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EPA prepares to shed contentious Waters of the U.S. interpretation

Details: Published: Saturday, 19 January 2019 20:44; Written by Concrete News

Construction and business interests welcomed a late-2018 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of the Army proposal for a clear, understandable, and implementable definition of “Waters of the United States,” clarifying federal authority under the Clean Water Act. Unlike a 2015 definition that drew sharp criticism from construction materials producers and their customers, the new proposal a) contains straightforward wording that results in significant cost savings; b) protects the nation’s navigable waters; helps sustain economic growth; and, c) reduces barriers to business development.

Travelers Cos. heeds state’s call for foundations repair fund participation

Details: Published: Saturday, 19 January 2019 20:39; Written by Concrete News

A $5 million fund from Hartford-based Travelers Cos. will assist Connecticut customers whose homes exhibit concrete deterioration associated with expansion attributed to pyrrhotite, an iron sulfide-bearing compound identified in aggregate from a Willington, Conn. quarry. The voluntary Travelers Benefit Program offers up to $25,000 and $10,000, respectively, to current and past policyholders whose repair costs exceed awards from the recently launched Connecticut Foundations Solutions Indemnity Company (CFSIC).

Florida, Michigan policies merit construction stakeholder attention

Details: Published: Saturday, 19 January 2019 20:32; Written by Concrete News

The Sunshine State topped the Associated Builders & Contractors 2018 Merit Shop Scorecard, vaulting from ninth position the prior year on the strength of its free enterprise and open-competition approach to the construction sector, increased career and technical education opportunities, and job growth rates. Michigan saw the biggest year-over-year improvement, rocketing from 24th to seventh after the repeal of its prevailing wage law, which will result in greater competition and lower costs for construction projects.

Multiemployer pension reform carries into new Congress

Details: Published: Saturday, 19 January 2019 20:34; Written by Concrete News

Although a late-2018 deadline passed without a formal proposal, members of the U.S. Senate Joint Select Committee on the Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans vowed to continue pursuing a solution to the funding crisis engulfing organized labor retirement systems. In a joint statement, co-chairs Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and his retiring colleague, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), noted:

Engine manufacturers take note as EPA revisits NOx emissions threshold

Details: Published: Saturday, 29 December 2018 22:15; Written by Concrete News

Through its just-announced Cleaner Trucks Initiative (CTI), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aims to further decrease nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from on-highway heavy-duty trucks and update a current engine exhaust standard in an early-2020 rulemaking. Set in 2001, the standard culminated in 2010 with a 0.2-gram brake-horsepower-hour NOx threshold for which engine manufacturers deployed selective catalytic reduction (SCR) equipment and urea-based diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). SCR injects DEF into the engine exhaust stream; the ensuing chemical reaction converts NOx into nitrogen, water vapor and traces of carbon dioxide.

EPA prepares to shed contentious Waters of the U.S. interpretation

Travelers Cos. heeds state’s call for foundations repair fund participation

Florida, Michigan policies merit construction stakeholder attention

Multiemployer pension reform carries into new Congress

Engine manufacturers take note as EPA revisits NOx emissions threshold

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