Just how geographically broad should the federal government’s role be in regulating water pollution? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have released a proposed rule that would amend the existing definition of “Waters of the United States,” as used in 12 sections of the Code of Federal Regulations,* affecting nearly as many different regulatory programs. This term dictates exactly what waters fall under federal jurisdiction and triggers federal water quality limits, standards, permits, enforcement and other reviews. The proposed rule would not only alter permitting programs under the Clean Water Act (CWA) -- regulating dredging, filling and stormwater discharges -- but also would also expand other regulatory obligations, such as the requirement to develop spill prevention, control and countermeasure (SPCC) plans (on the basis that a release of oil could reasonably discharge into jurisdictional waters) and the requirement to report hazardous substances releases.

AGC’s Contractors Environmental Conference Helps Lead the Way We invite you to join the Associated General Contractors of America in celebrating Earth Day.  Earth Day presents us with an opportunity to rethink the way we do things in our homes and businesses. It reminds us of the importance of building a sustainable environment for ourselves and our future generations.  Here are three ways you can celebrate earth day year-round.  

This week, both the House and Senate continued to apply pressure on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider the significant expansion of its authority to regulation wetlands and wet areas under the Clean Water Act (CWA). In the Senate, all eight Republican Senators on the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee sent a letter to President Barack Obama regarding federal regulation of CWA jurisdiction, which the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) released in late March.

After a Decade of Back-and-Forth, Non-numeric BMPs Reign On March 6, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published long-awaited final amendments to its highly contested stormwater management rule, promulgated in late 2009. The amendments withdraw the nationwide numeric limit on the allowable level of dirt in stormwater runoff from active construction sites. They also revise some of the non-numeric or Best Management Practice (BMP) requirements and establish a new key definition for the term “infeasible,” as it relates to the implementation of those BMP-control requirements. This action is in accordance with a settlement agreement reached with construction and industrial trade groups to resolve litigation on the 2009 rule.

AGC believes it is a massive – and unnecessary – expansion in Clean Water Act jurisdiction The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) proposed their new rule aimed at clarifying the definition of “waters of the U.S.” and which bodies of water fall under federal jurisdiction. This definition is critical to many of the Clean Water Act programs affecting how contractors perform their work, such as the Section 404 Dredge and Fill Permits, Section 402 Stormwater programs, and Section 311 Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures plans.

Let the ‘Voice and Choice’ of the Construction Industry Meet Your Environmental Training Needs With stormwater runoff rules, water and wetlands jurisdiction, and energy and climate change policies making national headlines daily, most construction firms have put environmental issues on their agenda.  If you are unsure of what it is you should be doing to identify, analyze, and manage your environmental risks – as well as the opportunities – then you’ll want to attend the 2014 AGC Contractors Environmental Conference in Arlington, Va., on June 12-13, 2014.

As 2014 gets into gear, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to make some significant regulatory decisions.  The latest EPA agenda includes items from revisions to the construction stormwater management rules for active and completed sites and expanded federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act to new rules governing the management and disposal of fly ash.  Read on to identify and evaluate U.S. EPA activities so you can stay one step ahead of new requirements. 

Transparent Electronic Reporting, Fewer EPA Resources May Ramp Up Citizen Involvement The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to considerably scale back its enforcement presence over the next five years. While the agency still believes there is widespread non-compliance, budget cuts mean fewer dollars for compliance inspections and enforcement actions brought by the government. EPA is now looking to technology and citizen involvement to close this gap. EPA’s “Next Generation Compliance” initiative aims to shift the regulated community from paper to electronic reporting and to the use of advanced emissions monitoring. The apparent end goal is to empower the public to identify violations and enforce regulations.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has scheduled two free webinars on integrating green infrastructure techniques into community and project stormwater programs.  The first, on March 4, will highlight how two communities have used green infrastructure to help meet Clean Water Act requirements.  The second, on March 6, will look at the use of green infrastructure to manage stormwater runoff from road surfaces.

On Feb. 11, the deadline for public comments for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) rule on respirable crystalline silica closed. The proposed rule would lower the current permissible exposure limit (PEL) from 100 micrograms per cubic meter to 50 micrograms per cubic meter. It would also require the establishment of regulated areas or access control plans where exposures will or may be expected to exceed the PEL, such as conducting medical surveillance and the training of workers about silica related hazards. AGC and other industry stakeholders formed a coalition of two dozen construction trade associations to formulate a comprehensive, unified response to industry concerns with the proposed rule. The next step in the rule making process is an informal public hearing scheduled to begin March 18, 2014.