And the mayor isn't even really complaining. Subby however...

They stopped at the end of September. They hope to start repairs again before Dec 1st, and the backlog is only ~1700. I'm missing the outrage here.

ignatiusst: How can you *not* see a problem with that?!

Are you going to do this in every thread today?

Here's a suggestion: finish the farking environmental review, or apply for a waiver. Bureaucracy is annoying but this isn't farking rocket science.

How are they supposed to return to their home planet with a broken streetlight?

I've worked in the environmental field and in New Orleans there should be plenty of people that can do EIS with a modest budget in a timely manner. If not, have them call me. Gone are the days of project managers getting fat due to bleeding federal funds dry (I hope).

Sock Ruh Tease: How are they supposed to return to their home planet with a broken streetlight?

I thought they were channeling in the reptilians with them.

I can tell subby's never spent any time in California. We have to file an EIR out here if someone eats too much Taco Bell.

Edsel: Here's a suggestion: finish the farking environmental review, or apply for a waiver. Bureaucracy is annoying but this isn't farking rocket science.

Let's try a different suggestion: tell the feds to jam their paperwork up sideways and rotate it, then pay for repairs in your community using your own money.

Thanks a lot, Fartbama!

/the terrible secret of democracy

ignatiusst: Soup4Bonnie: I'm missing the outrage here.

The government (and I mean the *federal* government) is trying to tell state and local leadership how to dispose of 1,700 Sodium Vapor streetlights so as to "protect" the environment and public safety. How can you *not* see a problem with that?!

Considering it is federal money they are using... the feds can say a & b must be done for you to get c. That arrangement is EVERYWHERE. states distribute funds to counties for specific things. Schools apply for grants that must be used for the purpose of the grant and requires documentation on how/why you qualify for said grant.

Dont want to do the work, you dont get the product you were asking for....

/And the kingpin clause in the constitution which makes federal law the law of the land...

Soup4Bonnie: ignatiusst: How can you *not* see a problem with that?!

Are you going to do this in every thread today?

It's true, this man has no dick

How else will the ever-increasing amount of bureaucrat jobs be justified?

How can anyone repair something that doesn't exist?

Bah, it's like you're not even trying anymore...

We don't have the technology to fix streetlights. Hell, we can't even power it up until the mothership gets here.

How many federal regulators does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

SandMann: How many federal regulators does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

How many?

jjorsett: Edsel: Here's a suggestion: finish the farking environmental review, or apply for a waiver. Bureaucracy is annoying but this isn't farking rocket science.

Let's try a different suggestion: tell the feds to jam their paperwork up sideways and rotate it, then pay for repairs in your community using your own money.

Louisiana's been sucking off the federal teat for a long time now, and the donor states have been paying the bill. You go ahead and turn down all the federal funds you want, be my guest.

Dire: How else will the ever-increasing amount of bureaucrat jobs be justified?

Government jobs are disappearing at the local, state, and federal levels, and federal employment as a % of the population is the smallest it has been since the mid 20th century. So, I'm not sure what you are going with here.

mdeesnuts: SandMann: How many federal regulators does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

How many?

I don't know. I can't read the regulations in the dark.

coroner74: I've worked in the environmental field and in New Orleans there should be plenty of people that can do EIS with a modest budget in a timely manner. If not, have them call me. Gone are the days of project managers getting fat due to bleeding federal funds dry (I hope).

Maybe you can answer this for me, since the article doesn't really address it: is the EIS requirement actually about the disposal of existing lamp bulbs, or is it more about making sure the ground won't destabilize and cause sinkholes when poles are replaced? I'm assuming power lines would be overhead, so trenching in new lines wouldn't be a factor.

RexTalionis: If you apply to get grant money and you get it, don't complain about the conditions attached to the grant money that you voluntarily applied for.

FEMA's main problem has been that they have changed the forms and questions several times since 2006. The current process is actually quite smooth and reasonable. All NO will have to do is mark where the installations are going on a map, provide a representative sample of what they will look like, and the GOLD ticket will be to clearly indicate that these are replacements of previously existing installations. Unless one of them is literally being built on top of a nest of endangered toads or the most obvious historic landmark in town, they'll be approved based on a Google map and a ground-level photo. That's it.

I bet that EIS was completed via cut and paste.

/working on an EIS as I Fark

ignatiusst: Soup4Bonnie: I'm missing the outrage here.

The government (and I mean the *federal* government) is trying to tell state and local leadership how to dispose of 1,700 Sodium Vapor streetlights so as to "protect" the environment and public safety. How can you *not* see a problem with that?!

Maybe what's really going on is the environmental review would expose something underhanded going on.

apoptotic: coroner74: I've worked in the environmental field and in New Orleans there should be plenty of people that can do EIS with a modest budget in a timely manner. If not, have them call me. Gone are the days of project managers getting fat due to bleeding federal funds dry (I hope).

Maybe you can answer this for me, since the article doesn't really address it: is the EIS requirement actually about the disposal of existing lamp bulbs, or is it more about making sure the ground won't destabilize and cause sinkholes when poles are replaced? I'm assuming power lines would be overhead, so trenching in new lines wouldn't be a factor.

Disposal of waste is covered under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Those bulbs could be sent as Universal Waste which would exempt them from technically being "hazardous" but they'd still need to be sent for proper disposal. This would seem to be a blanket reg requiring studies to assess impact on such things as waterways or habitat tied to the fed funds.

/in the business.
//we send our bulbs to a facility in LA.

coroner74: I've worked in the environmental field and in New Orleans there should be plenty of people that can do EIS with a modest budget in a timely manner. If not, have them call me. Gone are the days of project managers getting fat due to bleeding federal funds dry (I hope).

Still in it. Those days are not over. The amount of brand new material shipped for haz waste disposal is staggering.

"We've lost our ambition, our imagination, and our willingness to do the things that built the Golden Gate Bridge and Hoover Dam and unleashed all the potential in this country." ...so says our president. Well, it's things like this that C-block us as a country from greatness.

RexTalionis 2011-11-08 01:07:53 PM If you apply to get grant money and you get it, don't complain about the conditions attached to the grant money that you voluntarily applied for.
=========================================================

Done in one.

It's like... if someone asked me for money and then had a gall to complain about any conditions I put on it. If you apply for grant money from the government, they have EVERY right to ask you to do a few things to get it.

It's bad when they give it WITHOUT conditions.

ignatiusst: How can you *not* see a problem with that?

Do you know how I know you didn't pay attention in chemistry class?

Knows how to deal with bureaucracy.

/Hot like a... heating engineer?

ImperialHazman: apoptotic: coroner74: I've worked in the environmental field and in New Orleans there should be plenty of people that can do EIS with a modest budget in a timely manner. If not, have them call me. Gone are the days of project managers getting fat due to bleeding federal funds dry (I hope).

Maybe you can answer this for me, since the article doesn't really address it: is the EIS requirement actually about the disposal of existing lamp bulbs, or is it more about making sure the ground won't destabilize and cause sinkholes when poles are replaced? I'm assuming power lines would be overhead, so trenching in new lines wouldn't be a factor.

Disposal of waste is covered under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Those bulbs could be sent as Universal Waste which would exempt them from technically being "hazardous" but they'd still need to be sent for proper disposal. This would seem to be a blanket reg requiring studies to assess impact on such things as waterways or habitat tied to the fed funds.

/in the business.
//we send our bulbs to a facility in LA.

That's what I figured (that it probably wasn't really about the bulbs), thanks.

My initial point was that it seemed kind of silly to require an EIS to repair streetlights. I hadn't thought about the bulb disposal issue. But there are still a few issues that make the EIS seem a little burdensome.

In New Orleans burned out street light bulbs are repaired by our local electrical utility. Since they have presumably disposed of thousands of bulbs in the past, it seems likely that they would have already proven their ability to do so safely.

Secondly, and this wasn't mentioned in the article, many of our outages involve long stretches of non-functioning lights. According to our Public Works Department, those outages are likely caused by wiring problems rather than bad bulbs. I suppose there may be some wiring parts that represent an environmental risk but again, they've been doing that kind of work for decades.

I hope the people who like to beat up on New Orleans and Louisiana for receiving Federal money never suffer a major disaster (natural or man made). Those words will be hard to chew if you find yourselves in a position of needing to ask for help.

FONSI: Heeey! We're cool!

I work for a company that does a lot of business with the Army Corps of Engineers, so I'm getting a kick out of the metric farkton of paperwork and silly, wasteful regulations this thread.