• Launching a new program created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation has picked 12 projects to receive $273.9 million in grants for highway and other surface transportation projects in rural areas around the country.
• The grant awards, announced on Dec. 21, went to projects in 12 states. Ten of the selected projects are for road, highway or bridge improvements. The largest grant, $69 million, went to the Pennsylvania DOT, to rebuild about six miles of a new four-lane highway that is part of the Central Susquehanna Valley Transportation Project.
• The grants are part of DOT's Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program, which was established by the IIJA and is funded at $2 billion over five years. Under the infrastructure law, the minimum grant for the new rural program is generally $25 million, though up to 10% of the funds can go for grants smaller than $25 million.

• JPMorgan, the first big US bank to pledge to reduce financing for the oil and gas industry, has failed to stay on-track to meet its climate change goals, blaming the energy crisis for forcing clients to ramp up fossil fuel production.
• The bank pledged last year to decarbonize its oil and gas portfolio: by 15 per cent between 2019 and 2030 for emissions produced when the fuel an energy company sells is burnt; and by 35 per cent for the smaller amount linked to extraction and production processes. Both of these targets were calculated using a controversial “intensity” measure, which allows for a rise in absolute carbon emissions as output grows.
• Reporting on these targets for the first time on Thursday, the bank said the intensity of its financed emissions linked to fuel sold by its oil and gas clients rose 1 per cent between the end of 2020 and June 2022, while the intensity measure for their operational emissions remained flat instead of falling as planned.

• The U.S. General Services Administration announced it is distributing $301.4 million to its first group of federal building renovation projects under the Climate Act—with the aim of upgrading the facilities to make them more energy efficient and increase their use of low embodied-carbon materials.
• The agency estimates that the initial group of eight projects would help cut greenhouse gas emissions by 120,000 metric tons and trim energy costs by $35 million over 20 years. GSA says it intends to use low embodied-carbon asphalt, concrete and steel and take other steps to reduce emissions and improve the land port of entry's energy efficiency.
• In total, the Climate Act—also known as the Inflation Reduction Act—provides GSA $2.15 billion for use of low-carbon materials in construction and renovation projects, plus $975 million “to support emerging and sustainable technologies," and $250 million to convert more GSA buildings into high-performance green buildings. The measure was signed into law on Aug. 16.

TYLin, a California-based full-service infrastructure consulting firm, announced its acquisition of Greeley and Hansen, an Illinois-based leading water infrastructure engineering firm known for creating some of the world’s largest and first-of-its-kind water and wastewater treatment facilities in the U.S. and Latin America. “The acquisition of Greeley and Hansen advances our strategy to leverage our current water sector capabilities to help transform TYLin into a leader in the water market in the Americas,” said TYLin Group President and Chief Executive Officer Matthew G. Cummings, P.E.

Qualus Corporation (Qualus), an Ohio-based firm specializing in power engineering, project management, and technical field services in support of the modernization of the electric power infrastructure and the broader energy transition, announced that it has acquired Tri Sage Consulting (Tri Sage), a Nevada-based provider of power engineering and project management services for renewable and power system development throughout the western U.S. Tri Sage services complement Qualus’ existing planning and design services for substations and transmission lines and deepens the firm’s resources in renewables and high voltage grid interconnection projects. The combination of Tri Sage with Qualus will also expand Qualus’ client base and western US footprint and geographic reach.