Regulatory
Michigan Legislators Focus on Energy Laws
LANSING (AP) — With just days left in the two-year term, the Michigan Legislature may be inching toward votes on what is billed as a comprehensive rewrite of state energy laws — legislation that Gov. Rick Snyder has made clear is his highest priority. The bills, which have divided majority House ..
Trump Chooses Rick Perry to Lead Energy Department
WASHINGTON (AP) – Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who famously forgot the Energy Department was one of the agencies he pledged to eliminate, is President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to become energy secretary, two people with knowledge of the decision say. Perry is likely to shift the department away..
Program Addresses Lead Testing for Water in Maine Schools
WATERVILLE, Maine (AP) — Maine’s public water utilities are partnering with the state to fund lead testing at schools. Three associations that make up Maine’s drinking water community and the state’s Drinking Water Program are providing financial and technical support for free, voluntary lead testi..
EPA: Tests Show Lead in Some Indiana Drinking Water
EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (AP) — Environmental Protection Agency officials say the federal agency’s tests have discovered elevated levels of lead in drinking water in a northwestern Indiana city where contamination already has forced some residents to move. The EPA on Thursday confirmed the lead levels in..
IEEE, FERC Join Forces on Energy Infrastructure, Market Challenges
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and its Power & Energy Society (PES) entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to address energy infrastructure and related market challenges created by recent significant changes..
House Approves Water Infrastructure Bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Thursday passed a wide-ranging bill to authorize water projects across the country, including $170 million to address lead in Flint, Michigan’s drinking water and $558 million to provide relief to drought-stricken California. The $10 billion bill was approved, 360-61,..
Audit Questions Tribe's Spending of $1.4M for Water Infrastructure
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A Native American tribe in South Dakota misspent or couldn’t account for roughly $1.4 million in federal funds for a rural water system, including thousands of dollars paid to officials for meetings they didn’t attend and money spent on a backhoe that couldn’t be found, according..
Trump to Tap Oklahoma AG Pruitt to Head EPA
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, a source close to Pruitt said Wednesday. Environmental groups quickly denounced the choice. Pruitt, 48, has been a reliable booster of the fos..
Chairman of Colorado PUC Announces Resignation
PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) — The head of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission has announced his resignation. The Pueblo Chieftain reports (http://bit.ly/2gCzQkc ) that Chairman Joshua Epel announced Tuesday that he will resign two years ahead of the end of his most recent term. His last day will be Jan..
Louisiana Parish to Get Loan to Rehabilitate Sewer System
HAHNVILLE, La. (AP) – Officials say St. Charles Parish is in line to receive a low-interest $8 million loan from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality that will be used starting next year to rehabilitate the parish’s sewer system. The New Orleans Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/2gb94kR)..
Florida Proposes $820,000 Fine for Sewer Spills
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – State authorities are proposing to fine the city of St. Petersburg nearly a million dollars due to spills from its aging sewage system. The Tampa Bay Times reported Saturday that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection plans to fine the city $820,000. Since A..
West Virginia DEP Withdraws Proposed Water Regulations
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection has pulled back from legislative review several changes proposed for the state’s regulations to protect water quality. Environmental Protection Secretary Randy Huffman tells the Charleston Gazette-Mail (http://bit..
New York Regulators Seek to Reform Energy Service Market
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York regulators are launching a comprehensive review of energy service companies, saying the competitive residential market created by utility deregulation hasn’t lived up to its promise. The Public Service Commission filed a notice Friday saying it will solicit sworn testim..
Poll: Strong Bipartisan Support for Water Infrastructure Bill
In the final weeks of the lame-duck session, a national poll released Friday by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) found that voters strongly support federal funding for water pipelines and waterways as well as for resources that prevent drinking water contamination crises, like those ..
OSHA Issues Best Practices to Promote Workplace Safety and Health Programs in Construction
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs in Construction to help industry employers develop proactive programs to keep their workplaces safe. The recommendations may be particularly helpful to small- and medium-sized contractor..
House Speaker: Aid to Address Flint Water Crisis on Track
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Paul Ryan Tuesday promised that a long-delayed aid package to help Flint, Michigan, address its lead-tainted water system is on track to pass into law by the end of the year. The Wisconsin Republican says the $220 million or so aid package will be addressed “one way ..
Canada Green Lights 2 Pipeline Projects, Rejects Another
The Government of Canada has ruled on three major pipeline projects: Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Expansion, Enbridge’s Northern Gateway and Line 3 Replacement. Trans Mountain Expansion Project: The Government of Canada has approved Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Expansion Project, subject to 1..
Interim Gas Storage Regulations Upcoming from PHMSA
Interim regulations from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) on natural gas storage facilities are imminent. They are not likely to be terribly controversial since PHMSA says they will be based on two industry voluntary standards: API Recommended Practices 1170 and 117..
Michigan Wants Rules to Toughen Utilities' Cybersecurity
LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Michigan regulators have directed their staff to develop rules designed to toughen utilities’ defenses against cyberattacks. Michigan Public Service Commission Chairwoman Sally Talberg says natural gas and electric providers face attempted intrusions into their computer system..
Sierra Club Files Antitrust Complaint Concerning NEXUS Gas Pipeline
The Sierra Club has filed a complaint against Michigan’s largest electric utility, DTE Electric Company, alleging that a 250-mile, multi-billion dollar gas pipeline project owned by its affiliate, NEXUS Gas Transmission, LLC, threatens to monopolize the market for the generation of electricity in Mi..
North Dakota Senator: Federal Water Rule May be Repealed
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — U.S. Sen. John Hoeven says the results of last week’s election may mean the end for the controversial Environmental Protection Agency rule on what waterways fall under the Clean Water Act. WDAY-TV (http://bit.ly/2eClVh3 ) reports a prominent environmental group appear..
New York Urged to Impose Drinking Water Standard for Carcinogen
HAUPPAGE, N.Y. (AP) — Environmental activists are asking state officials to impose a drinking water standard for a probable carcinogen detected in water supplies throughout Long Island. Newsday reports (http://nwsdy.li/2gctZoX ) a federal Environmental Protection Agency survey returned results that..
Michigan Gets Federal OK to Spend $119M on Lead Abatement
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan won approval Monday to spend up to $119 million in federal funding over five years to remove lead hazards from the homes of low-income residents in Flint and other communities — the second time the state has received a waiver to spend such additional money to respond t..
Federal Loans Aimed at Rural Illinois Water Infrastructure
CHICAGO (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is lending more than $16 million to a number of central and eastern Illinois communities to pay for water-related infrastructure work. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s office said in a news release Monday that $14.3 million of the money will be used fo..
North Dakota Lawmakers to Consider New Oil and Gas Industry Rules
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A set of revised administrative rules governing the oil and gas industry in North Dakota will go to lawmakers next month for final approval. The Bismarck Tribune (http://bit.ly/2eZNIDZ ) reports North Dakota Industrial Commission members in June unanimously agreed to the set o..
OSHA to Hold Pipeline Safety Meeting
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has scheduled a meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health’s OSH Professionals Pipeline Work Group. The meeting will be Nov. 15 in Washington, D.C. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr...
Canadian City Receives Funding for Modern Water Infrastructure
In Saskatchewan, new federal and provincial funding will be going toward a project in the city of Estevan. The city will be constructing a residuals management facility to treat the wastewater generated by its water treatment plant using an effective and low-energy treatment process. The project als..
Corps Wants More Cooperation from Dakota Access Company
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it’s trying to defuse tensions between Dakota Access pipeline protesters and law enforcement in southern North Dakota, but the pipeline’s developer isn’t cooperating. The agency released a statement late Wednesday imploring Texas-based ..
PennEast Pipeline Application Suspended Again
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has announced a second delay in its schedule for reviewing the proposed PennEast pipeline. The date for issuance of the final environmental impact statement was postponed to February 17, 2017 from December 16, 2016. FERC also sent the company a substa..
APWA Urges Congress to Pass Water Infrastructure Legislation
The American Public Works Association (APWA) and other key water groups are urging Congress to include water infrastructure provisions as part of a final Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) bill this year. The 12 water organizations support a bipartisan compromise of the WRDA bill with meas..
- OSHA cites Florida contractors for trench safety violations at sewer and excavation sites
- Biden-Harris administration invests $849 million in aging water infrastructure, drought resilience
- Cadiz to reuse steel from terminated Keystone XL pipeline for California groundwater project
- Texas contractor penalized by OSHA for repeated trench safety violations
- West Virginia approves $67 million for water, sewer projects