-
1 week ago | 
enr.com | Pam Hunter McFarland |Derek Lacey |clients. One
The Trump administration’s cancellation of hundreds of millions of dollars in grants for resilience projects through the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program is leaving the fate of numerous resilience projects already in the planning and design phases in a state of uncertainty. FEMA says it is ending the BRIC program and cancelling all BRIC applications from fiscal 2020-23.
-
2 weeks ago | 
enr.com | Pam Hunter McFarland |clients. One
Opponents of a Trump executive order aimed at boosting coal production in the U.S. are lining up to challenge it, stating that the president’s action undermines states’ authority to set their own policies and would set the nation back in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which have declined by more than 16% over 2005 levels, according to latest U.S. EPA Greenhouse Gas Inventory, released in April 2024.
-
4 weeks ago | 
enr.com | Pam Hunter McFarland |clients. One
Lawmakers at a March 25 House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing said they are seeking a revamp of the nation's emergency response apparatus to make it more effective, but they did not call for elimination of the embattled Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as Trump administration officials have threatened in recent weeks.
-
1 month ago | 
enr.com | Pam Hunter McFarland |clients. One
A March 18 Trump administration executive order directs that the Federal Emergency Management Agency shift more responsibility for U.S. disaster emergency response and rebuilding to states and localities. It follows layoffs of more than 200 FEMA employees and a Jan. 24 order that establishes a task force to review agency efficiency in addressing disasters. Critics voice strong concern that the order would make it harder for non-federal entities to respond to weather disasters.
-
1 month ago | 
enr.com | Pam Hunter McFarland |clients. One
A March 18 Trump administration executive order directs that the Federal Emergency Management Agency shift more responsibility for U.S. disaster emergency response and rebuilding to states and localities. It follows layoffs of more than 200 FEMA employees and a Jan. 24 order that establishes a task force to review agency efficiency in addressing disasters.
-
1 month ago | 
enr.com | Pam Hunter McFarland |clients. One
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week announced a slew of actions it plans to take to roll back climate, air and water regulations, many of which were established during the previous administration, and some that precede it. In March 12 remarks, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin characterized the shift in approach as an effort to realign with the agency’s “core mission” he described as having been lost under “activist” goals.
-
1 month ago | 
enr.com | Pam Hunter McFarland |clients. One
ProjectsBest Projects2024 Phoenix Region: ENR Southwest Submitted by: DPR Construction Contractor: DPR Construction Owner: Mayo Clinic Lead Design Firm: HKS Structural Engineer: PK Associates Civil Engineer: Kimley-Horn MEP Engineer: WSP The team working on the project to expand a top-rated Mayo Clinic facility in Phoenix performed extensive prefabrication work that allowed the hospital not only to avoid disruptions to patient care by remaining open during construction but also shaved months...
-
1 month ago | 
enr.com | Pam Hunter McFarland |clients. One
Despite a shift to a federal government that has left it less friendly to labor unions than the previous administration, the mood at the annual conference of the Ironworkers union and its signatory contractors in Orlando Feb. 24-26 was upbeat. Major topics included the rollout of a new mental health and suicide prevention website for IMPACT (Ironworkers Management Progressive Action Trust) members and their families as well as opportunities presented by megaprojects and mass timber.
-
1 month ago | 
enr.com | Pam Hunter McFarland |clients. One
In a March 4 opinion, the nation’s high court struck language in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s pollution discharge permits for two wastewater treatment facilities in San Francisco—with a 5-4 majority agreeing that the agency exceeded its statutory authority under the Clean Water Act by adding the provisions that municipal officials contended were overly broad.
-
1 month ago | 
enr.com | Pam Hunter McFarland |clients. One
After a week spent with constituents in their home districts, House lawmakers are planning to vote on a Trump-endorsed budget plan that would direct congressional committees to slice $2 trillion from federal coffers to pay for $4.5 billion in tax cuts. The Senate cleared a narrower, $340-billion plan on Feb. 20. Both bills boost funding for construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall as well as immigration enforcement, domestic energy production and the U.S. Defense Dept.
