Author: agcnews

The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued the following statement in reaction to release today of House Democrats’ Proposed Coronavirus Recovery Measure: “It is encouraging to see House Democrats moving quickly on legislation intended to help the economy recover from the coronavirus. Their proposal includes measures that will help construction firms that have been hard-hit by declining demand and uncertainty about future market conditions. But the proposal’s authors missed an opportunity to address some of the most significant challenges facing the industry. Read more.

On this episode, we talk with senior AGC staff about Congress’ next coronavirus relief funding proposal, expected policy disagreements, AGC’s top priorities, and the great deal of outreach and advocacy work that the association is doing to keep workers safe and keep construction going. NOTE: As of press time, House Democrats released their recovery bill, and AGC is working on its analysis of the measure.

On May 12, 2020, the Associated General Contractors and other construction contractor groups called on Congress to address the growing multiemployer pension crisis in a letter. While Congress debates the next round of COVID-19 related stimulus legislation to address the unprecedented public health emergency the multiemployer pension crisis has been growing. Construction industry plans account for over half of all multiemployer defined benefit plans and cover nearly four million multiemployer defined benefit participants. The growing urgency for multiemployer pension reform can be attributed to plans experiencing drastic reductions in hourly contributions and substantial market losses. Multiemployer pension plans are funded through…

In a recent U.S. Supreme Court opinion in the Cty. of Maui v. Hawai’i Wildlife Fund (Maui) case, the Court expanded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) reading of its authority to regulate discharges to groundwater and created a new “functional equivalent” test that now leaves contractors confused about whether their stormwater storage ponds, basins and underground storage will require discharge permitting. In the Maui case, the Court weighed the decision of whether discharges to groundwater that make their way to a waters of the United States require Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. In its decision, the Supreme Court rejected…

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…