Infra Insight Blog

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and other environmental laws can create significant legal risks for the delivery of complex infrastructure projects using alternative procurement strategies. On October 10, 2024, I had the pleasure of collaborating with my Nossaman colleague Rob Thornton, along with guest speaker Tim Suydam from the East County Advanced Water Joint Powers Authority, to discuss … 

Imagine you are sitting in your car at a traffic signal. The signal turns green and you begin to accelerate. Without you doing anything, your car suddenly screeches to a halt as another car runs a red light and whizzes past. Your car, equipped with sensors and an array of wireless connections, was able to communicate with other vehicles and the surrounding infrastructure to avoid collision. If your car had not stopped, you would have been involved in a serious accident. According to a recent plan released by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), this is exactly the type of ...

On September 23, 2024, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky issued an Opinion and Order in Mid-America Milling Co., LLC, et al., v. U.S. Department of Transportation, et. al., No. 3:23-CV-00072-GFVT, 2024 WL 4267183 (E.D. Ky. Sept. 23, 2024), granting a preliminary injunction on the basis that the race- and gender-based rebuttable presumptions used in the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program violates the United States Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. ... 

Through recent updates to California’s Public Contract Code, public agencies are being equipped with new tools to deliver major infrastructure projects through use of the progressive design-build (PDB) model. As more public agencies gain access to the legislative tools available to use PDB, we expect to see an increasing number of water projects undertaken and completed successfully under the PDB or other early contractor delivery methods.

In Nossaman’s California Water Views – 2024 Outlook, I examine the differences between PDB and fixed-price design-build (DB ...

After months of unusually heavy rainfall from California’s atmospheric rivers in the beginning of 2024, many projects found themselves facing delays, additional costs and setbacks due to the wet weather. In determining who is responsible for those delays, costs or setbacks, the first thing to look for in a contract are provisions on Force Majeure. Some parties may be surprised by what their contract says on Force Majeure and what risk they assumed for bad weather. … 

Insurance on a project is a vital tool with which to manage project risk. In a warming world with ever larger and more complex projects, insurance becomes that much more important to ensure that projects can stay on track after an accident or other insurable event.

Join Jim Vorhis and me on May 30th for the next webinar in our Infra Insight webinar series focused on navigating risks and adapting insurance to align with evolving methods of project delivery. We are excited to welcome our guest panelists, Michael Earp and Tariq Taherbhai from Aon Construction & Infrastructure. … 

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) recently announced a long-awaited Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for public agencies to enhance technical capacity to deliver projects using a public-private partnership (P3) model. Authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58; also known as the IIJA), $57.72 million is available through the Innovative Finance and Asset Concessions Grant Program (Program) for public agencies to hire technical, financial and legal experts (either on staff or as consultants) to support the evaluation and delivery ...

While the Build America Buy America Act aims to promote domestic manufacturing and support American industries, it also presents several challenges. Addressing these challenges requires a balanced approach that balances the Act's objectives with the practical considerations of project management, supply chain dynamics and international trade relations. Join us on March 19th as we discuss these issues and more with Al Caldarelli, Managing Counsel, Commercial Transactions for Massachusetts Department of Transportation and Teddy Low, Senior Deputy County Counsel for Los ...

On January 17, 1994, a 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck Northridge, California, resulting in thousands of casualties and approximately $60 billion in damages and economic loss. Hospitals within the impacted area suffered severe structural damage and many became inoperable. Recognizing the insufficiency of the existing seismic safety standards for hospitals, the state of California signed Senate Bill 1953 (SB 1953) into law in September 1994.

SB 1953, also known as the Hospital Seismic Retrofit Program, established the following deadlines by which all California general ...

When an infrastructure project takes the first steps from vague idea towards becoming a reality, public owners must make countless decisions on how to advance the project. One decision of particular importance is the selection of the project delivery method, which has significant impacts on the project’s timeline and budget. While many owners are familiar with a variety of project delivery methods, including alternative delivery methods such as design-build, construction manager-at-risk and public-private partnerships, knowing when to choose one option over another can ...