The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a new hard-hitting enforcement initiative to crack down on violations of worker safety and environmental laws. AGC members are urged to take note that the federal government seeks to investigate and enforce alleged safety violations in conjunction with environmental crimes, which carry much harsher fines and significant jail time. In its announcement, the Department stated its belief that environmental offenses often occur in conjunction with worker safety violations. Given the government’s coordinated response and potential ramifications for industry, AGC members may want to consider the benefits of pursing an integrated health, safety and environmental program

AGC and its industry coalition partners in the Water Infrastructure Network havebeen 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.

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 Committee on Environment & Public Works will hold a hearing concerning “the Federal Role in Keeping Water/Wastewater Infrastructure Affordable.” AGC submitted testimony for the record emphasizing support for several financing tools that would help contractors and their local government partners build the nation’s water/wastewater infrastructure. AGC called for increased appropriations to the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Funds (SRFs), enacting a long-term dedicated revenue stream for water/wastewater infrastructure (like a water trust fund), resurrecting the Build America bonds program, funding the new WIFIA program of direct federal loans and loan guarantees, and unlocking private capital by making private activity bonds for water and sewer exempt from the PAB volume cap. AGC and its coalition partners in the Water Infrastructure Network will continue to advocate for every method of increasing funding and financing for water/wastetwaer infrastructure.

Citing a contractor's control over employees at a worksite and the payment of hourly wages, among other factors, a Connecticut judge ruled the contractor could not evade Occupational Safety and Health Administration fines by claiming the employees were independent contractors. The decision in a case involving Royal Construction of Canton, Conn., "upholds a basic tenet of the OSH Act, the employer/employee relationship," said Kim Stille, OSHA's regional administrator for New England. EHS Today

AGC’s 97th Annual Convention will be held March 9-11, 2016 in San Antonio, Texas. Please visit meetings.agc.org/convention for registration information. Below is a preview of some of the Convention sessions.

Includes 13 Percent Increase in Federal Construction Accounts On Feb. 9, President Obama released his $4.1 trillion budget for fiscal year 2017, which proposes $1.215 trillion in discretionary defense and non-defense spending in FY 2017 and $2.565 trillion in mandatory spending. The budget, which stays within the discretionary spending limits set last November in the Bipartisan Budget Act, has been declared dead on arrival by Republican Congressional leaders. For the first time in 41 years, the House and Senate budget committees will not hold hearings with the president’s budget director.

Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), John Duncan (R-Tenn.), and Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) introduced the Water Investment Trust Fund Act. This legislation will provide a small, deficit-neutral, protected source of revenue to help states replace, repair, and rehabilitate critical clean and drinking water facilities by creating a voluntary system that would allow businesses that rely on a clean water source to contribute to the fund.

AGC’s 97th Annual Convention will be held March 9-11, 2016 in San Antonio, Texas. Please visit meetings.agc.org/convention for registration information. Below is a preview of the Utility Infrastructure, Federal & Heavy Construction, and Highway & Transportation Division meetings.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its Clean Watersheds Needs Survey, a collaboration between EPA, states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and other U.S. territories to compile the monetary needs of treatment, transportation, and management of the nation’s wastewater and stormwater. The survey identifies $271 billion over the next five years needed to maintain and improve this critical segment of infrastructure and is likely to be a conservative estimate.