October 18-19, 2016 | Atlanta, GA Registration is open for AGC of America’s premier Building Contractor’s 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.

Contributed by Thompson E. Penney, FAIA, LS3P and Ryan Abbott, Sundt Construction, Co-Chairs of the National AIA-AGC Joint Committee In an industry that is evolving at an exponential rate and growing increasingly complex and interrelated, the lines between architecture and construction are rapidly blurring.

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, AGC-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.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced this week the eleven technologies and practices that are being promoted as part of the fourth-round of Every Day Counts (EDC) for 2017-2018. EDC is FHWA’s state-based initiative to deploy proven innovations to shorten and enhance project delivery. FHWA will offer technical assistance, training and resources to help transportation agencies and stakeholders adopt the innovations in 2017 and 2018.

AGC held a WebEd this week to inform members and chapters about developments in the use of mileage based user fees to fund transportation infrastructure investments at the federal and state levels in the future. Participants heard from Jack Basso, former DOT Budget Director and Chairman of the Mileage Based Use Fee Alliance (MBUFA), who discussed the current depleted status of the Highway Trust Fund and the need to find alternative revenue sources to supplement and possibly replace the gas tax. Bob Arnold, Director of DOT’s Office of Transportation Management reported on provisions in the FAST Act which provided $95 million in grant funding to support states in implementing pilot programs to test various alternative user fee initiatives for purposes of maintaining the future long-term solvency of the Federal Highway Trust Fund. Finally, Malcolm Dougherty, Director of CalTrans, reported on California’s road charge pilot program.

In comments to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), AGC pointed out the difficulty the construction industry is having finding qualified truck drivers with Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDL) and urged that new rules not make the shortage worse. The comments were directed at a proposed rule that FMCSA has developed requiring minimum training requirements for entry-level truck drivers. FMCSA’s rule proposes that entry level drivers must take a driver theory class (on-line or in classroom) and satisfactorily pass a test and then successfully complete 30 hours of behind the wheel (BTW) training (some hours on a closed range and some on the open road) in order to obtain a CDL. AGC said the driving theory classes are good but suggested that BTW requirements be competency based and not based on hours judging drivers on their skill set rather than number of hours. The comments said this would allow a focus on areas that need concentration and allows the training to also focus on industry specific needs.

Earlier this week, AGC hosted a day of roundtable discussions in Denver, Colo. that brought together environmental professionals who work for some of the nation’s leading construction firms. The group shared their best practices and strategies for incorporating environmental stewardship into their companies’ projects and overall business operations. A consistent theme throughout the discussions was the value in using every opportunity to get in front of the construction workforce and raise environmental awareness. Certainly there is no better opportunity than Earth Day, for AGC to share its multi-year collection of contractor ideas and tips on how to approach environmental issues: straight from one environmental manager to another.

The Senate Transportation Appropriations Committee unanimously approved the fiscal year 2017 budget for the U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT) which includes FAST Act investment levels for federal-aid highways ($43.266 billion) and transit ($9.734 billion). Additionally, the bill provides $525 million for the TIGER grants, $2.338 billion for transit Capital Investment Grants and $3.35 billion for Airport Improvement Program grants.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking this week detailing performance measurements for congestion, freight and on-road mobile source emissions for the national highway System which it was required to do in the 2013 “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century” (MAP-21) reauthorization law. The notice, however, proposes to go beyond MAP-21 requirements by attempting to use the rulemaking to address the Administration’s climate agenda by expanding the proposed rule to include greenhouse gas emissions.

After overcoming some procedural blocks, the Senate began consideration on Thursday of legislation reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Some 100 amendments have been introduced and more are expected, however, it is anticipated that action on the measure could be completed as early as the end of next week. Extraneous issues such as the extension of several expired tax provisions could slow things down but compromises are being worked out to keep the legislation on track. The nearly two-year authorization provides a $400 million increase in 2017 for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) but does not lift the volume cap on the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) program. The AIP and PFC are the main funding and financing mechanisms for airport and runway infrastructure projects.