Highway

iCERT Portal Down Since January 1

AGC recently submitted official comments on a Department of Labor (DOL) proposed rulemaking intended to make it easier for smaller businesses to band together and offer retirement plans to employees. As outlined in the response, AGC appreciates the DOL’s efforts to increase retirement coverage through expanding access to Multiple Employer Plans (MEPs) for small businesses (which describes the vast majority of firms in the construction industry) and recommends that the Department further reduce barriers and liabilities of participating in a MEP, such as the joint liability for the qualification failures of every other employer in the MEP (known as the “one bad apple rule”). Additionally, AGC urges the DOL to be mindful of Chapter provided retirement plans, especially those that currently exist today, and take the necessary steps to ensure that the proposed modifications to current law do not arbitrarily disrupt the quality retirement options that these arrangements consistently provide.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing for public comment a modification to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) 2017 Construction General Permit (CGP), which covers eligible stormwater discharges from construction activities in areas where the EPA is the permitting authority. The 45-day public comment period will close on Jan. 28, 2019.

AGC’s efforts to engage with the Trump Administration on environmental streamlining and regulatory reform are seeing results.  Throughout the year, AGC further developed our relationships with the federal regulatory agencies through increased dialogue and meaningful collaboration.  In the following article, AGC provides a snapshot of those efforts during 2018, which touch on some of the most important environmental concerns for the construction industry from “approvals” to “wetlands.”