Washington Observer.

This article presents news briefs related to construction projects related to various administrative agencies in the U.S. The independent Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) in the U.S. formally recommended to shut 22 major installations of the Department of Defense (DOD) and make changes at 33 other large posts. Those results differ from DOD's own plan, released in May, which called for closing 33 bases and realigning 29. For construction, a key figure is the $21 billion in "one time up-front costs" that BRAC says are needed to carry out its recommendation. The U.S. Senate beat back an effort by opponents to undo a controversial Environmental Protection Agency rule that regulates mercury emissions from powerplants for the first time. Opponents are mostly Democrats but also a few Republicans from states where the plan's "cap-and-trade" formula allows emissions that they believe is still high.