October 01, 2013
Reston, Va. — The following is a statement from Gregory E. DiLoreto, P.E., P.L.S, D.WRE, president of The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), regarding the current government shutdown and the 20th anniversary of the last federal gas tax increase: “Today marks the 20th anniversary since the federal gas tax was last raised to 18.4......
ASCE Testifies Before Senate EPW
September 26, 2013
ASCE President Greg DiLoreto, P.E., P.L.S, D.WRE, F.ASCE, testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee yesterday about the state of the nation’s surface transportation infrastructure. The hearing entitled “The Need to Invest in America’s Infrastructure and Preserve Federal Transportation Funding” brought together infrastructure heavyweights to discuss revenue solutions for the Highway Trust Fund. During his......
State Leaders KEEP looking at transportation funding solutions
September 20, 2013
This year we’ve seen policymakers at the state level take the lead on tackling the issue of infrastructure funding as several states moved to increase gas taxes (Massachusetts, Maryland, Vermont, Virginia, and Wyoming). And, this week state leaders are in Kansas City at the Council of State Governments (CSG) National Conference discussing a variety of......
September 19, 2013
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved the $10 billion Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRDA), H.R. 3080, today. The mark up of the legislation went smoothly with limited debate on amendments. During mark-up several members of the committee provided amendments to speed up the expenditure of funds out of the Harbor Maintenance......
September 11, 2013
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee introduced the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (H.R. 3080) with much fanfare today. As the title proves, the bill is one of the most policy and reform focused Water Resources Development Acts (WRDA) to be introduced in the past few decades. Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA)......
September 10, 2013
Congress returned from its August recess yesterday to a mountain of unfinished business. With 22 days remaining in the fiscal year, Congress plans to go all in and be in session for nine of them. Nine days to: Avoid a government shut down by passing a FY 2014 budget; Address the federal debt limit or......
FutureStructure – Looking at the Future of Infrastructure and Us
September 06, 2013
What do we want and need from our infrastructure in a hyper-connected, modern world? ASCE has partnered with Governing magazine and others to consider what “FutureStructure” means and how we can get there. The goal of FutureStructure is to help public sector leaders think more like system engineers and get past the constraints of......
This Week’s Top 5 Infrastructure Stories
September 06, 2013
ASCE Report Card Chair Writes for PBS on Infrastructure’s Present and Future Expanding cities, global businesses, and an interconnected world mean that people need to travel to more places than ever before. Cities cannot prosper in isolation, and businesses cannot thrive if they cannot move goods effectively. As our nation continues to grow, so too......
ASCE Attends National Conference of State Legislatures in Atlanta
August 27, 2013
A few weeks ago I went down to Atlanta, GA to help ASCE participate in the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) annual Legislative Summit. The meeting is the largest gathering of state legislators held each year and was attended by nearly 5,000 people. One of the things I did there was to exhibit at......
Senate Appropriations Committee Looking at Inland Waterways Funding
August 19, 2013
Senate appropriators are taking a look at overhauling the way that the federal government collects fees for the Inland Waterways Trust Fund. The committee is considering tossing out the current 20 cent diesel fuel tax, which brings in an estimated $170 million annually to pay for lock, dam, and dredging costs. As currently structured the......