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.).

Contact Your Elected Officials Today Next week, the House could vote on an important modification to the Affordable Care Act’s (also known as “ObamaCare”) definition of a full-time employee. The law defines full-time employees as those with 30 hours of service per week, which is below the 40-hour standard many employers use today.

Today, a group of Democrat Senators, led by Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) introduced legislation that would ease the transition for small businesses complying with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This legislation, the Small Business Stability Act, would modify the large employer definition under the ACA for purposes of the employer mandate from 50 full-time equivalents to 100 full-time equivalents.

Report Meetings and Share Pictures at www.HardhatsforHighways.org With your Senators and Representatives working in their home states last week, it was the perfect opportunity to get involved in the Hardhats for Highways campaign and meet with your members of Congress.  Did you met with your local member of Congress in support of Hardhats for Highways? We want to hear about it – report your meetings on the Hardhats for Highways website.

This week, AGC and the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) are seeking input on how the looming Highway Trust Fund shortfall is impacting business decisions and state transportation programs.   This survey, along with the recently launched Highways for Hardhats campaign, is part of AGC’s continued efforts to raise awareness of the impacts of Highway Trust Fund’s revenue crisis.

Today, the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act was introduced, which would roll back the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) controversial ambush election rule. The rule would undermine long-standing rights of workers, employers, and unions. This rule mirrors a rule that was first proposed in 2011 To read more about the rule, please see the legal challenge and comments AGC submitted in 2011.

This week, AGC sent a letter opposing the possible use of a project labor agreement (PLA) mandate posted by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for construction of a new hospital bed tower at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital, Department of Veterans Affairs, in Tampa, Fla.

Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is planning to mark up a package of recently expired business tax provisions known as “extenders” on April 2. Chairman Wyden has said he would like to move the package as a whole, while Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said he may want to cull the package down. A one-year extension is reportedly projected to cost $45–$50 billion in federal revenue.

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.