Tectonic Engineering Consultants, Geologists & Land Surveyors, D.P.C. (Tectonic), served as a patriot sponsor for the Hudson Valley Honor Flight (HVHF) organization’s 10th-anniversary gala this past weekend. HVHF flies WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam veterans to Washington DC for the day in which they are taken to each memorial to honor them and their fallen comrades. As part of the organization’s efforts, Jay Kimler, Assistant Chief Surveyor at Tectonic, has been a part of the organization since 2017 as a guardian and flight team leader. Kimler stated, “Being part of Honor Flight has changed my life in so many ways. Nothing gives me more joy than to witness firsthand the faces of these courageous men and women as they visit the memorials built in their honor and being celebrated by so many people throughout the day. As the veterans return home most of them say it was the best day of their lives. It’s a humbling experience and one that I treasure dearly.”

• With the upcoming July 4^th recess drawing near, the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee pushed through several bills to set FY23 spending levels for federal agencies, following the approval of $15 billion for military construction projects and a tripling of the General Services Administration's construction and acquisition account on June 23 and June 24, respectively.
• Additionally, the House panel approved an $8.9 billion spending bill on June 28 for energy and water resources programs, including projects to build river locks and dams, bolster communities' defenses against hurricanes, dredge harbors, restore ecosystems, and replenish coastal beaches.
• House appropriators will take up its bill funding Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) programs. Water infrastructure programs are expected to receive $5.2 billion in federal funding and $1.3 billion dedicated to the EPA's Superfund program.
• On July 1, the A would dedicate $61.3 billion for the Federal Highway Administration, $18.7 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration, $17.5 billion for the Federal Transit Administration, $3.8 billion for the Federal Railroad Administration, and $1.2 billion for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

• In a 6-3 decision on Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s(EPA) power to regulate emissions from power plants, arguing that the provisions of the Clean Air Act did not explicitly give the EPA broad authority to regulate carbon emissions.
• The ruling interpreting the U.S. Clean Air Act will keep the Biden administration from imposing the type of wide-ranging emissions-cutting plan the EPA tried to put in place when Barack Obama was president and limits the agency’s available tools amid increasing evidence that climate change is causing rising sea levels and more extreme weather patterns.
• The EPA still has options to regulate emissions, but, according to the Court, it does not have the power to limit emissions from power plants and force them to move away from fossil fuels to renewable energy.