The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) Dec. 1 provided further guidance on the implementation of the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program to clarify issues raised in its Interim Final Rule (IFR) which governs the program’s implementation until final rules are issued. This is US DOT’s second set of clarifications.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said an announcement on a support package for farmers is imminent and could land at soon as this week. The Deputy Ag Secretary added that the payment plan would take into account recent changes in commodity markets.
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) warned last week that its analysis of the seven major crops indicate that five are set to see larger average losses this year. AFBF said rising input costs and export uncertainty is exacerbating the economic squeeze on producers and increasing the need for further assistance. Some farm program critics are pushing the administration to learn from the assistance programs implemented in Trump’s first term to improve efficiency and avoid overspending. In a letter to Secretary Rollins the critics said that any aid should be subject to strict payment limits and oversight.
“USDA should take prudent measures to direct aid to where it is needed most and avoid unnecessary spending or waste that could further exacerbate our fiscal outlook,” the groups argue.
Agripulse reports that federal conservation funding through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) will no longer limit how much farmers can receive. The continuing resolution (CR), passed by Congress before the Thanksgiving holiday, funds through Jan. 30 those parts of the government not covered by three agency specific appropriations bills approved as part of the CR legislation. The CR funds USDA programs and extends the farm bill another year, does not limit payments for both programs allowing projects to receive more funds than they have in the past.
The U.S. Transportation Department said this week it may withhold up to $30.4 million in federal highway funding from Minnesota over commercial driver licenses issued improperly to non-U.S. residents. The letter to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz gave the state 30 days to come into compliance and revoke the licenses after a federal audit. In September, the Transportation Department issued emergency rules to drastically restrict commercial driver licenses to non-U.S. citizens after a fatal crash in Florida and a government audit.
On November 20, the House Committee on Natural Resources passed the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act, to reform the permitting and judicial review process for construction projects subject to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).
Congress approved, and President Trump signed, legislation reopening the government by providing continuation of funding for most agencies at current levels through January 31. The action ends the 43-day government shutdown, the longest in history. Also in the package are three separate appropriations bills funding individual agencies, including the Department of Agriculture. These three bills had made some movement in the legislative process although were not finalized prior to the shutdown. Different versions of the USDA bill were reported from the House appropriations committee and approved in the Senate.
The Trump Administration this week announced the release of revised regulations determining which wetlands and other bodies of water qualify as a Water of the United States and are therefore subject to federal permit requirements before construction and other land improvement activities can proceed. The rules will be jointly issued by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers establishing, according to an EPA release, a “durable, common-sense definition of ‘water of the United States’” under the Clean Water Act. The rule seeks to codify the Supreme Court’s 2023 Sackett v. EPA decision which found that “adjacent wetlands” under the law are those wetlands that have a continuous surface connection to bodies already considered "waters of the United States.” The wetlands must be “indistinguishable” from those waters to be considered jurisdictional.
The Eno Center for Transportation recently released a report, “Rising Construction Costs: Analyzing the Contributors to Cost Escalations and the Impact on Federal Transportation Infrastructure Investments.” This whitepaper analyzes increases in construction costs from the pandemic to today. Factors include pandemic-based supply chain issues, labor market changes, petroleum price increases, and increased demand for contractors. The paper looks at competing metrics to determine construction inflation and how this can undermine the funding made available through Federal transportation legislation. The paper also explores potential implications of a higher baseline for project costs and how the industry is adapting to continued uncertainty.
Two lawmakers who sponsored legislation to require that commercial driver license testing be conducted in English are now urging Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to investigate the growing trucking industry concern of so-called CDL mills, reports Transport Topics.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has denied a request from the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA), a coalition of environmental activist organizations, to adopt a regulatory permitting program requiring agriculture drainage projects to be granted a MWPCA permit before construction of drainage ditches and systems can proceed. Minnesota LICA and National LICA joined with the Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition asking MPCA to deny the petition.