AGC Urges EPA To Deny California's Request to Enforce Costly, Unsafe Rule Requiring Replacement of Most Heavy Construction Equipment

More than 150 AGC chapter staff and members used AGC's Legislative Action Center to tell the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) how California's costly and unsafe rule will impact their businesses.  Members took action in response to the California Air Resources Board request to EPA to approve the state's new standards for off-road diesel engine emissions, which would force construction companies in California to replace most of their heavy construction equipment.  In mid-December, AGC asked EPA either to deny that request, or in the alternative, to defer any decision until California considers AGC's formal petition to reopen or repeal the nation's first-ever statewide rule on the exhaust from existing fleets of off-road diesel equipment. AGC members nationwide expressed concern that the rule will needlessly force California builders to throw away billions of dollars worth of equipment at a time when the volume of construction work in California has fallen by $22 billion below the state's economic forecast and the state's construction industry has lost approximately 120,000 jobs.  The construction industry estimates that the cost of compliance will reach roughly $13 billion in California alone, and even the state has put the cost at $3.4 billion.  If other states across the nation adopt (or "opt-in") to California's requirements, the cost to industry will be many times greater. AGC continues to request that EPA hold public hearings on the waiver proceeding in California to make certain that the state's contractors have a meaningful opportunity to convey their concerns. To read the rule, AGC's petition, and AGC's comments to EPA regarding California's waiver request go to www.agc.org/carbrule (this Web page will continually be updated with the latest news and information).