The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday confirmed it plans to update its water discharge standards for slaughterhouses under the Clean Water Act for the first time in nearly two decades. Current standards apply to only 300 of roughly 7,000 such facilities nationwide and the update, which will likely be published by the end of the year, could reduce the flow of nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen into the environment.

Allowing supply-chain stakeholders to share information with anyone -- without sharing it with everyone -- is the focus of important new standards work.

Energy Department Assistant Secretary for the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Brad Crabtree is leading efforts to standardize the certified natural gas market and has held meetings and workshops with industry representatives and officials from the EU, Japan, Britain and other countries on this matter, as well as to explore ways to reduce methane emissions from the gas industry. "It's a big priority for us to make sure that the role we're playing in ... supplying natural gas to our allies at a time of great energy security need is done in a way that is climate responsible," Crabtree said.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is proposing a number of "grand challenges" for the American semiconductor industry to tackle. These challenges are in the areas of measurement, modeling, simulation and standardization.

Collaboration over two years was indispensable to produce a code change proposal for the International Code Council. Jennifer Goupil, senior manager of Codes and Standards and Technical Activities in the Structural Engineering Institute at the American Society of Civil Engineers, reviews the challenges and the process that led to the proposal for safer and more reliable temporary structures.

President Joe Biden on Thursday expressed support for the Railway Safety Act of 2023, a bipartisan bill moving through the Senate that would enact stronger standards for trains that transport hazardous materials. "This legislation provides us with tools to hold companies accountable to prevent terrible tragedies like the Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine and to make those communities whole," said Biden.

The Transportation Department has awarded University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor Bassem O. Andrawes a $2 million grant to establish a University Transportation Center with four other universities, which will collaborate on ways to improve the durability and life spans of transportation infrastructure with precast concrete solutions. The center will, among many things, study advanced manufacturing methods and novel reinforcement materials, such as FRP and "smart composites."

A flexible robotic arm that can be inserted into the body to print biomaterials such as cells directly onto organs and other target tissues has been developed by University of New South Wales engineers. The 3D printing device can also function as a conventional endoscopic tool.

Candidates who are preparing for an interview should be able to answer the question "Tell me a little bit about yourself" with a two-minute answer that tells a story with a beginning, middle and end, writes career coach Ashley Stahl. Using numbers to quantify your experience and asking questions of the interviewer are also key ways for candidates to stand out, Stahl writes.

ASTM International's Exo Technology Center of Excellence (ET CoE) recently published its second annual report, providing an overview of the ET CoE's vision, team, partnerships, acceleration projects, accomplishments and key metrics.