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Illinois Land Improvement Contractors Association, Inc.
News
House & Senate Continue Hearings on Highway Bill Reauthorization
With the expiration date for the current surface transportation legislation just over a year away, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee conducted the latest in a series of hearings to identify issues that need to be addressed when drafting the reauthorization proposal. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Administration will be submitting a formal proposal of its policy recommendations but broadly outlined the Trump administration plans for freight connectivity improvements, highway safety projects and regulatory changes to speed up project delivery.
Trump Administration Unveils USDA Reorganization Focused on Streamlining & Decentralization
On July 24, 2025, Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins announced a sweeping reorganization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as part of the broader Trump “government efficiency” agenda. The plan would relocate over 2,600 of the roughly 4,600 Washington, D.C.–area employees to five new regional hubs—Raleigh, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Fort Collins, and Salt Lake City—while retaining only about 2,000 staff in the capital.
Agencies Move to Implement NEPA Reform to Accelerate Infrastructure Delivery
In early 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order rescinding all National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing regulations and instructed federal agencies to issue new procedures prioritizing “efficiency and certainty” in environmental reviews. The NEPA process has long been a procedural burden significantly slowing down the delivery of vital infrastructure improvements.
A Contractor's Guide to Inspecting Used Equipment
It doesn’t take long to evaluate a used car or truck, but inspecting a piece of used equipment – whether it’s a beater or nearly new – requires several hours to a half a day. Anything you miss and have to repair or replace later will cost thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars.
To aid in this process, Equipment World has compiled the following printable used equipment checklist and an accompanying guide on performing key checks.
Quantitative Synthesis of the Denitrifying Bioreactor Hydraulic Retention Time
Denitrifying woodchip bioreactors consistently exhibit a strong positive relationship between hydraulic retention time (HRT) and nitrate (N) removal efficiency (NRE), expressed as a percent. This robust HRT-NRE linear regression provides an empirical tool for simply estimating bioreactor performance, but regression parameters (slope, y-intercept) vary across studies.
Clean Water Starts Upstream
A watershed is all the land that drains into a common body of water — like a river, lake, or stream. When it rains or snows, water flows downhill. In forests or grasslands, most of that water soaks into the ground. But in cities or on farm fields, water moves quickly across pavement or soil, picking up pollution as it goes.
6 Tips to Build a Culture of Safety
In construction, safety isn’t something you check off a list during orientation. It’s a constant, evolving part of the job — no matter how long you’ve been in the industry or what role you play. Whether someone’s just getting started or has been on sites for decades, there’s always more to learn and reinforce.
From keeping things simple to encouraging mentorship and celebrating the wins, here’s how to build a culture where safety sticks.
USDA Cuts Hit RCPP Grant Projects
USDA last month cut more than $1 billion in expected grant funding to 69 Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) projects nationally.
Few groups publicly criticized the funding loss.
In October 2024, the Biden administration announced USDA would invest $1.5 billion in 92 projects through RCPP, the largest funding ever for the program. The list of grant awards relied heavily on funding USDA had received from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
NAXSA Tips from the Trench: Cleaning, Storing & Testing Pipe Plugs
NAXSA’s Safety Committee members develop these Tips from the Trench to help ensure that the best frontline know-how becomes the facts and solutions you need. At a glance. In the office or in the field. On your laptop, desktop, or mobile device.
Maintaining the Edge
This manual is a straightforward guide to keeping your saturated buffer or bioreactor operating as designed to improve water quality. The checklists at the end of each section are a quick reference for all the operations and maintenance tasks you’ll need to do throughout the year. Individual sections on managing control structures, seasonal management, saturated buffers, and bioreactors provide more information.
From the ADMC: A Vision for Progress
As the executive director of the Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition (ADMC), I am honored and excited to assume the role of chair of the Conservation Drainage Network (CDN). This dual position offers a unique opportunity to influence and advance the field of agricultural water management by aligning both organizations’ efforts to disseminate information, set research priorities, and advocate for the effectiveness of drainage practices.
Study: Could Some Drainage Mitigation Measures be More Harmful Than Helpful?
More than half of mitigation efforts to reduce the environmental impact of subsurface drainage are effective, according to a recent publication in Biological Conservation.
But just under a quarter are “insufficient,” according to the same study. And, in two cases, negative impacts were observed after the implication of some measures.
Digging Deeper – Cover Crops & N2O Emissions
A pair of short-duration studies on Illinois fields suggestedhttps://ilsustainableag.org/resource/digging-deeper-cover-crops-n2o-emissions/ that cover crops reduce nitrate leaching (a win for water quality) but may increase nitrous oxide (N2O, a greenhouse gas). ISAP wanted to dig deeper into potential trade-offs and understand the environmental costs and benefits of cover crops.
Further NRCS Personnel Cuts Proposed in Administration's FY 2026 Budget
A Supreme Court decision last week said President Trump has the authority to cut the size and scope of the federal government allowing planned reductions in force to resume. In addition to those efforts, the administration’s 2026 budget request details how many employees the executive branch intends to cut in the coming year. It proposes a government wide 5 percent reduction in employees compared to the final year of the Biden administration.
How Ag Advisors Guide Conservation on the Ground
Advisors play a pivotal role in helping farmers adopt in-field conservation practices. On July 9, ICCON explored the question, “what makes an advisor truly effective?” The panel discussion brought together three seasoned professionals to share their strategies and experiences.
Reconciliation Provisions Impacting LICA Members
Following Senate and House approval of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” the President signed the measure in a White House ceremony on July 4th. The legislation implements the President’s domestic policy priorities by extending and enhancing the 2017 tax cuts, increases initiatives to enhance border security, increases investments in defense programs and targets reductions in other Federal programs.
Can Conservation Drainage Practices Contribute to Climate Change Mitigation?
Conservation drainage practices can mitigate water quality impacts of subsurface drainage, but their potential for climate change mitigation remains poorly understood. We summarized processes by which tile-drained croplands impact climate and assessed potential of conservation drainage practices to alter emissions of the greenhouse gases nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) and stocks of soil organic carbon (SOC), compared using carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e).
Key Tax Law Changes for Individuals and Businesses Under the OBBBA
On July 4, President Trump signed into law the far-reaching legislation known as the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). As expected, it extends and enhances many of the tax breaks from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). It also includes several of Trump's campaign promises — though many are only temporary — and eliminates tax breaks related to clean energy. Here's a rundown of some of the main tax law changes to be aware of as you plan for the 2025 tax year.
NOAA Shows Mild to Moderate Algal Bloom for Lake Erie in 2025
“It’s showing that we’ve made some progress, but we still have some room to go,” he says. “We have reduced the amount of dissolved reactive phosphorus, which fuels the algal bloom. With the amount of rain inside, they expected more phosphorus to go into the lake and we’ve had less, so that really means that what we’re doing is working.”