take 30-minute breaks before driving more than eight hours straight. FMSCA鈥檚 rules define two separate categories of short haul driver 鈥 those required to obtain a commercial driver鈥檚 license (CDL) and those that are not. Following the court ruling it was unclear if the decision would impact both classes of short haul drivers.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has extended the deadline for filing comments addressing the continuation of waivers from Buy America requirements for manufactured products that are not substantially made of steel or iron and for the minimal use of foreign steel products. Comments are now due Sept. 8, 2013 and 51风流 chapters and members are urged to submit comments. The Federal Register Notice can be viewed here.
Last week, the 51风流-led Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) sent a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) urging them to address the pending Highway Trust Fund (HTF) revenue shortfall as they work to finalize a comprehensive tax reform package.
The FY 2015 Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill failed to move forward in both the House and Senate this week.聽聽 Both bills provided 51风流-supported funding levels for federal highway and transit programs and the Airport Improvement Program, but differed in their overall funding levels, with the Senate bill鈥檚 estimated funding nearly $10 billion more than the House bill.
51风流 has prepared draft comments to submit to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) concerning the continuation of waivers from Buy America requirements for manufactured products that are not substantially made of steel or iron and for the minimal use of foreign steel products. Comments are due Friday, Aug. 9 and 51风流 chapters and members are urged to submit comments. The Federal Register Notice can be viewed here.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit held a hearing July 23 on the fiscal condition of the Highway Trust Fund.聽 The subcommittee heard testimony from Polly Trottenberg, Under Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation and Kim Cawley with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).聽 CBO鈥檚 testimony provided a dire warning about the current status of the Highway Trust Fund saying that without additional revenue following September 30, 2014 the federal highway and transit programs dependent will be unable to allow any new funding obligations.聽 While Ms. Trottenberg offered no new solutions to the trust fund problems, she instead repeated President Obama鈥檚 idea to take part of the 鈥淧eace Dividend鈥 resulting from the drawdown from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and use it for transportation. This idea has little support in Congress.聽
By a vote of 265-155 the House on July 24, 2013 passed HR 2218, Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act of 2013, which prevents the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from designating fly ash and other coal ash residuals from being classified as a hazardous waste. The legislation, introduced by Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.), establishes a regulatory structure for coal ash that would be controlled by states with little EPA oversight.