The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Water and Environment held a hearing on Recovery Act progress, including updates from representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Civil Works Program.

Additional witnesses included representatives from state and local governments administering Recovery Act dollars. AGC has expressed concern about the speed at which contracts have been solicited and awarded; according to witnesses administering these Recovery Act dollars; however, steady progress has been made in getting projects underway.

According to USACE Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo Ellen Darcy, "731 Civil Works projects are underway across 49 states and also in both Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. Eight projects have been completed to date. Fifty Project Partnership Agreements have been executed around the country under the reimbursable environmental infrastructure program for a total cost of $66.3 million. During this same period, 2,753 contract actions were awarded, of which 2,058 or 75 percent were awarded to small businesses. Of the $2 billion in contracts awarded, 48 percent of the total dollar value was awarded to small businesses. In addition, larger companies receiving Civil Works contracts are encouraged to hire local small business as their sub-contractors."

Testifying on behalf of the U.S. EPA was Deputy Director for the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, Nanci Gelb.  According to Gelb's testimony, "nearly 20 percent, or $800 million of the funds appropriated for the Clean Water SRF are under contract, an increase of approximately 20 percent in the last four weeks." This represents slightly less than twenty five percent of the $4 billion allocated for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) but is significant progress considering reports in July indicated that only one half percent of EPA's $6 billion SRF funds had been awarded to contract.   Gelb also noted in her testimony that requirements for "Buy American" green infrastructure and implementing Davis-Bacon prevailing wages have been challenging, but EPA has been successfully navigating the requirements through weekly internal meetings of its Stimulus Steering Committee.

AGC has closely monitored "Buy American" waivers granted for stimulus-funded SRF projects, and submitted a letter to the Committee detailing continued concerns about the vastly expanded "Buy American" provisions in the Recovery Act and the lack of final guidance from OMB.  AGC's position was noted by Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.); however Chairman Oberstar raised doubts that this issue presented a significant problem for industry and noted that the requirement was encouraging U.S. innovation. He cited a single company that now manufactures advanced Ultra Violet Treatment systems for water.  Oberstar asked that EPA respond to AGC's concerns and report back its findings to the T&I Committee.

On a positive note, according to AGC analysis of recent figures released by EPA detailing contract actions, EPA funds for Recovery Act projects have been significantly leveraged. Clean Water SRF funded projects totaling $1.6 billion in Recovery Act Funds have been combined with state and local dollars being leveraged into nearly $3 billion in projects.  For the Drinking Water SRF, $726 million in Recovery Act Funds have been leveraged into nearly $1.3 billion. 

Additional discussion took place toward the end of the hearing regarding additional water infrastructure needs in communities, including the viability of a "Trust Fund," which has been introduced by Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), as one of the potential solutions to meet the nation's clean and drinking water infrastructure funding needs.  These needs are conservatively projected to have an investment gap of almost $600 billion over the next twenty years. AGC supports H.R. 3202 and AGC members are encouraged to visit the AGC Legislative Action Center to learn more about this legislation.

More information:

• T&I Hearing Video and Witness Statements
• AGC Letter to T&I Committee on "Buy American"
• Clean Water SRF: ARRA Reporting Summary Project List (PDF)
• Drinking Water SRF: ARRA Reporting Summary Project List (PDF)
• SRF Progress Toward ARRA Goals (PDF)

This week the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a waiver of Section 1605, or the Buy American requirements, in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for projects using Community Development Block Grant-Recovery (CDBG-R) funds and Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2) funds.

The Recovery Act appropriated $1 billion in funds to states and local governments to carry out eligible activities on an expedited basis. The Recovery Act also appropriated $2 billion for the second round of NSP2, "[f]or the provision of emergency assistance for the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes."

This waiver provides that HUD will accept any other agency's waivers and well as any waivers from other HUD programs. They also waive entirely the Buy American requirements for public housing projects with less than 8 units, when the grant size is less than $100,000, or any project that is substantially under construction or contract prior to receipt of funds. These exceptions were made on the basis of the of the "Public Interest" option of potential waivers provided in Section 1605(b).

This waiver joins others HUD has issued for the Capital Fund Recovery Formula and Competition (CFRFC) grant funds  and a project specific waiver for the Boston Housing Authority's HOPE IV project.

The administration posted data on October 15 detailing data received from recipients of Recovery Act funds on the Recovery.gov Web site. That data includes all information provided by recipients who were awarded direct federal Recovery-related contracts, grants and loans beginning early in 2009.  The Recovery Act requires the prime and sub-recipients of $25,000 or more to report 30 days after the close of every quarter on how they used the money. The first reporting period began on Oct. 1, 2009 and ended on Oct. 10, 2009.  

Based on the data submitted to FederalReporting.gov, a password-protected government Web site created specifically to collect all the data, it is estimated that 30,383 jobs were created or saved so far as a result of the Recovery Act.

The reports included the following information:

• The total amount of Recovery funds each recipient received between Feb. 17, 2009 and Sept. 30, 2009;
• The total amount of funds expended;
• A description and location of the project; and
• The jobs created or saved.

The next reporting period begins January 1, 2010.

The first quarterly reporting deadline for the Recovery Act is October 10, 2009, for all contracts and funds issued February 14 to September 30, 2009. Section 1512 of the Recovery Act requires information about the project and the jobs it creates, plus salary disclosure for certain federal contractors, to be reported to the central Federal web site, www.federalreporting.gov, which went live on August 17, 2009.

As a tool for contractors to help detail everything they need to know about the reporting process, the Department of Defense has prepared a special presentation to AGC. To view the presentation, click here.

AGC also has detailed information for contractors on how to comply with the reporting requirements: For more information on the reporting requirements contained in the Recovery Act, click here for federal contractors; here for federally-assisted work; and here for more information about the reporting process. For OMB's guidance and forms associated with reporting, see OMB's recipient reporting information.

The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) met on Thursday, October 1, to examine the progress to date on implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The hearing addressed implementation efforts by the Department of Transportation.

The Secretary provided the Committee with information regarding the $1.5 billion in Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grants.  Nearly 1,400 applications were received for $56.5 billion in total projects, which means that DOT will only be able to fund fewer than 3% of the total number requests.  They expect to be able to announce the grant recipients in December, well ahead of the February 2010 statutory deadline.

T&I Committee members also received a status update from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on the obligation and disbursements of stimulus funds.  Secretary LaHood shared with the Committee that following the 32^nd week of the implementation of the stimulus, DOT has obligated $29.4 billion - or over 60% of their stimulus funds - on over 9,000 projects across the country.  The U.S. Treasury has so far disbursed almost $3.4 billion in payments for stimulus projects. For a video of the committee hearing and further information on the 225 day report, click here.

According to the Committee, the stimulus funding for highway and transit projects has created or sustained 122,000 jobs.

Vice President Joe Biden delivered a speech today to mark the 200-day mark since the stimulus took effect.  In terms of the stimulus' effect on the construction industry, the vice president reported that more than 10,000 transportation projects have so far been approved.  He went on to say that work created by the stimulus has exceeded goals.  He specifically cited work that had been started on 2,200 highway projects (700 more than expected at this stage) and 192 airport projects (94 more than scheduled).  Biden highlighted in his speech that work has begun on 200 new rural waste and water systems as a result of the stimulus.  In terms of construction contracts, Biden acknowledged that on average bids are coming in at 8 to 10 percent below estimates and noted that he wants to ensure that any savings the government sees from these low bids is used wisely and invested back into infrastructure projects.

In addition to his speech, the vice president sent a letter and issued a report to President Obama summarizing each agency's achievements in meeting their goals and commitments in the 200 days since the stimulus took effect.  A copy of the letter and the report is available here.

Section 1512 of the Recovery Act requires information about the project and the jobs it creates, and salary disclosure for certain federal contractors to be reported to the central federal Web site, www.federalreporting.gov.

At 12:01 A.M. on August 17, 2009, that website is scheduled to go live and recipients of Recovery funds will be able to register as the first step in the reporting process mandated by the Recovery Act. To register, recipients must already have a DUNS number and CCR number.

Registration will continue through September 30, 2009, with reporting officially beginning on October 1, 2009 through October 10, 2009. For more information on the reporting requirements contained in the Recovery Act, click here (for federal contractors), here (for federally-assisted work), and here (for more information about the reporting process). For OMB's guidance and forms associated with reporting, see recipient reporting information.

The White House on July 29 formally unveiled contracting and workforce reforms that are designed to save the taxpayers at least $40 billion a year. The reforms, released by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), focus on three areas: improving acquisition, managing the multi-sector workforce and contractor performance information.

Previously, President Obama established in a March 4 memorandum his principles for contracting reform, and charged the OMB with identifying the best approaches to accomplish his goals.

The guidance requires agencies to reduce contracts by a minimum of seven percent, with special focus on "high-risk" contracts, such as non-competitive contracts and cost-reimbursement contracts. The guidance also requires agencies for the first time to track contractor performance through a new unified database, the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) located at www.ppirs.gov. The White House reports that federal agencies will be able to check on a contractor's past performance before signing a new contract with it. OMB will monitor their compliance with this requirement and will publicly release statistics on agency compliance.

The guidance on managing the multi-sector workforce lays out a new framework for managing the workforce that evaluates all the functions an organization performs to assess if an agency has achieved the best combination of public and private labor resources to serve the American people. Agencies will be required to pilot this new framework by examining at least one program, project or activity where the agency has concerns about over-reliance on contractors.

A second phase of contracting guidance is scheduled to be released in September. This next phase will focus on maximizing competition, choosing appropriate contract types, building the capacity of the federal acquisition workforce and clarifying when outsourcing is appropriate.

AGC will continue to engage with key Administration decision-makers and contracting leaders on Capitol Hill as these issues further develop.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provides significant funding for states to finance high priority infrastructure projects needed to ensure clean water and safe drinking water. The Act also includes "Buy American" provisions that require Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) projects to use domestic iron, steel and manufactured goods. 

According to EPA officials, 10 individual project-specific Buy American Waivers have been granted for water infrastructure projects using Recovery Act Funds. The following list contains Buy America Waiver notices published in the Federal Register to date.

Project/Regional Waivers

7/28/2009 - Sharon Elementary School Water System, Sharon, Vermont

7/28/2009 - Lewiston, ME Department of Public Services

7/9/2009 - Claywood Park Public Service District, West Virginia

6/29/2009 - State of New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services' Winnipesaukee River Basin Bureau

6/22/2009 - Auburn, Maine, Sewerage District

Nationwide Waivers

6/2/2009 - de minimis Incidental Components of Projects Financed Through the Clean or Drinking Water State Revolving Funds Using Assistance Provided Under ARRA

6/2/2009 - Projects that Solicited Bids on or after October 1, 2008 and prior to February 17, 2009 that are Financed through the Clean or Drinking Water State Revolving Funds using Assistance Provided under ARRA

4/7/2009 - Projects With Debt Incurred on or After October 1, 2008 and Before February 17, 2009 That Are Refinanced Through the Clean or Drinking Water State Revolving Funds Using Assistance Provided Under ARRA

The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure met on Friday, July 31, to examine progress to date on implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The hearing primarily addressed implementation efforts in non-transportation programs under the Committee's jurisdiction, including environmental, inland waterways and public buildings infrastructure. 

T&I Committee members received status  updates from agencies receiving Recovery Act dollars under its jurisdiction, including the EPA , U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the General Services Administration and Coast Guard. With the exception of the highway funds, Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) and other members of the committee expressed deep concern with the lack of construction activity underway with Recovery Act dollars and the rate in which Recovery Act funds were translating into contracts. He further expressed consternation over the problems being caused by the 'Buy American' provisions inserted into the Recovery Act and the effect they were having on contracts getting put out to bid. AGC was among the first to identify these problems. Click here for video and additional information about the T&I "160 Day Report Card."

This comes on the heels of AGC CEO Steve Sandherr's letter to 27 federal agency heads concerning the pace that Recovery Act dollars are flowing through the agencies and in the form of contracts available for bid. With more than one million construction workers having lost their jobs over the past year, AGC expressed concerns that given the high unemployment rate that remains in the industry, it is ready to put the Recovery Act to work.