POLICY The EPA has repealed most of the carbon standards that governed fossil fuel power plants. Administrator Lee Zeldin signed the final rule on Sept. 14. It strikes the emission guidelines covering existing coal-, oil-, and gas-fired steam generating units, as well as the carbon capture and storage standards for existing coal units undertaking a large modification. The carbon capture standards end for new base load natural gas combustion turbines, but the phase 1 efficiency standards for new combustion turbines survive. The EPA puts the present value of power-sector compliance cost savings from 2026 to 2047 at $160 billion at a three percent discount rate. The agency issued a supplemental proposal the same day that would rescind every remaining greenhouse gas standard for fossil fuel power plants under Clean Air Act section 111, including the partial capture standards for new steam units and the efficiency standards for new and reconstructed turbines. The final rule takes effect 60 days after it publishes in the Federal Register. The supplemental proposal draws a virtual public hearing 15 days after publication and a comment period that closes 45 days after publication. Neither document has reached the Federal Register yet.
Sources: EPA, prepublication final rule, Sept. 14; EPA fact sheet
ENG Washington County takes proposals Friday for the final design of a Lake Elmo intersection. The county’s public works department wants project coordination, final design, and construction documents for the CSAH 10, CSAH 17, and CR 17B intersection, carried as RB-2808 in the capital improvement program. Proposals are due Sept. 18 at 2pm. All three legs are two-lane undivided rural highways posted at 55 mph. The intersection appeared in the county’s 2020, 2021, and 2022 Intersection Control Ranking System reports. The work follows a new Lake Elmo Elementary School for 1,100 students and 130 staff in the northwest quadrant, for which the county has already built a permanent signal at the main school access and a temporary wooden-pole signal at the intersection itself. The roundabout justification report from the preliminary design phase has not yet been routed to MnDOT for approval, so the control decision is not settled. Final design starts this fall and right of way runs into fall 2027, with bidding set for January 2028 and construction in 2028. The county leads the project with the city of Lake Elmo and the Valley Branch Watershed District.
Sources: Washington County bid posting; the RFP
ENG The rules that decide what counts as an offset on a Minnesota highway expansion are still only proposed. Minnesota Statutes §161.178 keeps a capacity expansion project out of the State Transportation Improvement Program or a metropolitan TIP until its greenhouse gas and vehicle-miles-traveled assessment and offset plan clear MnDOT's technical advisory committee and the commissioner. The committee's Aug. 13 materials explain that a project or program must be funded and programmed, bid or contracted, finished, or operating on or after Jan. 1, 2025, and it cannot be a continuation, extension, or enhancement of any prior service or activity. The same materials score the draft 2027-2030 STIP as a net emissions increase of 65,000 to 160,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent over 20 years, against a standard of no increase. The Metro district accounts for all of it, as the only district with capacity expansion in the program and the only one with no EV charging stations to offset it. The committee takes public comment at its next meeting, Sept. 30 from 1 to 3pm at MnDOT Central Office, Room G15, 395 John Ireland Blvd in Saint Paul. Seven of the nine committee seats expire Jan. 1, 2027, and MnDOT must post the open seats by Nov. 17.
Sources: MnDOT GHG technical advisory committee; Aug. 13 committee slides; Minn. Stat. 161.178
POLICY A federal appeals court has thrown out the emergency order that kept a Michigan coal plant running. The D.C. Circuit decided People of the State of Michigan v. Department of Energy on Sept. 11, vacating the order that required Consumers Energy to operate the 1,420-megawatt J.H. Campbell plant past its May 31, 2025 retirement date. Minnesota petitioned alongside Illinois and Michigan, with Special Assistant Attorney General Peter Surdo on the states’ briefs. The court read section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act as a limited backstop for genuine supply emergencies rather than authority to displace a state’s resource planning, and noted that the Michigan Public Service Commission and MISO had both approved the retirement after extensive review. Michigan’s attorney general says the retirement was expected to save Michigan ratepayers $600 million, and that Consumers Energy has reported $295 million in costs tied to the plant between May 2025 and June 30, 2026 that it seeks to recover from customers. The Energy Department has issued similar orders covering six other plants and has reissued each one before it expired.
Sources: D.C. Circuit opinion, No. 25-1159; Michigan Attorney General, Sept. 11
BIZ Mortenson will build the Kansas City Royals’ new ballpark. The Minneapolis contractor and Kansas City-based McCownGordon take construction manager at risk on a $1.9 billion, 1.25-million-square-foot open-air venue in downtown Kansas City, announced Monday. The stadium anchors a broader $3 billion, 85-acre mixed-use district where JE Dunn will work on the surrounding neighborhood development. The team is aiming at a May 2027 groundbreaking and completion for opening day 2030. The joint venture will work with a Kansas City community engagement firm to recruit local trade partners. Mortenson built Truist Park in Atlanta and is currently building the Las Vegas Athletics’ ballpark with McCarthy Building Companies. In August, Mortenson joined Clark Construction and Smoot Construction on the Washington Commanders’ $3.8 billion stadium.
Source: Construction Dive, Sept. 15
Preliminary entries for ACEC Minnesota’s 60th annual Engineering Excellence Awards are due Thursday, Oct. 8, with winning projects recognized at the Feb. 18, 2027 gala, and the four-session Emerging Leaders program for early-career staff runs this October and November.
State
State of Minnesota · environmental emergency response, full service · due Sept. 18 · MNBuys
State of Minnesota · commissioning for mechanical system analysis · due Sept. 21 · MNBuys
MnDOT · Model as Legal Document (MALD) bridge support, first pilot · due Sept. 22 · Notice
MnDOT · road weather management TSMO tactical plan · due Sept. 22 · Notice
State of Minnesota · design for a building automation system upgrade, Minnesota Correctional Facility, Saint Cloud · due Sept. 23 · MNBuys
MnDOT · Spring Valley right of way acquisition, US 63 · due Sept. 23 · Notice
MnDOT · truck electrification needs assessment · due Sept. 23 · RFP
MnDOT · friction test method for the Clear Roads qualified products list · due Sept. 29 · RFP
MnDOT · cost analysis of liquid and solid deicing materials · due Sept. 29 · RFP
MnDOT · winter maintenance survey data web tool · due Sept. 29 · RFP
MnDOT · ROC 52 ADA preliminary and final design, Rochester · due Sept. 30 · Notice
MnDOT · general engineering consultant, preconstruction master contract · RFP anticipated early October · Advance notice
Regional
Metropolitan Council · Housing Forward Cities, missing middle study · due Sept. 22 · RFP
Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization · general engineering services, 2027 and 2028 on call · due Sept. 30 · RFP
Metropolitan Council · ultrasonic rail testing · due Oct. 13 · RFP
Metropolitan Council · modernizing existing interchanges, 363 service interchanges · due Oct. 14 · RFP
Counties
Washington County · CSAH 10, CSAH 17, and CR 17B intersection final design, Lake Elmo · due Sept. 18 · RFP
Washington County · Radio Drive pedestrian management study, CSAH 13 · due Oct. 2 · RFP
Dakota County · County Road 50 and Interstate 35 interchange final engineering design · no date posted · Courtesy notice
Cities
City of Luverne · airport master plan · due Sept. 15 · RFQ
City of Frazee · Phase 1 archaeological survey, Wannigan Regional Park · due Sept. 18 · RFP
City of Bloomington · construction manager agency, Fire Station 2 · due Sept. 22 · MNBuys
City of Bloomington · construction manager at risk, Dwan Clubhouse · due Sept. 24 · MNBuys
City of Victoria · public works space needs study · due Oct. 2 · RFP
City of Medina · 2030-2050 comprehensive plan update · due Oct. 5 · RFP
City of Waconia · 2050 comprehensive plan, master consultant · due Oct. 9 · RFP
City of Hopkins · 2050 comprehensive plan public engagement · due Oct. 16 · RFP
Parks
Three Rivers Park District · on-call architecture, engineering, planning, landscape architecture, and natural resources · due Sept. 15 · RFQ
The (Almost) Daily Brief publishes most weekdays: policy, funding, workforce, and industry news for Minnesota’s engineering firms, in a few minutes of reading.