This week, hundreds of elected, nonprofit, business, and community leaders will host events to advocate one message: “Americans are waiting. The future won’t. It’s #TimeToBuild.” Every day of Infrastructure Week, local, state, and national stakeholders will highlight the projects, technologies, and policies that are necessary to improve our country’s infrastructure. To participate in this week-long…
This week, Alamo Area Council of Governments (AACOG) will co-host a CarFit event with many stakeholders in their region. CarFit is a free, interactive, and educational program that uses trained volunteers to assess the safest “fit” for older drivers and their vehicles. Simple improvements that help improve driver safety and community mobility include educating the…
FHWA launched a National Dialogue on Highway Automation. The program includes five upcoming workshops hosted around the country concerning different areas of highway autonomation. FHWA plans to include a broader range of stakeholders to inform FHWA’s role in automation and national research, policy, and programs to aid in the development of the technology. The Launch…
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has begun its National Level Exercise (NLE) 2018, an event that brings together more than 250 federal, state, local, tribal and territorial governments, private industry, and nonprofit organizations to test their emergency response to a simulated major disaster. Through May 11, these organizations are coordinating together and using established…
On Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a notice in the Federal Register seeking nominations to fill vacancies on EPA’s National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC). EPA requests nominations of qualified candidates to be considered for a three-year appointment. The 15-member NDWAC was established by the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide practical and independent advice, consultation,…
The Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (MVRPC) launched a new safety campaign focusing on seat belt use, proper child safety-seat use, and safe cycling guidelines. This new effort is in response to recent, staggering statistics that show that only 83% of Ohio motorists wear a seat belt – the lowest rate in five years. MVRPC…
Energy Secretary Rick Perry recently announced $68.5 million in funding through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy for early-stage research of advanced vehicle technologies. Projects selected through this Vehicle Technologies Office funding opportunity will address one of five topics, including batteries and electrification, technology integration, and co-optimization of engines…
The Nebraska Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA) recognized the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area Planning Agency (MAPA) with awards for two projects in addition to the APA Planning Agency Award for its overall work. The Omaha Metropolitan Area Online Bicycle Map won the Transportation Plan Award. The interactive map helps the community find routes…
Under the newly proposed bipartisan and bicameral Flood Mapping Modernization and Homeowner Empowerment Pilot Program Act of 2018, cities would gain access to a new grant initiative aimed at improving how the nation assesses and manages flood risk. If implemented, three cities with populations over 50,000 would be selected to participate in the FEMA pilot…
Senators Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray recently introduced a bipartisan bill to address the urgent opioid crisis in America. The Opioid Response Act of 2018 (S. 2680) is composed of forty proposals, mostly from members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions, that came from seven bipartisan hearings and feedback received from…
Representatives Elizabeth Esty and Peter King joined forces to introduce the Brownfields Redevelopment Tax Incentive Reauthorization Act of 2018, as referenced in their “Dear Colleague” letter. If passed, the legislation would save a brownfields tax incentive that expired in January 2012. According to the letter, the bill would “reauthorize a tax incentive program that would…
On April 18, the House Agriculture Committee passed the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 out of committee in a party-line vote. The strictly partisan vote resulted from many factors, including the bill’s proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the feeling from Democrats that they were left out of the bill…
Last Friday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee introduced the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2018, which would reauthorize FAA through FY 2023. Attached to the bill are provisions of the bipartisan Disaster Recovery Reform Act previously passed by the House that makes changes to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) policy. The FAA…
The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations subcommittee had its FY 2019 Member Day yesterday. Several members applauded FY 2018 increases and urged the panel to protect infrastructure and housing programs and increase funding for FY 2019. Members also asked for support in their districts on specific issues, such as housing…
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) shut down the idea of a recessions package to reduce spending in the recently passed Omnibus bill, as has been floated in the House and by the administration. McConnell said that this action could imperil future negotiations with Democrats, telling Fox News, “you can’t make an agreement one month and…
May is Older Americans Month, and it’s around the corner. Get ready by visiting oam.acl.gov for materials, activity ideas, and resources to promote and celebrate this year’s theme, Engage at Every Age. Use #OAM18 to spread the word. More materials, including Spanish products and shareable social media images are coming at the end of March.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a wireless infrastructure streamlining order last week to try to speed up American efforts in the race to 5G, exempting small cell deployments from federal historic preservation and environmental reviews. Now only states and localities that have their own review processes in place can mandate them. After a failed attempt…
After months of wrangling, five continuing resolutions, two short-term government shutdowns, and much argument over what funding levels and policy riders should make the final cut, Congress voted and the president signed an omnibus appropriations bill that will keep the federal government funded through the end of the current fiscal year on September 30, 2018.…
Representatives Sander Levin (D-MI) and David Joyce (R-OH) submitted a joint letter to the House Appropriations Committee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies requesting an appropriation of $300 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) for FY 2019. With 63 bipartisan co-signers joining the effort, this is the largest number of signers supporting GLRI…
At the request of his colleagues, Representative Collin C. Peterson stopped Farm Bill negotiations until House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conway provides Democrats with the draft text of the Farm Bill and the Congressional Budget Office cost estimates and impact assessments. Disagreement over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is partly to blame –…
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