ARTBA Attends White House Transportation Meetings

The White House used visual aids to demonstrate how red tape and regulations put a drag on transportation construction. By ARTBA Staff ARTBA President & CEO Pete Ruane and other senior staff made several trips to the White House this week to discuss the Trump administration’s infrastructure package and regulatory reform efforts. Under the theme ...

Posted: 10/6/2017
Category: Legislative & Regulatory

Senate Committee Reviews FHWA Nominee Trombino

By Dean Franks, vice president of congressional affairs, ARTBA In his Oct. 5 confirmation hearing for Federal Highway Administrator, Paul Trombino told the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee that safety is the core value of all transportation agencies. The former director of the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) also said he is eager to ...

Posted: 10/6/2017
Category: Legislative & Regulatory

Highway & Bridge Contractors Add Jobs in August

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. By Lital Shair Nada, market research associate, ARTBA Highway and bridge contractors added 13,200 workers to their payrolls in August 2017 compared to August 2016, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The severe damage caused by hurricanes Harvey and Irma in August ...

Posted: 10/6/2017
Category: Economics

Transportation Construction Industry Wins Local Hire Fight

By Nick Goldstein, vice president of regulatory affairs, ARTBA In a major victory for ARTBA and the transportation construction industry, the U. S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) Oct. 6 withdrew the Obama administration’s proposed rule allowing geographic and other hiring mandates on federal-aid transportation construction projects. The agency determined the regulation “is not practicable ...

Posted: 10/6/2017
Category: Legislative & Regulatory

State DOT Leaders Add Value to ARTBA Regional Meetings

From left to right: Boston, Denver, Indianapolis, Nashville By Mark Holan, editorial director, ARTBA Each of ARTBA’s four regional meetings this fall will feature state Department of Transportation (DOT) officials and other public agency leaders. As keynote speakers and presenters, they will offer their perspectives on state funding and transportation programs, as well as issues ...

Posted: 10/6/2017
Category: Meetings

ARTBA Guide Helps Industry Meet New Silica Standard

By Eileen Houlihan, senior writer/editor, ARTBA ARTBA has developed a compliance assistance document to help transportation construction firms meet new Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) rules for crystalline silica exposure. “What Highway Construction & Material Firm Owners Need to Know About the New OSHA Crystalline Silica Standard” is a “plain-English” publication with key background ...

Posted: 10/6/2017
Category: Legislative & Regulatory

GOP Releases Tax Reform Principles

By Dean Franks, vice president of congressional affairs, ARTBA Congressional Republicans and Trump administration officials Sept. 27 delivered long-awaited principles for a tax reform package they will attempt to move through Congress this fall. The “Unified Framework for Fixing Our Broken Tax Code” is short on details and is largely full of broad concepts that ...

Posted: 9/29/2017
Category: Legislative & Regulatory

Congress Passes Six-Month Aviation Program Extension

By Dean Franks, vice president of congressional affairs, ARTBA The House and Senate approved legislation Sept. 28 that provides Congress six more months to reauthorize federal aviation programs, now one year overdue. The extension expires March 31. This summer, House and Senate authorizing committees each passed aviation bills. Both versions contain controversial aspects: the House ...

Posted: 9/29/2017
Category: Legislative & Regulatory

D.C. Mayor Bowser Details Transportation Projects

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, center left, at the ARTBA offices on Sept. 28. By Mark Holan, editorial director, ARTBA Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) reviewed the city’s capital project opportunities during a Sept. 28 breakfast meeting with ARTBA’s local chapter, the Metropolitan Washington Road & Transportation Builders Association (MWRTBA). The District is bolstering ...

Posted: 9/29/2017
Category: Meetings

FHWA Issues Two Proposals to Reduce Transportation Construction Delays

By Nick Goldstein, vice president of regulatory affairs, ARTBA The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has unveiled two proposals to reduce delays in the environmental review and approval process for transportation construction projects. The measures are part of the agency’s continued efforts to implement the “Fixing America’s Surface Transportation” (FAST) Act reauthorization law. The first proposal, issued ...

Posted: 9/29/2017
Category: Legislative & Regulatory