***See also, AGC’s Resilience Series Part 2: Preparing Buildings for the Next Natural Disaster***

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On May 25, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved an AGC-supported $5 billion Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which authorizes new U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ 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.

AGC 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 AGC 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.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved an AGC-supported $9 billion Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which authorizes new U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ civil works construction projects, including locks, dams, levees, harbor maintenance dredging and environmental restoration projects, among other construction projects. Specifically, the bill authorizes 25 new Army Corps projects and modifies 4 existing projects. The bill will now move to the Senate floor for consideration. The House is expected to introduce its version of a WRDA bill in early May.

This week the Senate passed the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015 by a vote of 85-12. The comprehensive energy bill included several provisions supported by AGC, including reauthorizing the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) program through 2021 at the current authorization level of $100 million per year. Further updates on DERA status and grant availability can be found here.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved legislation to reauthorize the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and advance the cause of pipeline safety. H.R. 4937, the Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety (PIPES) Act of 2016, is a four-year reauthorization that improves pipeline safety by closing gaps in federal standards. It is also designed to enhance the quality and timeliness of agency rulemakings, promote better usage of data and technology to improve pipeline safety, and provide regulatory certainty for citizens, the safety community, and the industry. The legislation was reported unanimously out of Committee for future consideration by the full House.

On May 25, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council issued a proposed rule that would require some federal contractors to indicate whether they publicly disclose greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reduction goals or targets. Comments are due by July 25, and AGC is reviewing the proposed rule to assess implications for general contractors.

AGC recently submitted extensive comments on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) draft 2017 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Construction General Permit (draft CGP), based on the Association’s members’ input. AGC has devotedly represented the construction industry’s main concerns with EPA’s draft CGP and offered detailed recommendations on how to improve it by communicating closely with the agency’s construction stormwater leads through e-mails, conference calls, and face-to-face meetings and, most recently, via AGC’s 44-page comment letter. To the extent that EPA adopts more stringent permit provisions, it affects construction firms everywhere because states that run their own stormwater permit programs generally follow EPA’s lead in adopting enhanced protections.

In celebration of National Building Safety Month, traditionally recognized throughout the month of May, AGC participated in an exclusive, invitation-only White House Conference on Resilient Building Codes. Speakers shared insights on what adaptations buildings require in order to enhance resiliency, how to support local communities in protecting their building stock from natural and other disasters, and suggestions on incorporating resilience attributes into codes and standards. Click here for the White House fact sheet on the event.