AGC will be hosting its first ever Utility Infrastructure Conference, Sept. 29–Oct. 1 in Louisville, Kentucky. Join other contractors, owners and key industry constituents involved in every aspect of utility infrastructure construction for high-quality education sessions, the premier utility construction equipment expo, and networking opportunities.

Today, from the site of the D.C. Water large-scale Anacostia River Tunnel Project, the Obama Administration announced new steps that federal agencies are taking to bring private sector capital and expertise to bear on improving our nation’s infrastructure, focusing on utility infrastructure. President Obama launched the Build America Investment Initiative in July 2014, calling on federal agencies to find new ways to increase investment in ports, roads, bridges, broadband networks, drinking water and sewer systems and other projects by facilitating partnerships between federal, state and local governments and private sector investors. Today’s announcements are part of the evolution of that initiative.The administration is launching a new Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center at the Environmental Protection Agency designed to stimulate private investment and make federal dollars go further. Around the country, towns, cities and states are exploring ways bring innovative financial tools such as public-private partnerships to the water sector in an effort to get more projects off the ground. The new center will help interested local and state governments bring private sector investment and expertise into water system construction and management. Among other roles, the center will bring together investors and project sponsors; highlight promising deals; provide peer-to-peer learning and workshops; and develop case studies and toolkits. The center will work with states to maximize the benefits to annual federal water investments.The center is also designed to help attract investment to small communities. Many rural communities are served by small water utilities that lack the resources to explore financing alternatives and engage the private sector. The new water center will work with on-the-ground partners to provide financial training and technical assistance to small communities and rural water systems.The administration also announced the Rural Opportunity Investment (ROI) Initiative at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), to help water, energy, and broadband infrastructure projects in rural areas attract more investment, thereby in creating jobs and accelerating economic growth. In close collaboration with both public and private partners, the ROI Initiative will connect projects to investors catalyzing rural investment opportunities for the public and private sectors.  The initiative will also focus on opportunities to leverage private sector financing against the $30 billion in existing USDA programs and resources to provide funding to vital rural infrastructure projects; including water and wastewater systems, energy efficiency improvements, broadband networks, and other rural infrastructure needs.Perhaps most interesting, the administration is proposing to create an innovative new municipal bond, the Qualified Public Infrastructure Bond (QPIB). Today, public-private partnerships that combine public ownership with private sector operation and management (O&M) expertise cannot take advantage of the benefits of municipal bonds. QPIBs will extend the benefits of municipal bonds to public private partnerships, like partnerships that involve long-term leasing and management contracts, lowering the cost of borrowing and attracting new capital. A similar existing program, Private Activity Bond (PABs), has already been used to support financing of over $10 billion of roads, tunnels, and bridges. Unlike PABs, the QPIB bond program will have no expiration date, no issuance caps, and interest on these bonds will not be subject to the alternative minimum tax. These modifications will increase QPIB’s impact as a permanent lower-cost financing tool to increase private participation in building our nation’s public infrastructure. QPIBs would not be available for privately-owned facilities or privatizations of public facilities.It is unclear at this stage exactly how these new programs fit in with existing programs like the State Revolving Funds and Water Infrastructure Finance & Innovation Authority (WIFIA) at EPA, the Rural Water and Waste Disposal Loan Program at USDA, and Treasury’s Private Activity Bonds. AGC will continue to find out more on how the various agencies intend to use these new programs and what they mean for the infrastructure funding and finance programs that AGC members and their state & local government partners already use to build the nation’s water, sewer, and stormwater infrastructure.For more information, contact Scott Berry at (703) 837-5321 or berrys@agc.org

meetings.agc.org/highwayutilities Get up to date information on a variety of Issues that will impact the highway, transportation and utility construction markets over the next year. The 2014 AGC Highway and Utilities Contractors Conference will be held Nov. 13-15, 2014, at the Omni LaCosta in San Diego, Calif.  Industry professionals from companies involved in building highway, bridge, utility and underground construction, transit, airport runway and rail projects will benefit from this conference.  Presentation and discussions on major trends in highway and utility construction will be featured, including:

Moves to President’s Desk for Signature This week, both the House – by a vote of 412-4 – and the Senate – by a vote of 91-7 – approved the final Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA).

AGC and its coalition partners in the Water Infrastructure Network have been engaged in an 18-month campaign to include significant clean water provisions in the final conference package of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act. Those efforts successfully secured several provisions that improve the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF).

EPA has released its guidance document for contractors and owners related to projects funded with Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) dollars to use American iron and steel products. You can read the guidance here.

After a great deal of effort this Congress, legislation removing the volume cap on private activity bonds for water and sewer infrastructure was re-introduced in the House. Sponsoring the legislation this time around, in the wake of the retirement of our previous Republican champion Rep. Geoff Davis (R-Ky.), is Rep. Jimmy Duncan (R-Tenn.) with lead Democrat Rep. Bill Pacrell (D-N.J.).

Take Action: Visit AGC’s Legislative Action Center to Submit Your Comments Today On Sept. 12, 2013, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a proposed new rule on silica exposure. AGC members, chapters and interested stakeholders are encouraged to submit comment letters opposing the proposed new rule on silica exposure through the AGC Legislative Action Center (LAC). A sample, editable letter has been provided for your convenience and can be customized to your respective operations. Click here to access the letter. All comments must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. (ET) Feb. 11, 2014.

In mid November, Rep. Earl Blumenauer introduced a bipartisan, AGC-supported piece of legislation that would create a water infrastructure trust fund designed to supplement the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) with additional capitalization. Please take action now and urge your Representatives to cosponsor and support H.R. 3582, The Water Trust Fund Act of 2013.

Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) has introduced the Water Infrastructure Investment Act with the support of senior Republicans on the water infrastructure authorizing Committees - Rep. Duncan (R-Tenn.), Rep. Whitfield (R-Ky.), Rep. Hanna (R-N.Y.) and Rep. Petri (R-Wis.).  The introduction of the bipartisan Water Infrastructure Financing Act is both important and timely as we look to potentially address shortfalls in our nation's infrastructure funding through ongoing Budget negotiations.