Author: agcnews

On June 9, AGC and the business community urged President Biden to remove steel and aluminum tariffs and quotas on the nation’s allies to help address significant price and availability issues for those construction materials. For instance, a widely watched index of steel prices rose 11% in April alone, setting new record highs each week. Many suppliers have warned of difficulty in securing truck or rail transportation from factories, distribution centers and ports. One steel manufacturer, for example, reported on April 28 having to wait 15 days for railcars to ship a load of steel. Recent reports speculate that the president and European Union…

On June 10, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved legislation to reauthorize federal-aid highway and transit programs, on a mostly partly line vote. This five-year, $547 billon bill will now go to the full House for a floor vote at a yet to be determined date. An AGC analysis of this legislation as passed by committee may be found here. While AGC is supportive of the investment levels in this legislation, the association has significant concerns with the bill’s significant restrictions to building new highways and expanding highway lanes and lack of environmental review and permit streamlining initiatives, among other…

AGC warns could result in significant delays for infrastructure project delivery Advancing legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate include an AGC-opposed provision that would expand federal-aid highway and transit programs’ Buy America requirements to “construction materials” broadly. AGC and other industry stakeholders are concerned that this new requirement would include but not be limited to aggregates that are used to make products like cement and asphalt. Many regions of the country, for example, consume all of their domestically produced cement and therefore rely on imported cement to support local construction projects. Advocates of the provision point…

On June 10, U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh announced that the long-anticipated federal COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will only apply to healthcare settings. This represents a significant change from early reports that the new standard would apply to a broad range of industries, including construction. The fact that the ETS only applies to healthcare settings is a significant victory for AGC and the industry. AGC led a broad coalition effort to question the need for the standard, considering the widespread adoption of coronavirus vaccines and the fact the construction industry has been operating,…

Construction Association Calls for End to Tariffs on Lumber, Steel and Aluminum in Order to Deliver Prompt Relief Instead of Imposing New Restrictions on Hiring, Training, and Work Agreements The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued the following statement in reaction to the announcement today by the White House of actions it will take to address supply-chain disruptions: “The construction industry is experiencing widespread and growing problems with the cost and supply of materials. These challenges will make it more costly and difficult to achieve the administration’s goals for infrastructure, renewable energy,…

Gains on WOTUS, Endangered Species Act Regulations & More in Jeopardy The Biden Administration has taken several steps in the last two weeks to begin the process of repealing and modifying many of the prior administration’s signature environmental permitting reforms related to species and water permits—including waters of the United States (WOTUS). Over the prior four years, AGC supported many of these reforms that added greater clarity, scope, timelines, and certainty to the federal permitting process. AGC will continue to highlight that permitting delays will only impede the Administration’s goal to invest in and increase the resilience of the nation’s…

Many Construction Firms Also Report Difficulty Finding Qualified Workers to Hire as Some Remain Reluctant to Return to Work amid Child Care Challenges and Elevated Unemployment Supplements Construction employment declined for the third time in the past four months in May as nonresidential contractors coped with lengthening and unpredictable delivery times that limited their ability to start or complete projects, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of government data released today. Association officials added that many contractors report they are having a hard time finding qualified workers to hire as some people remain reluctant to…

On June 1, President Biden called for an “all-of-government effort to expand contracting opportunities for underserved small businesses across the country.” Among other initiatives, the goal is to increase the share of contracts going to small, disadvantaged businesses (SDB) by 50 percent by 2026, which the administration calculates as an additional $100 billion to SDBs over the five-year period. SDBs include 8(a) participants and other small businesses that are at least 51% owned and controlled by socially or economically disadvantaged individuals or groups. The Administration is silent about the other small business subcategories such as Women-Owned Small Businesses, HUBZone Small Businesses, and…

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) posted updated and expanded technical assistance related to the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing questions arising under the federal equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws. The EEOC also posted a new resource for job applicants and employees, explaining how federal employment discrimination laws protect workers during the pandemic. These publications are provided to help employees and employers understand their rights and responsibilities at work during the pandemic. The expanded technical assistance provides new information about how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) apply when an employer offers incentives for employees to provide documentation…

Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land and Odessa, Texas Have Worst 14-Month Construction Job Losses; Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind. and Sierra Vista-Douglas, Ariz. Lead List of 217 Metros with Job Gains Construction employment decreased from February 2020 – the last month prior to the pandemic – to April 2021 in 107, or 30 percent, of the nation’s metro areas, and was stagnant in another 34, according to an analysis by AGC of government employment data released today. Association officials said that construction employment in many parts of the country was being undermined by pandemic-induced project delays, materials price spikes and shortages, and difficulties finding labor. “It is…