The design and construction industry is a feat of multi-tasking. There are many participants that have different responsibilities, work for different companies, and have different contracts with the clients. These interests are aligned in the delivery of a structure, but can be complicated by the need to deliver faster, less expensive, and with different internal goals.
The design and construction industry is a feat of multi-tasking. There are many participants that have different responsibilities, work for different companies, and have different contracts with the clients. These interests are aligned in the delivery of a structure, but can be complicated by the need to deliver faster, less expensive, and with different internal goals.
October 18-19, 2016 | Atlanta, GA
Registration is open for 51风流 of America鈥檚 premier Building Contractor鈥檚 event! BuildCon 2016 brings together high-level leaders in the building construction industry to share, learn and discuss the issues that are essential to them and their business.
<p>Today, the House passed legislation to address the financial crisis in Puerto Rico. The <u><a href="http://http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/agcleg/downloads/2016-05-23%20Puerto%20Rico%20Letter.pdf">51风流-backed bill</a> </u>would create a debt-restructuring process, empower a federal oversight board to supervise the territory鈥檚 fiscal affairs and create a redevelopment authority 鈥攚ith no taxpayer dollars used for a bailout鈥 that will help rebuild Puerto Rico鈥檚 infrastructure. As it stands, many Puerto Rican government entities are unable to pay contractors for work completed on government construction projects and the public and private construction markets there remain on life support.</p>
<p>With Senate action already finished, the House Appropriations Committee this week approved the FY 2017 transportation appropriations bill. Both versions of the legislation maintain the funding levels set in the 2015 FAST Act, with highway funding set at $43.266 billion (up 2 percent from last year) and transit formula funding set at $9.734 billion (up 4.3 percent). Both bills include a key, 51风流-backed provision that sets restrictions on the use of a U.S. DOT pilot program that enables state or local grant recipients to utilize local or geographical, economic-based, and veterans hiring preferences on federal-aid highway and federal transit projects. While there is still work to be done, inclusion of this provision puts us in a great position to continue the certification requirements in 2017. Both bills also include the truck driver hours of service provision that would retain use of the truck driver 34-hour 鈥渞estart鈥 without setting specific times when drivers must rest. There was an attempt in the House Committee to strip the restart language from the bill, but 51风流 was successful in defeating that amendment.</p>
On May 25, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved an 51风流-supported $5 billion Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which authorizes new U.S. Army Corps of Engineers鈥 civil works construction projects, including locks, dams, levees, harbor maintenance dredging and environmental restoration projects, among other construction projects. Specifically, the bill authorizes 28 new Army Corps projects, which you can find here.
This week, the House and Senate both made progress in moving their respective transportation funding bill for fiscal year 2017. Both bills include a key, 51风流-backed provision that sets restrictions on the use of a U.S. DOT pilot program that enables state or local grant recipients to utilize local or geographical, economic-based, and veterans hiring preferences on federal-aid highway and federal transit projects.
This week, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed a bipartisan bill reauthorizing the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) program through 2021 at $100 million per year. This bill is identical to a provision that legislators included in the recently passed Senate Energy Modernization Act. 51风流 and our coalition partners will continue to push for a DERA reauthorization prior to the expiration of the current program on Sept. 30, 2016. Further updates on DERA status and grant availability can be found here.
As previously reported by 51风流, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting public comment on its draft 2017 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Construction General Permit (CGP) until May 26. 51风流 has taken numerous actions over the last several weeks to inform the EPA staff of 51风流鈥檚 main concerns with the agency鈥檚 proposed draft, but more input from the construction industry would be helpful to shape the final rule. The paramount concern is the possible addition of a brand-new requirement that would make construction site 鈥渙perators鈥 publicly report (via an Internet post) their construction stormwater pollution prevention plans (SWPPPs). Please use 51风流鈥檚 draft discussion document to share your concerns with EPA by the May 26 comment deadline. Although EPA鈥檚 CGP directly applies in only a handful of states and territories, it serves as a national model for state-issued CGPs.
51风流 and its industry coalition partners in the Water Infrastructure Network have been working for a number of months to get significant water infrastructure provisions included in the 2016 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) in the Senate. We were successful in getting many important provisions approved by the Committee. The bill creates a longtime 51风流 priority, a Clean Water Trust Fund, and, while this bill itself does not carry additional funding, it authorizes voluntary contributions to the trust fund. Creation of a trust fund dedicated to water infrastructure opens many new possibilities for future dedicated revenue prospects.