Author: agcnews

AGC is moving forward with its annual Construction Safety, Health and Environmental Conference on July 14-16, 2020, in Louisville, Kentucky.  As a leader in construction safety, health and environment, our top priority is the safety and health of our members, attendees, speakers and staff.  We have been closely monitoring the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic and remain optimistic that we can deliver our in-person event this July.  However, should circumstances not improve in the coming months, we are fully prepared to shift to an online format.  Whether in-person or online, we are confident that we will be able to provide you with…

Construction employment declined by 975,000 jobs in April as a new survey by the Associated General Contractors of America and data from construction technology firm Procore show deteriorating demand for construction, officials with the association announced today. The new economic data underscores the need for new federal measures to help the construction industry recover, including infrastructure funding, safe harbor provisions and fixes to the Paycheck Protection Program guidance, association officials added. “Today’s jobs report, our new survey results and Procore’s data make it clear that the construction industry is not immune to the economic damage being inflicted on our country by the pandemic,” said…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides public access to industry regulatory compliance and enforcement data online. EPA released a new State Clean Air Act Dashboard (State Air Dashboard) that is available to the public via the Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) Web page. The dashboard, which is focused on stationary sources only, provides information such as how many inspections were performed, how may violations were identified, and how many enforcement actions were taken. EPA plans to update the RCRA, CWA and SDWA dashboards to this new format over the next 6-8 months. The ECHO website is updated frequently based on…

Construction employment declined by 975,000 jobs in April as a new survey by the Associated General Contractors of America and data from construction technology firm Procore show deteriorating demand for construction, officials with the association announced today. The new economic data underscores the need for new federal measures to help the construction industry recover, including infrastructure funding, safe harbor provisions and fixes to the Paycheck Protection Program guidance, association officials added. “Today’s jobs report, our new survey results and Procore’s data make it clear that the construction industry is not immune to the economic damage being inflicted on our country…

AGC recently participated in a virtual meeting with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler to discuss the release of the Construction Snapshot, AGC’s participation in the Smart Sectors Program, and top issues for AGC contractors. Importantly, the Smart Sectors’ Construction Snapshot includes a look at the industry’s environmental as well as economic performance over time, using data from different publicly-available sources. AGC took the opportunity to thank U.S. EPA for its leadership in response to COVID-19 (e.g., list of disinfectants and enforcement discretion policy), and to express support of several recent U.S. EPA deregulatory actions. AGC also provided industry-specific insights on…

AGC is currently seeking questions and topics for discussion at the Virtual Federal Contractors Conference (FedCon) to be held June 8-12, 2020. Attendees have the unique opportunity to lead the meeting agenda and directly interact with and pose questions to construction leaders in a wide array of federal agencies. These robust discussions offer contractors the opportunity to learn about the latest projects and policies and address problems the industry may face when working directly with a federal agency. Below, you may click on each agency to see the draft agenda for that session. Click here to submit comments to AGC on any of the…

On May 6, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee unanimously approved two water-related infrastructure bills. The America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2020 (AWIA), as amended, would invest the nation’s water resources infrastructure and clean water infrastructure and the Drinking Water Infrastructure Act of 2020 (DWIA), as amended, would invest in the nation’s drinking water infrastructure. AGC applauded the Committee’s bipartisan efforts to develop the bills and highlighted provisions that it supports. Last month, AGC, along with four other organizations, was invited by EPW to submit a written statement on the discussion drafts. These bills will now go to the full Senate for consideration. For more information, contact Murphie Barrett at murphie.barrett@agc.org.

AGC and its Transportation Construction Coalition partners organized a bipartisan effort led by Reps. Conor Lamb (D-Penn.) and Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio) calling on the leadership of the House of Representatives to include an immediate $49.95 billion federal fund infusion for state departments of transportation (DOT) to move planned projects forward. Projections are showing decreases in state motor fuel tax and toll receipts as vehicle traffic declines by 50 percent in most parts of the country due to work and travel restrictions. Some state DOTs could experience losses as high as 45 percent, leading to significant project letting delays and cancellations,…

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today posted an updated and expanded technical assistance publication addressing questions arising under the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Laws related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The publication, “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws” expands on a previous publication that focused on the ADA and Rehabilitation Act. The newly added questions and answers, G.3, G.4., and G.5., provide information about the accommodation of employees with underlying medical conditions. The answer to G.4. was revised after initial posting to clarify that the ADA does not…

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will delay the anticipated opening of the 2019 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection and the 2020 EEO-3 and EEO-5 data collections because of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency, the agency announced today in a Federal Register notice. The EEO (equal employment opportunity) surveys collect data from employers in different sectors of the workforce. The EEOC was planning to open the following EEO surveys in 2020: the 2019 EEO-1 Component 1 (Employer Information Report); the 2020 EEO-3 (Local Report); and the 2020 EEO-5 (Elementary-Secondary Staff Information Report). The EEOC recognizes the impact that the current…