Summary Findings of the Fourth National Climate Assessment
January 02, 2019 —
Anthony B. Cavender - Gravel2GavelOn November 23, the latest National Climate Assessment, Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4), was released by the U.S. Global Research Program, as required by the Clean Air Act. The Assessment, comprising three volumes and 1600 pages, contains some rather bleak findings which the Report usefully summarizes. Here’s a description of these findings.
1.
Communities. The report states that “climate change creates new risks and exacerbates existing vulnerabilities in communities across the United States.” In particular, “more frequent and intense extreme weather and climate-related events” will continue to damage infrastructure , ecosystems and social systems. However, “global action” to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions can substantially reduce these risks.
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Anthony B. Cavender, PillsburyMr. Cavender may be contacted at
anthony.cavender@pillsburylaw.com
Federal Regulatory Recap: A Summary of Recent Rulemaking Actions Taken or Proposed Affecting the Energy Industry
December 16, 2023 —
Anthony B. Cavender - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law BlogIt is clear that these have been busy months for federal environmental regulators, especially those working at EPA, the federal departments and the Council on Environmental Quality. Even the Department of Agriculture has found itself coping with greenhouse gases (GHG) issues in its administration of the laws applicable to agriculture and the national forests. The ambitious scope of the current “all of government” approach may be discerned after learning how many disparate federal agencies are employed in implementing this policy. So many actions have been proposed or completed that some state officials are experiencing “comment fatigue” because they are being overwhelmed by the scope, size, and complexity of these federal initiatives. The Environmental Protection Agency is, of course, at the forefront of these actions and activities, as described below.
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Anthony B. Cavender, PillsburyMr. Cavender may be contacted at
anthony.cavender@pillsburylaw.com
Get Smarter About Electric Construction Equipment
October 24, 2022 —
CONEXPO-CON/AGGMILWAUKEE – Sustainability in the construction industry is being advanced by the public and private sectors. Governments are adopting more clean-air regulations at local and regional levels and companies are adopting sustainability policies and asking partners to help them meet their targets.
Consequently, many manufacturers have already developed – or are in the process of developing – electric-powered construction equipment to meet increasing emissions regulations, provide efficiency improvements, and lower operating costs. All electric, electric/hydraulic, and battery-operated versions rival their diesel and gas counterparts in performance, notes
Joel Honeyman, Vice President of Global Innovation at
Bobcat.
THE CHANGING INDUSTRY
“People say electric machines are not going to perform as well as a diesel machine,” Honeyman observes. “That is simply not true. In many cases they can outperform them.”
“Many people are so used to what they have and are afraid of new technology. Some companies have been running diesel- and gas-powered equipment for 40, 50 years. Hydraulics have been on equipment for 80 years. Adjusting to an electric-powered machine is quite a paradigm shift.”
About the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM)
AEM is the North America-based international trade group representing off-road equipment manufacturers and suppliers with more than 1,000 companies and more than 200 product lines in the agriculture and construction-related industry sectors worldwide. The equipment manufacturing industry in the United States supports 2.8 million jobs and contributes roughly $288 billion to the economy every year.
About CONEXPO-CON/AGG
Held every three years, CONEXPO-CON/AGG is the must-attend event for construction industry professionals. The show features the latest equipment, products, services and technologies for the construction industry, as well as industry-leading education. The next CONEXPO-CON/AGG will be held March 14-18, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information on CONEXPO-CON/AGG, visit https://www.conexpoconagg.com. Learn more about
excavator tech here.
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The Expansion of Potential Liability of Construction Managers and Consultants
November 18, 2019 —
Scott D. Cessar - Construction ExecutiveOver the last decade or so, there has been far more judicial willingness to adopt legal theories that result in an increased risk of exposure to construction managers and consultants working on construction projects. This has resulted in a greater likelihood of lawsuits being filed that name construction managers and consultants as defendants and a greater likelihood of those lawsuits surviving efforts to have the lawsuits dismissed prior to trial. The consequence of more claims has led to increased costs for legal expenses, settlements and uncompensated personnel time devoted to the defense of the claims.
This expansion of potential liability may be broken into two sets:
- claims for pure economic loss not arising from property damage or personal injury by parties not in a contractual relationship with a construction manager or consultant; and
- claims for property damage or personal injury by a party not in a contractual relationship with a construction manager or consultant.
The first set concerns claims by a contractor against a construction manager or consultant that its breach of duties owed to the owner on a project and/or its provision of incomplete or inaccurate information on a project, which it knew, or should have reasonably anticipated, would be relied on by the contractor, resulted in damages to the contractor.
Reprinted courtesy of
Scott D. Cessar, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.
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Mr. Cessar may be contacted at
scessar@eckertseamans.com
Alabama Court Determines No Coverage For Insured's Faulty Workmanship
June 28, 2013 —
Tred EyerlyThe Alabama Supreme Court found there was no coverage for the insured cabinet maker for claims arising from alleged faulty workmanship. Shane Traylor Cabinetmaker, L.L.C. v. Am. Resources Ins. Co., Inc., 2013 Ala. LEXIS 42 (May 3, 2013).
The insured was sued by a homeowner for property damage caused by faulty workmanship. The insurer refused to defend, contending there was no "occurrence." The trial court granted summary judgment to the insurer.
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Tred EyerlyTred Eyerly can be contacted at
te@hawaiilawyer.com
Four Things Construction Professionals Need to Know About Asbestos
September 23, 2019 —
Daniel King - Construction ExecutiveAlthough asbestos had its heyday in America half a century ago, asbestos exposure remains a major health risk and financial liability for construction professionals. One study estimates that at least 1.3 million construction industry workers are still at risk for occupational asbestos exposure.
Up until the 1980s, U.S. manufacturers mixed asbestos into thousands of construction products. Asbestos is a unique mineral that can be worked into flexible fibers while still retaining its durability and heat resistance. Unfortunately, the fibrous nature of asbestos also makes it highly toxic.
This article provides an overview of what construction professionals need to know about asbestos, including:
- potential long-term health consequences of asbestos exposure for workers and short-term financial consequences for employers;
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration asbestos regulations;
- how to identify and safely remove asbestos-containing materials; and
- what people should do if they have a history of asbestos exposure.
Reprinted courtesy of
Daniel King, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.
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Mr. King may be contacted at
dking@asbestos.com
Nevada Budget Remains at Impasse over Construction Defect Law
June 01, 2011 —
CDJ STAFFNegotiations for the Nevada state budget have stalled over proposals to amend the state’s construction defect laws. Assembly Republicans had offered changes to the law to make it friendlier to contractors; however, after a state Supreme Court ruling that the state could not move a local government entity’s funds into state coffers, pressure has increased on the governor to lift the expiration dates of taxes approved in 2009.
The Reno Gazette-Journal quotes John Madole, a construction industry lobbyist, “We agree with them that you have to address the issue of the attorney fees, and for all practical purposes, they are automatically awarded when anybody brings any kind of suit.”
Speaker of the Assembly, John Oceguera, a Democrat, has proposed a bill that “makes it absolutely crystal clear that the only time you get attorney's fees is if you're the prevailing party.”
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How to Cool Down Parks in Hot Cities
July 08, 2024 —
Todd Woody - BloombergThe drive to be outside, even in hot weather, is hard to overcome. People without air conditioning would be more likely to seek relief at their local park, according to Elie Bou-Zeid, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Princeton, than at a government building where they can feel like climate refugees. “It’ll certainly be more pleasant to be in a park than in some indoor stadium where nobody wants to go,” he says. The scientists are combining inexpensive technologies, some novel, some already in use, that they plan to test first in New Jersey for deployment in hot spots like Phoenix.
Kirigami
The art of cutting and folding paper, kirigami is inspiring researchers to design structures that control wind in specific ways. A kirigami structure made from fabric and placed over misters could regulate wind speed to maximize cooling. Or it could form the roof of a pavilion, steering air into the structure.
Misters
They spray small water droplets that quickly evaporate, cooling the air. But the effectiveness of misters, which have long been used in cities such as Las Vegas and Phoenix, depends on wind speed. If there’s too little wind, the droplets won’t all evaporate; too much wind and the cooling effects dissipate.
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Todd Woody, Bloomberg