Companies want to help shape global warming legislation in Congress, figuring the right plan could boost profits.

The Los Angeles Times reports - “Sprawling across about 9,000 acres of rolling farmland in southwestern Indiana is one of the world’s biggest aluminum smelters, operated by Alcoa Inc. The maze of rectangular buildings and giant smokestacks consumes enough electricity to supply a city of 200,000 — power generated by burning more than 2 million tons of coal a year.

So it may be surprising that company executives are pushing Congress to pass a version of President Obama’s plan for combating global warming. After all, Obama wants to slap hefty fees on facilities like Alcoa’s that pump millions of tons of carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the air. Those fees could raise costs for the company and leave it vulnerable to foreign competitors.”

To read the rest of the story click here.

The Ithaca Journal reports - “Federal stimulus money has had time to permeate communities like Tompkins County, but area business leaders see the financial boost as little more than a stop-gap for government, and a moot point for private businesses.”

To read the rest of the story click here.

The New Yrok Times reports - “For months, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has been eager to stand beside labor leaders and contractors to announce projects that would employ thousands of construction workers. News conferences were scheduled first for April 16 and then for Wednesday.

But those dates came and went, in part because many powerful developers balked, threatening to tell anyone who asked that the soon-to-be-announced “project labor agreement” between builders and construction unions, with labor givebacks, was worth far less to developers than what was claimed in a press release. Further, they said it would probably not lead to a new burst of construction….

The agreement, which claims to cut project costs by “an average of 16 to 21 percent,” is all but finished and a news conference still expected. More than a dozen projects have lined up to participate. But, developers and bankers say, that does not necessarily mean that any of them will proceed. The matter has become an object lesson in the intricate dance steps of New York politicians, real estate executives and union officials…”

To read the rest of the story click here.

ESDC President Marisa Lago announced that, within several weeks, the agency would be issuing “requests for proposal” for funding through two programs adopted in last year’s budget.

$120 million will be available through the “Upstate Regional Blueprint Fund.” This fund can provide loans and grants for business attraction and expansion projects, and funding of land acquisition and site preparation. Eligible applicants include business, municipalities, local development corporations and others.

$35 million will be available through the “Downstate Revitalization Fund,” and will be available to support investments in distressed communities, business and technology development, and public/private cooperative efforts that promote new investments in the state. Funding categories and eligible applicants are similar to that for the Upstate Blueprint Fund, discussed above.
No further details on the RFPs are yet available. Staff contact ken.pokalsky@bcnys.org.

Govs. Schwarzenegger and Rendell and New York Mayor Bloomberg worry that Congress will hijack a proposal to improve the nation’s highways and bridges

The Los Angeles Times reports - “Two prominent governors, California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger and Pennsylvania’s Edward G. Rendell, sent a memo to President Obama saying he needed to assert more political leadership instead of leaving it to Congress to draft a plan for improving the nation’s aging highways, bridges and ports.

In particular, Rendell said he was concerned that Congress — left to its own devices — would load up a future infrastructure plan with “earmarks” and other narrowly focused spending priorities that undermined its credibility and effectiveness.

At a meeting with the president last month, the two governors and New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg discussed the memo they had sent to the White House, a draft of which reads: “It is very important that the administration be proactive rather than left reacting to congressional proposals.”

In the coming months, Congress will consider a bill to set aside as much as $450 billion for highway and other infrastructure projects over a span of six years. House aides said members of Congress intended to insert special projects, or earmarks, into the bill, despite warnings from Obama that he wanted to rein in such spending.

As yet, the Senate has not decided how it will handle earmarks in the bill, said an aide to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee.

Rendell cautioned in an interview that if the bill was larded with earmarks, it could jeopardize the political consensus needed to modernize the nation’s network of roads.

To read the rest of the story click here.
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The Chamber Alliance of New York State will be hosting a “New York Day in Washington” May 11 - 13, in conjunction with the US Chamber Small Business Summit.
Part of that event will include a briefing with New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler on Transportation Reauthorization issues like those in the posting above. To find out more about this event click here.

The Associated Press reports - “The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the government can weigh costs against benefits in deciding whether to order power plants to undertake upgrades that would protect fish.

The court’s 6-3 decision is a defeat for environmentalists who had urged the justices to uphold a favorable federal appeals court ruling. That ruling could have required an estimated 554 power plants to install technology that relies on recycled water to cool machinery.

By reducing water intake, the closed-cycle cooling also results in fewer fish being sucked into the system or smashed to death against screens. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates water-intake systems at power plants kill 3.4 billion fish and shellfish each year.

The case began in New York, with a challenge by the environmental group Riverkeeper to rules proposed by the EPA. When Riverkeeper won, Entergy Nuclear, owner of the Indian Point nuclear power plants on the Hudson River, led the successful appeal.”

To read the rest of the story click here.

Syracuse.com reports - “New York Regional Interconnect officials have pulled the plug on a controversial high-voltage power line.

In a surprise move Friday, the developer told the state Public Service Commission that it was suspending all work on a proposed 190-mile line that would run from Marcy to Orange County because of a federal ruling Tuesday that NYRI claims would cripple its rate of return.

The announcement came halfway through the state agency’s evidentiary hearings on the project, which would have cost more than $2.1 billion to build. For Madison County residents who have been fighting the project for more than three years, the news was more than welcome.
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To read the rest of the story click here.

The Buffalo News reports - “A state law that critics say drives up construction costs by requiring multiple contractors on government projects is facing a new legal challenge from a group that includes a statewide contractors organization and Buffalo Niagara region political and business leaders.

The group has filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court seeking to overturn the changes made last year to the Wicks Law that set eligibility thresholds that are higher downstate than they are on upstate projects.

The law covers government construction projects valued at $500,000 or more in upstate, but applies only to projects worth $3 million or more in New York City. That dual standard is unconstitutional, said Buffalo attorney Michael B. Powers, who was a leader in the legal challenge that helped remove toll barriers from the Niagara Thruway. The lawsuit also contends that the 2008 changes to

the Wicks Law restricts commerce by making it almost impossible for non-union and out-of-state contractors to win government construction projects in New York. “Limiting competition — this is what this is all about,” said Erie County Executive Chris Collins, who is a party to the lawsuit, along with the Empire State chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors and the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, among others.

The Wicks Law, which dates to 1912 and was originally intended to prevent corruption in the awarding of building contracts, inflates the cost of government construction projects by an estimated $300 million a year, Powers said.”

To read the rest of the story click here.

The Business Council strongly opposes S.1209, which would require the Department of Environmental Conservation to impose restrictions on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse emissions from any source, including but not limited to manufacturing, power generation, fuel processing and others. Presumably, this authority could also be applied to residential and commercial buildings, on- and off-road vehicles, and other sources.

To read the bill emo click here.

The Business Council STRONGLY OPPOSES this legislation that would impose a prevailing wage mandate on certain off-site custom fabrication for related public works projects. The legislation would include, but not be limited to the custom fabrication of woodwork, cases, cabinets or counters, electrical, plumbing, heating, cooling, ventilation or exhaust duct systems and countless other products. This legislation would significantly increase the cost of public works projects.
To read the bill memo click here.

The bill number is A.3101 (John) / S.588 (Marcellino)