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Participate in Hardhats for Highways – Your Company’s Future Depends on It This week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released their semi-annual Economic and Budget Outlook, in which they have updated their ten-year solvency projections for the Highway Trust Fund.

Over the last several months, the U.S. Green Building Council and the Green Building Certification Institute have been forging new relationships as well as strengthening existing ties with other organizations.  Those working on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and other green projects (such as Sustainable SITES) will be impacted by these developments.

In August, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updated its Rainfall Erosivity Factor Calculator, which can help you determine the value of the rainfall erosivity factor (R-factor) on a small construction project (disturbing less than five acres).  Small construction sites with an R-factor of less than five (5) qualify for a waiver from stormwater permitting requirements in areas where EPA is the permitting authority.  Certain state permitting authorities also may accept low erosivity waivers.

Preparing the Next Generation of Managers  What do the future leaders of the highway, transportation and utility markets look like? How to those future leaders communicate? What will their management style be? Learn what the current generation of construction industry managers are looking for in future company leaders at every level at the 2014 Highway & Utilities Contractors Conference on Nov. 13-15 in San Diego, Calif.

Construction employment expanded in 223 metro areas, declined in 72 and was stagnant in 44 between July 2013 and July 2014, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by AGC of America.  As employment grows, 25 percent of firms report labor shortages are forcing them to turn down work according to a new survey conducted by SmartBrief, an industry leader in curated business news and custom content, in partnership with the association.

"The AGC Alternative," the first of its kind, nation-wide private insurance exchange to serve the commercial construction industry, begins offering quotes todayto firms belonging to AGC of America, association officials announced.  The private exchange, developed in collaboration with Willis North America, a unit of Willis Group Holdings, the global risk advisor, insurance and reinsurance broker, features comprehensive insurance coverage from Aetna, MetLife and Group Vision Service as part of its introductory suite of benefits.

Take Action: Urge Your Senators to Prohibit Construction Reverse Auctions Many states already have laws prohibiting reverse auctions for construction services. However, those laws do not prevent federal agencies from conducting reverse auctions in those states. And federal agencies, like the Departments of Veterans Affairs and the Interior, are increasingly turning to reverse auction procurement for construction services, which include million dollar building renovations, national park road construction, and material supply. Please urge your senators to prohibit federal agencies from procuring construction services through reverse auctions.

AGC submitted detailed comments on a proposed rule by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that would give the agency the authority to cut into the paychecks of those who have unpaid debts, such as a fine or penalty for an alleged environmental violation. EPA would be allowed to garnish up to 15 percent of the “disposable pay” of delinquent debtors who do not work for the federal government via a process known as administrative wage garnishment (AWG) – all without a court order.

Recently, AGC sent a letter opposing the possible use of a project labor agreement (PLA) mandate posted by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest for design-build construction of a Special Forces Support Activity Operations Facility at the U.S. Navy’s Silver Strand Training Complex in Imperial Beach, Calif.

Alaska Thirty percent of Alaska voters went to the polls on Tuesday in one of the nation's last major competitive primaries.  There, former Attorney General and Natural Resources Department director Dan Sullivan claimed the Republican Senatorial nomination, winning the right to challenge vulnerable first-term incumbent Mark Begich (D).  Sullivan took 40 percent of the vote, defeating surprise second place finisher Joe Miller (32%) and Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell (25%).  

Construction firms added jobs in 39 states from July 2013 to July 2014 and in 34 states from June to July, according to an analysis today of Labor Department data by AGC of America. Association officials said the employment gains are good news, but that the pipeline of skilled craft workers, supervisors and other employees appears to be emptying rapidly.

On August 5, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) addressing how federal contractors should assess their employment relationships to distinguish “employees” from “independent contractors” or other non-employee workers.  The FAQs describe what are commonly referred to as the “Darden” factors, derived from the 1992 Supreme Court decision in Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. v. Darden, and provide examples illustrating their application in determining which workers are employees.