Washington Watch

Fracing Disclosure Main Concern In Senate Energy Bill; Incentives For NG Vehicles Included
September 2010 Vol. 65 No. 9

The energy bill the Senate is to finally take up in September is primarily a "BP-response" bill. It contains none of the greenhouse gas emission reductions that Democrats had hoped to bring to a vote in a "Climate Change" bill, which is dead for this year. The Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Company Accountability Act of 2010 focuses mostly on oil spill liability and response issues.

NTSB Head Pushes Expansion Of Transmission IM Program, Pipeline Accidents Raise Questions, EPA Improves GHG Reporting For Pipelines
August 2010 Vol. 65 No. 8

The BP Deepwater Horizon spill continues to have ramifications for pipeline safety even though pipelines -- neither gas nor oil -- had nothing to do with that Gulf of Mexico disaster. Nonetheless, "BP" is an entry point for Congress and others to show renewed concern about potential environmental accidents from all sorts of energy activities.

House Committee Ups DWSRF Authorization Levels; BP Spill Produces Pressure For Pipeline Safety Revisions
July 2010 Vol. 65 No. 7

If Congress finally passes a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) reauthorization this year, it may be because of Dunkin' Donuts. A store outside Boston was the scene of a near riot in May when it was unable to offer its customers coffee because of a shortage of water caused by a breach in a seven-year old water pipe which affected over two million Boston residents. The Boston newspapers called the water disaster "Aquapocalypse."

New OSHA Administrator Talks Tough; BP Accident Imperils Offshore Gas Expansion
June 2010 Vol. 65 No. 6

David Michaels, the new administrator of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), is turning up the heat on industry, and critics of the agency under George W. Bush are pointing the Obama administrator toward the pipeline and underground construction industries.

New Jobs Bill Has Infrastructure Funding Provision; pipeline safety issues crop up; GHG reporting
May 2010 Vol. 65 No. 5

It looks like Congress will give cities and counties some new flexibility in funding drinking water and sewer projects. The Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act of 2010 (H.R. 4849) that passed in the House, 246 - 178 on March 24, has a provision which allows states to issue private activity bonds for water projects without counting the value of those bonds toward state caps.

New Congressional Inquiries On Hydraulic Fracturing
April 2010 Vol. 65 No. 4

Congressional concern about "fracing" took another step forward when the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent letters to eight companies asking for details on the chemicals they use during horizontal drilling of shale gas deposits. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman of the committee, implied in a memorandum to committee members that the "Big Three" of fracing may have violated a voluntary memorandum of agreement they signed with the EPA in 2005.

Budget Proposals Increase For Water Infrastructure
March 2010 Vol. 65 No. 3

President Obama's fiscal 2011 budget proposal (for the year starting Oct. 1, 2010) contains significant sums for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds in spite of pressure to reduce non-defense, non-entitlement spending.

FERC Approves Second of Three Oregon LNG/Pipeline Projects
February 2010 Vol. 65 No. 2

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the Jordan Cove Pacific Connector LNG/pipeline project with Chairman Jon Wellinghoff once again casting a lonely dissent.

EVA Construction Rules In Effect; More Sewer/Water Stimulus Funds Coming?
Stephen Barlas, Washington Editor
February 2010 Vol. 65 No. 2

The biggest issue for the underground construction industry in 2010 is not whether Congress and the Obama administration will unveil a second round of infrastructure spending, but whether that second helping of funds for sewers and drinking water systems will find its way into financial bloodstreams faster than the first injection did.

PHMSA Assesses Big Safety Penalty Against El Paso
January 2010 Vol. 65 No. 1

Two weeks after the new administrator of the federal pipeline safety agency formally took over the agency, PHMSA announced Colorado Interstate Gas (CIG) Company was paying the biggest fine the agency has ever levied under its own authority.

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