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.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) sent a letter on Jan. 8 to its state field offices directing them to comply with a provision (section 192) in the fiscal year 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Act –signed into law in December 2015 – requiring states to certify that three conditions have been satisfied on each federally assisted highway project before it can allow the use of contract provisions that specify a “geographic, economic, or any other hiring preference.” The three conditions states must certify are present before using a local hire preference include:

Watch the new AGC Charities video to learn more and get involved today! In March 2016, AGC Charities will be in San Antonio to help build a new handicap accessible water park addition to the non-profit Morgan’s Wonderland, the world's first theme park designed with special-needs individuals in mind and built for everyone's enjoyment. Volunteer contractors, who are being organized by Linbeck Group and the AGC of San Antonio, plan to conduct most of the construction work during a two-day blitz on March 7 and 8 right before the start of the Associated General Contractors of America's national convention, which is taking place in San Antonio.

On January 18 – 19, 2016, AGC safety and health committee volunteers will be conducting their initial review of applications submitted for this year’s Willis/AGC Construction Safety Excellence Awards (CSEA). This year we have 98 companies from across the nation vying for the best of the best in construction safety and health. The purpose of the CSEA is to recognize AGC member companies who excel at safety performance. The review will examine each applicant’s commitment to safety and occupational health management and risk control. Unlike other safety awards programs that limit the criteria to injury and illness frequency rates, the CSEA selection process is considerably more comprehensive. After the initial review judging, the finalists in each divisional category are notified and will compete at the 97th AGC Annual Convention in San Antonio, TX. The winners, including the grand award winner, will then be announced at the Willis Safety Awards Breakfast on March 10, 2016.

Both the U.S. House and Senate passed legislation, the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act, which would repeal major portions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Congress has voted to repeal parts of the Act more than 50 times since the law’s passage in 2010. However, this the first time legislation repealing the law will make it to the president’s desk. President Obama plans to veto the legislation and based on the votes thus far Congress will likely be unable to override the veto, leaving the Act intact.

Congress’s repeated failure to increase the federal gas tax has resulted in eighteen states enacting laws to increase or reform their taxes to provide additional funding for transportation infrastructure since 2013. The recently signed-into-law transportation bill, the FAST Act, does provide five years of slightly increased funding for federal-aid highway and transit programs but fails to address the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund – continuing to place the burden on states to find additional funding for transportation infrastructure.

The fiscal year (FY) 2016 omnibus appropriations bill, passed by Congress at the end of December, includes a provision allowing states to use federal-aid highway funding that was previously earmarked for specific projects to be used for other projects located nearby. Specifically, the provision allows states to transfer funding authority from projects that had funds earmarked 10 or more years ago but have used less than 10 percent of their dedicated funds, to other projects within a 50 mile radius. The Federal Highway Administration reports that Congress has allocated funding for more than 6,700 projects that was never used. Of that number, approximately 1,300 projects meet the 10 year/10 percent requirement with approximately $2.1 billion in funding still available. According to the Eno Transportation Weekly publication, the $2.1 billion of budget authority for highway projects will result in $500 million in new outlays in fiscal year 2016 and another $1.4 billion over the following seven years. States have up to three years to reprogram the earmarked funds or they are lost forever.

If you’ve watched any presidential election coverage lately, you’ve no doubt heard a lot about the upcoming Iowa caucuses. Unlike most voters who will participate in a primary election by casting a ballot early or at a polling location on election day, Democratic and Republican voters in Iowa will meet in person to caucus in all of the state’s 1,681 precincts on Feb. 1.

Save $75 on Registration Fee; Held May 10-11 in DC Register before January 31 for the 2016 AGC Federal Contractors Conference (FEDCON) and save $75 off the registration fee. FEDCON—held May 10-11 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.—is the premier conference for federal construction contractors to discuss the latest projects, policies and contracting issues facing the industry with federal agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Naval Facility Engineering Command, Air Force Civil Engineer Center, General Services Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of State, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Bureau of Reclamation.

Passage Expected Before Christmas On Wednesday, Congressional leaders released a $1.1 trillion omnibus appropriations bill that will fund federal agencies and programs for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2016. Overall, the bill includes mostly good news for construction accounts, as many see increases compared to FY 2015 levels and others receive significantly smaller cuts than Congress initially wanted. The omnibus bill provides nearly $121 billion for federal construction accounts as tracked by AGC. This is an increase of approximately $8 billion from fiscal year 2015 and $15 billion less than the administration’s fiscal year 2016 budget request. To give time for passage of this final spending package, Congress passed another short-term funding bill—called a continuing resolution—that will fund the government through Dec. 22. The House is expected to pass the omnibus bill on Friday, with a vote in the Senate to follow shortly thereafter.