The EPA's new "Renovation, Repair, and Painting" program requires contractors who work in pre-1978 housing and child-occupied facilities to be certified and to follow specific lead-safe work practices by April 2010.  The agency recently announced that it has begun to review and accredit training providers to conduct the courses that contractors covered by the lead rules are required to complete.  Such contractors should start planning now in order to meet the upcoming compliance dates; EPA expects training opportunities to begin in summer 2009. 

Until that time, EPA recommends that anyone performing renovation, repair and painting projects that disturb lead-based paint in pre-1978 homes, child care facilities and schools follow lead-safe work practices.  For example, all contractors should: contain the work area, minimize dust and clean up thoroughly.

For additional information, visit EPA's Web site at http://epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm.  In the coming months, EPA will also post a list of accredited trainers on its Web site.  You can also call the National Lead Information Center (NLIC) at 1(800) 424-LEAD [5323] to find out more.

For more information, click here or contact Leah Pilconis at pilconisl@agc.org or (703) 837-5332.

Industry Would Voluntarily Contribute Additional $20M to Support Retrofit Effort

In an unprecedented nationwide effort to reduce emissions from construction equipment, 15 AGC Chapters have asked the EPA for more than $31 million in grant funding to clean up approximately 1,000 diesel machines that are currently in use on AGC-members' jobsites.  These AGC Chapters - representing 9 out of 10 EPA Regions - have leveraged an additional $20 million plus in matching funds and "in-kind" contributions by pulling together an impressive array of project partners.  The current grant competition is being funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.  If AGC's collective effort is fully funded, it would create and/or preserve more than 1,000 jobs.

Diesel grant applications were due to EPA on April 28.  EPA is currently reviewing project proposals and will announce "winners" over the next 30 days.  Private construction companies cannot apply (on their own) for an EPA diesel retrofit grant.  Interested AGC members are encouraged to contact their local AGC Chapters to discuss future opportunities to apply for federal funding. 

AGC and its Chapters are grateful for the assistance that the equipment dealers and engine/equipment manufacturers like Caterpillar, John Deere, and Cummins provided for this effort - and particularly the assistance that Caterpillar Emissions Solutions provided in making an outside consultant available to review AGC Chapter applications. 

AGC expects additional Chapters to compete for federal diesel retrofit funds in the near future. EPA will hold another grant competition in August 2009 (EPA fiscal year 2009 appropriations), although it will be for much less money - around $60M.  Also, there will be another opportunity to apply for funding in 2010.

For more information, click here or contact Leah Pilconis at pilconisl@agc.org or (703) 837-5332.

AGC's chief economist Ken Simonson explained in a statement that the recent Associated Press story on stimulus transportation funds fails to acknowledge several unique facts about the construction industry.  The AP story does not consider that construction jobs are not site-specific and that workers will spend income in their hometown, among other factors.

The online investigative journalism site, Pro-Publica, reported on AGC's analysis.  Read Simonson's statement here.

"Early reports indicate that the infrastructure portion of the stimulus is beginning to do exactly what was intended, put construction workers back on the job," says Ken Simonson after the U.S. Department of Labor issued its April, 2009 employment report.  While the report found continued job losses in the construction sector, Ken noted that a number of AGC member companies, including Loch Sand & Construction of Missouri, have begun hiring employees because of the stimulus.  To lear more about Ken's comments, read the following Christian Science Monitor story: http://features.csmonitor.com/economyrebuild/2009/05/08/loss-of-us-jobs-is-slowing-but-hasnt-stopped/

"You should be able to don a green collar, even if you don't wear a union hat," says AGC chief executive officer Stephen Sandherr as the U.S. Department of Labor gets ready to begin awarding new "Green Jobs" training grants.  Unfortunately the new federal grants are currently available only to union affiliated groups.  The nationwide chain of Business Journal papers details the Associated General Contractors of America's support for legislation introduced by Minnesota Representative John Kline.  To see the story, click here: http://washington.bizjournals.com/extraedge/washingtonbureau/archive/2009/05/04/bureau2.html?market=washington

Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, explained to Reuters during a May 6th interview why federal investments in infrastructure and construction projects are one of the most reliable ways to save and create jobs and jump start the U.S. economy.  Ken spoke with a series of Reuters correspondents during their Infrastructure Summit, where he joined other leading authorities including House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar and Robert Atkinson, Chair of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission.  Click here to view the story: http://www.reuters.com/article/Infrastructure09/idUSTRE54563320090506

The chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, Ken Simonson, responded to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau showing a surprise uptick in nonresidential construction spending this past March.  Ken explained that construction can be a lagging indicator and that much of the uptick was from a series of mega energy and manufacturing projects begun before the economic downturn.  He added that while the stimulus will help a great deal, conditions in the private construction market are likely to further deteriorate this year.  To read about Ken's analysis, click here for the Business Journals' story:  http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2009/05/04/daily8.html, or click here for the story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/building-blocks/uncategorized/2009/05/economist-construction-industry-in-for-rough-year/

AGC of America's chief executive officer Steve Sandherr explains why the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, or card check for short, will hurt unionized construction workers in an opinion piece published in the Washington Examiner on May 5th.  As he explains, the proposal's mandatory arbitration provisions would disrupt area-wide collective bargaining and weaken single-craft union pension plans, among other problems.  He adds that "compromise" proposals likely to be introduced this summer to are almost certain to include the mandatory arbitration provision from the current version.  Click here to read the piece: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/OpEd-Contributor/Card-Check-is-bad-for-union-workers-too-44355182.html

In a recent interview with Reuters News, AGC's chief economist Ken Simonson said that he expected growth in the second quarter due to a "sharp drop in business inventories."  The article, ISRI-Analysts see US economy bottoming, vary on how long, presented the views of several leading economists, and Simonson's outlook was the most positive.

Read the article here.