AGC is continuing its efforts to inform Congress and the Obama transition team about the significant downturn in the non-residential construction market, the resulting unemployment and the industry’s  capacity to carry out the projects that would result from a boost in federal infrastructure funding. AGC also sent a letter to Members of Congress with specific details about the state of the economy and how infrastructure investment will provide an immediate and lasting impact on our economy. AGC has highlighted the needed investment for public buildings, roads, bridges, transit, schools, flood protection, ports and harbors, and waste water and drinking water infrastructure projects.

President-elect Obama on December 6 called for a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient, called for the largest investment in roads and bridges since President Dwight D. Eisenhower built the Interstate system in the late 1950s. He added that he will launch a sweeping effort to modernize and upgrade school buildings. He also called for investment in expanding broadband capacity to connect libraries, schools and hospitals to the internet.

AGC has been successful in coordinating information from various groups about projects that are ready to go.  These projects will spur economic development and help cultivate support among key Congressional decision-makers. Several public groups have released survey results over the past week indicating that there are many infrastructure projects that are ready to go out for construction immediately if necessary funding were provided. The American Association of State and Highway Officials (AASHTO) said last Friday that its survey of state transportation departments shows states could put more than 5,000 transportation projects worth $64 billion under contract within 180 days of receiving funding. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) reported earlier this year there are 559 transit projects totaling $8 billion ready to begin if funding is made available. In addition, the National Governors Association said states have identified $136 billion worth of road, bridge, water and other projects and the U.S. Conference of Mayors released a report saying it has identified 11,391 infrastructure projects in 427 cities, including school modernization, airports and energy conservation, requiring a $73 billion investment.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) has met with Speaker Pelosi to indicate his intention to push for $45 billion of infrastructure funding in the stimulus package as follows: $18.2 billion for highways and bridges; $6.5 billion for transit; $9 billion for environmental infrastructure such as water projects; $5 billion for Corps of Engineers; $2.5 billion for federal building efficiency; $2 billion for rail; $1 billion for aviation; $420 million for Coast Guard; and $275 million for brownfield cleanup.  AGC is working with Committee leaders to increase this funding and identified funding for GSA's building program.

On December 11, 2008, AGC launched a new national effort to ensure that Congress and the President-elect understand the vital need for investing in infrastructure as part of the pending stimulus package. The centerpiece of this effort is, frankly, you. As you will see from the advertisement below, AGC is encouraging people to sign up and indicate their support for badly needed new infrastructure investments. AGC will share this list with members of Congress when they return to work on January 6th, and also will provide it to the President-elect’s transition team.

AGC's "We Are Ready" Ad

We need your help in ensuring that the full breadth and depth of our support is reflected in this list. So I am asking each of you, please, to reach out to your employees, your suppliers, your subcontractors your local government and business community leaders. Encourage them to log on to www.agc.org/letsbuild and sign up. And encourage them to tell their colleagues and co-workers to do the same. With your help, we can make sure Congress and the new Administration understand the value and wisdom of new infrastructure investments.

With more than 770,000 construction workers out of work over the last two years, our sector has been one of the hardest hit by the country’s financial challenges. With your help we can make sure our members are put back to work now, building America’s future. After all, the infrastructure projects our members build will not only put people back to work, they will serve as a crucial foundation for future economic growth.

To join the campaign, visit www.agc.org/letsbuild.

Former national treasurer of AGC of America, and Common Ground Alliance (CGA) board member Vic Weston (Tri-State Road Boring Inc., Baton Rouge, La.) and Bob Kipp, director of CGA, gave a presentation today at the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) Joint Technical Pipeline Safety Standards Committee meeting to discuss the agency’s regulatory agenda for 2009.

In their presentation on federal civil enforcement authority for damage prevention, Kipp and Weston stressed the contributions of AGC and other CGA stakeholders to promote damage prevention efforts. Weston stressed that states with negligent or poor underground infrastructure damage prevention laws should be held responsible by the federal government to ensure the safety of the public, including construction and utility workers.

 Weston also highlighted AGC member contributions to damage prevention efforts and noted that if an economic stimulus package is achieved with significant infrastructure investment, there would be an increased need for damage prevention efforts in excavation and construction. Given this potential increase, he stressed that the need was greater than ever for contractors to use and promote the '811 - Call Before You Dig’ campaign to locate utilities before excavating and to prevent damages to underground utilities.

Weston emphasized the contributions and importance of construction as an engine of economic stimulus, and vowed that PHMSA, AGC and CGA would continue their work to raise awareness of the 811 program to reduce damages to underground infrastructure.

AGC’s Legislative Action Committee convened December 10 to evaluate the association’s legislative and regulatory priorities for the 111th Congress (2009-2010). The committee made recommendations based on priorities that impact the industry, are achievable, and will be considered in the next Congress. The committee also used information provided by a survey of thousands of contractors earlier this fall.

A majority of the discussion focused on the need for Congress to increase the Federal government’s investment in infrastructure to create and sustain jobs. While infrastructure investment will be a major priority, committee members also stressed the need for AGC to advocate for tax, regulatory and legislative policies that promote economic opportunity and not restrict business growth and development.

The next step is approval by AGC’s Executive Board at which time AGC will deliver the priorities to Congress and the new Obama Administration.

The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday passed by unanimous consent H.R. 7327 and the Senate followed today, the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008, to provide immediate, short-term relief for single- and multi-employer pension plans whose assets have lost value as a result of the recent market contraction.  The President is expect to sign the bill which would provide an optional one-year freeze on changes in zone status (i.e., “green,” “yellow,” “red”) and the addition of three years to the funding improvement and rehabilitation periods for plans in the “yellow” or “red” zone in 2008 and 2009.  Further, the bill addresses many technical corrections to the 2006 Pension Protection Act sought by multi-employer plan stakeholders.  Supporters of the bill in the Senate are working to clear the bill for Senate consideration today. 

AGC has been working with a broad coalition of single- and multi-pension plan stakeholders to enact emergency relief prior to the end of the year and its members and chapters have sent hundreds of letter to elected officials through AGC’s Legislative Action Center.

On December 9-10, ten members of AGC’s Environmental Network Steering Committee and national AGC environmental staff met with officials and staff from several U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program offices.  Those offices include Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Policy, Economics and Innovation, Water, Air and Radiation, and the EPA Green Building Workgroup.

The group discussed ways to quantify the amount of construction and demolition (C&D) debris that is generated and to encourage the reduction, reuse and recycling of such materials.  They also discussed progress in completing a joint AGC-EPA draft white paper and online toolkit on recycling and reuse of C&D materials. Other topics of discussion included AGC and EPA’s joint partnership work under the “Sector Strategies” Program to reduce the construction industry’s environmental burden and the new 2008 Sector Performance Report and EPA’s newly proposed Effluent Limitation Guidelines for the construction and development industries. 

AGC and EPA representatives also discussed EPA clean air rules and initiatives that impact construction, including an update on off-road retrofit technologies, federal funding for diesel engine retrofit, requirements being placed on contractors to retrofit/replace their existing in-use equipment and the status of California’s off-road retrofit/replacement rule and the implications for other states.

EPA’s newly released Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on using the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was discussed.  EPA received over 200,000 comments in response to the ANPR, and  AGC, its Chapters and more than 300 members submitted comments stating that the Clean Air Act is not the right tool to regulate GHG.

Congress, Obama Transition Team Continue to Develop Comprehensive Economic Stimulus Plan

Congressional leaders have talked about an economic stimulus package that could total as much as $500 billion. It is unlikely that it would be taken up before the 111th Congress convenes on January 6, 2009, and it will not be sent to the president before President Elect Obama takes the oath of office on January 20.

Infrastructure Investment

While details of the package are still under development, it is widely expected that the infrastructure investment component of the package could represent  20-30% of the total package.  AGC has been successful in coordinating information from various owner groups about projects ready to go and relaying our message that a significant investment in infrastructure will spur economic development, helping to cultivate support among key Congressional decision-makers.  Significant increased investment is expected in transit, airports, schools, roads, bridges, public housing, flood protection and waste water and drinking water infrastructure projects in the stimulus bill. Support for infrastructure investment is also strongly supported by President-elect Obama, who announced on November 21 a new initiative to save or create 2.5 million jobs in the next two years that includes infrastructure investment, school modernization and new energy policy initiatives.

At a meeting of the National Governors Association on December 2, the nation's governors requested that the stimulus package include as much as $136 billion worth of road and bridge repair projects that are “ready-to-go.” The governors are also asking for direct aid to states experiencing significant budget deficits and urged President-elect Obama to consider establishing a national infrastructure bank that could issue bonds to finance infrastructure projects as part of the economic stimulus package currently being developed. During his campaign, Obama proposed creating an infrastructure bank that could issue up to $60 billion in tax-credit bonds, which provide investors with a tax credit instead of interest payments. AGC endorsed similar legislation introduced in the 110th Congress. 

Below are funding needs AGC has compiled from many owner groups that have been identified as “ready-to-go” projects.

• Highways and Bridges: At least $30 billion for projects as identified by AASHTO
• Water Resources: $7 billion - $10 billion in new funding for the Corps of Engineers
• Drinking Water and Wastewater Treatment Systems: $10 billion for the repair and construction of publicly owned sewage treatment works, $10 billion in new financial aid to the nation's drinking-water treatment systems
• Public Transit: $3.6 billion for transit projects already authorized
• Aviation: $600 million worth of capital improvement projects
• Dams: $50 million for the dams in greatest need of repair
• School Construction: $10 billion needed for repairs and new construction
• Federal Facilities: $1 billion for repair and alterations
• Public Housing: $1 billion for the Public Housing Capital Fund

Energy

As details of the structure of the stimulus package continue to emerge, another central component of the measure would be a “green-jobs” program. The program may include home weatherizing, installation of “smart meters” designed to reduce home energy use, tax breaks or direct government subsidies for a variety of clean energy projects, including solar arrays, wind farms, biofuels and clean coal technology.  Members of Congress have also talked about spending $100 million or more on energy transmission upgrades.

Tax Incentives

In November, the Senate Finance Committee proposed one-year extensions through 2009 of bonus depreciation and Section 179 elective expensing to help stimulate business investment. The bonus depreciation provision would allow a taxpayer to depreciate 50 percent of the cost of an asset in the year in which the asset was acquired (i.e., 2009). The Section 179 elective expensing provision would allow small businesses to elect, in lieu of depreciation, to deduct up to $250,000 for property acquired and placed into service in 2009. AGC has endorsed the section 179 expensing and has also proposed a full repeal of the 3 percent withholding law set to go into effect in 2011 as part of the stimulus package. In addition, we are working with owner groups to identify other tax incentives that would stimulate building improvements and construction such as accelerated depreciation of certain energy efficiency improvements or green building additions.

Take Action

AGC will continue to press Members of Congress in Washington to enact an economic recovery package with infrastructure investment as soon as possible. It is critical to continue educating your Members of Congress in the coming weeks about the projects that are ready to go in your area and the important economic contributions offered by the construction industry. Please use the tools on AGC’s Legislative Action Center to contact your congressional delegation and urge them to support infrastructure investment in an economic recovery package.

A proposed rule released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Nov. 19 would establish the first national effluent (discharge) limit for storm water runoff from construction sites. Upon early review, it appears that AGC's advocacy efforts and close work with EPA staff have produced a workable proposal that recognizes the importance of providing contractors with the flexibility to select best management practices (BMPs) to fit the conditions of their sites. Much work remains, however, to ensure that the final rule does not include a strict numeric limit dictating the amount of sediment that may lawfully be discharged from construction sites across the country.

The proposal would require contractors to meet EPA’s technology-based “floor” on most sites by installing and maintaining a range of erosion and sediment controls that “are generally recognized and accepted as effective” BMPs. Construction sites disturbing 10 or more acres of land at a time would also need to install sediment basins to treat their storm water discharges. In addition, a strict numeric limit on the allowable level of turbidity would apply to sites of 30 acres or more that are located in rainy areas where the soil has high clay content.

AGC is analyzing EPA’s proposal with an eye to the underlying data on the costs and benefits of the rule and will keep chapters and members informed of its actions. The construction and development (C&D) effluent limitation guideline (ELG) proposal and other information are online here. EPA will accept public comment for 90 days after the proposal appeared in the Federal Register on Nov. 28. AGC plans to ask EPA to extend the public comment period.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering action that could halt the future construction and the major renovations of buildings nationwide, and could also jeopardize funding for highway and transportation projects.

EPA released an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) soliciting public comment on the merit of using the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from buildings and construction equipment. In response, AGC of America, several AGC Chapters, and over 300 individual AGC members submitted comments to EPA stating that the Clean Air Act is not the right regulatory tool for controlling greenhouse gas emissions.

While EPA’s proposal is still in the preliminary drafting stage, AGC expects that there will be additional legislative and regulatory steps in the near future. AGC and members of AGC’s Environmental Network Steering Committee will meet with EPA staff on this and many other important environmental issues on December 9-10. AGC will continue to update members throughout the rulemaking process.

To obtain additional information on the ANPR, click here.

After failing to reach the 50% +1 margin on November 4, Georgia's senior U. S. Senator, Saxby Chambliss, won his re-election campaign in a hotly contested run-off against the Democratic challenger Jim Martin by a 57.4% to 42.6% margin.  Chambliss' win secures at least 41 Republican seats and ensures the Democrats will not have a filibuster-proof Senate when the 111th Congress convenes in January.

Because of his support for business and strong relationship with Georgia contractors and the Georgia Branch AGC, AGC of America's Political Action Committee (AGC PAC) provided the maximum campaign contribution support to Senator Chambliss during the primary, general and run-off elections.

The Minnesota Senate race is the last remaining contest to be resolved.  As of December 2nd, 93 percent of the ballots had been recounted, and AGC ally Sen. Norm Coleman (R) held a slim 303 vote lead over Al Franken (D). Assuming Coleman keeps his seat, there will be 58 Democrats and 42 Republicans in the next Senate, for a Democratic gain of seven seats, one more than 2006.  If Coleman loses, Republicans would return with 41 seats, down eight.  Like Chambliss, Coleman has been an ardent friend of AGC and consequently received the maximum campaign support from AGC PAC during the primary, general and recount.