Government

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has rescinded a boil water advisory for the public water supply for the City of Lorraine located in Ellsworth County. The advisory was issued because of a loss of pressure due to a water main break...

Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.) today released the following statement regarding the Supreme Court's stay of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new and heavy-handed regulations on coal-fired power plants

Responding to the Supreme Court’s issuance of a stay on the EPA’s heavy-handed regulations on coal-fired power plants, Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the senior Republican in the United States Senate, applauded the decision.

Congressman Luke Messer (IN-06) released the following statement after the Supreme Court blocked the enforcement of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan while litigation continues

U.S. Senators Dan Coats (R-Ind.) and Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) expressed cautious optimism regarding the proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that would more clearly exempt recreational vehicles (RVs) from manufactu...

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, along with Representative Collin Peterson, today announced a $7.6 million investment to support the Marsh Lake Restoration Project. In December, the lawmakers sent a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...

State and city partnership with Veolia will explore strategic redevelopment of MassDOT District 6 and steam facility for economic growth, transit-oriented affordable housing and open space

Building on legislation he introduced in previous sessions of Congress, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has introduced new legislation (S. 2532) to dramatically increase the authori...

U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee issued the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s Decision to halt enforcement of the Clean-Power Plan while challenges work through...

With their constituents already paying the highest energy rates in the continental United States, Congressman Joe Kennedy III and Senator Edward J. Markey again raised concerns about costs, specifically ISO-NE’s 10th Forward Capacity Auction (FCA10) ...

Today, at the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee markup of the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization Act, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) introduced and passed an amendment to ensure that veterans receive hiring preference ...

Congressman Bruce Westerman (AR-04) issued the following statement Thursday (Feb. 11) in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to temporarily block the Obama Administration’s greenhouse gas emissions rules on power plant

U.S. Senators Joe Donnelly and Dan Coats expressed cautious optimism regarding the proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that would more clearly exempt recreational vehicles (RVs) from manufactured housing standa...

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson released the following statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision to temporarily block one of the EPA’s rules regulating carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants.

Rep. John R. Carter (R-TX-31) introduced the Resist Executive Amnesty on Defense Installations (READI) Act which will prohibit any illegal alien from being housed on our military installations. The Obama Administration is planning to force several mili...

U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield (KY-01), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power, released the following statement after the Supreme Court issued a stay of the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan

Earlier today, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY), and 12 other House Democrats sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service asking the agency to clarify the tax form used by non-profit hospitals in order to encourage investments in s...

U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) issued the following statement regarding last night’s U.S. Supreme Court decision to stay implementation of President Obama’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) until current litigation is resolved.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) Committee unanimously approved legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) and a bipartisan group of his colleagues which would improve how the federal government manages its buildings and other property across the country. The Federal Property Management Reform Act of 2016, introduced by Senators King, Tom Carper (D-Del.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), and James Lankford (R-Okla.), would establish a framework for federal agencies to better manage existing space in a more cost-effective manner and help facilitate the disposal of unneeded federal property. The Federal Property Management Reform Act of 2016 will now move to the Senate floor for consideration by the full Senate. “Maine taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill for government property that goes unused, and the Committee’s unanimous approval of our bill is a solid step toward ensuring they won’t,” Senator King said. “With far too many unused or underutilized federal buildings draining vital resources, our common-sense legislation will make sure that the federal government manages its properties more efficiently and that taxpayer dollars are spent more effectively. I applaud the Committee for its vote today and look forward to advancing this legislation in the Senate.” Specifically, the Federal Property Management Reform Act would require federal agencies to maintain an up-to-date inventory of the property it owns, incentivize agencies to dispose of excess property by allowing them to retain and reinvest sale proceeds, and establish a Federal Property Council to develop uniform guidance for agency property managers to follow and share best practices in property management among agencies. The federal government’s real property holdings are vast and diverse, incorporating hundreds of thousands of buildings and permanent structures across the county, and making it the largest property owner in the United States. In fact, every year since January 2003, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has placed real property management on its list of “high risk” government activities, citing long-standing problems with excess and underutilized property; deteriorating and aging facilities; unreliable property data; and a heavy reliance on costly leasing instead of ownership to meet new needs. The Federal Property Management Reform Act of 2016 passed by the committee today would: Require agencies to maintain a current inventory of real property, including information about the cost and use of their facilities and how these properties fit into the agencies broader management plan. Codify and expand the duties of the Federal Real Property Council to ensure this body develops guidance and ensures the implementation of strategies for better managing federal property; Incentivize agencies to dispose of excess property through retention of the net proceeds of sale as long as those proceeds are used to further disposal activities, investments in federal buildings personnel or for deficit reduction; Codify the broader management framework of the Administration’s National Strategy for the Efficient Use of Real Property, ensuring these actions become a permanent framework for agency property management; Build off efforts previously championed by Sen. Carper in the Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act of 2010. Senator King has previously partnered with Senator Carper to improve federal property management. Last year, the Senators introduced and ushered into law an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that authorized a pilot program to encourage more efficient federal property management by streamlining the process by which the U.S. Army disposes of unused or underutilized properties.

Congressman Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) released the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to halt enforcement of President Obama's Clean Power Plan

Congressman French Hill (AR-02) released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay, stopping the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) implementation of the Clean Power Plan

U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced significant new investments that are a part of the President’s proposed fiscal year 2017 budget request. The proposed budget is focused on tackling our nation's greatest challenges by making smart ...

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) asked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review the effectiveness of a regulation that controls lead and copper in water and establish a limit for lead in drinking...

Senator Ayotte with Michelle Firmbach Nadeau, Senior Manager, Public Affairs; John LaRiviere, General Manager & Director Special Waste and Bill Roberts, Senior Vice President of Operations, Wheelabrator Technologies

Montana communities use these Army Corps grants, which are made possible through the Water Resources Development Act Section 595 program. The grants can be used to upgrade wastewater treatment facilities, water supply infrastructure, environmental rest...

Legislation that would strengthen requirements for notifying customers about unsafe levels of lead and other contamination of public drinking water passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support, Congressman Ryan Costello (PA-06) announced Thur...

U.S. Representative Bill Flores (R-Texas) released the following statement regarding the U.S. Supreme Court issuing a stay on the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan

Gov. Peter Shumlin issued the following statement after the Supreme Court put on hold the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan while litigation against the plan proceeds.

“By staying U.S. EPA’s Clean Power Plan, the Supreme Court got it right. The State of Ohio has pointed out the serious legal shortcomings of the federal Clean Power Plan on numerous occasions. We will evaluate the decision and determine how it will...

Hawaii’s towns and landscapes are changing rapidly. The era of the sugar plantations is coming to a close. The once numerous crack seed, shave ice, and mom and pop stores on small town streets are giving way to big box stores, along with one-lane bri...