"After decades of work, a water compact with Montana’s Blackfeet Nation was finally settled last year. But the federal government still needs to come up with more than $400 million to fund water improvement projects."
"An inland traffic corridor in Florida is being promoted by the Trump administration as a top project in its $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan, even as the state grapples with rising sea levels along its 1,200-mile coastline."
"When the federal government shut down twice this year, meteorologist Brandon Dunstan went to work, just like any other day at the National Weather Service office in Raleigh, N.C."
"The chairman of the House Oversight Committee — in a prominent instance of Republican scrutiny of the Environmental Protection Agency under Scott Pruitt — demanded on Wednesday that the E.P.A. chief turn over documents related to his first-class travel at taxpayer expense."
"The president of a Tennessee state university, under fire for an academic study on truck emissions that was paid for by a local trucking company, has asked federal officials to disregard the study, at least for now, in its review of pollution regulations that could benefit the company."
"Not everyone is convinced that the EPA’s new initiative to reduce childhood lead exposure will yield significant benefits, despite its big launch Feb. 15 with a meeting of Cabinet-level officials at the agency’s headquarters."
"Scott Pruitt’s job is to protect the environment. Unfortunately, God has other plans for him."
Infrastructure is much in the news these days, with battles over politics and funding yielding stories for environment reporters. In play are a Trump plan, who gets to pick projects, who pays and much more. But in an election year, how likely are infrastructure plans to move forward? The backstory, with angles for environment and energy, plus what to watch for in 2018, in our Backgrounder on infrastructure.
Covering local infrastructure projects often means covering energy and the environment. This week’s TipSheet offers a companion to our special backgrounder on the national infrastructure story emerging out of Washington. We’ve got dozens of resources and links for finding infrastructure news and information from Congress, executive agencies, infrastructure organizations and environmental groups.
"A new Interior Department plan to build roads in national parks, fix visitors centers and complete other infrastructure projects using money raised by drilling on public lands is facing skepticism from members of Congress and a former senior department official."
Advertisement 
