Only five out of 337 metropolitan areas saw an increase in construction employment between October 2008 and October 2009, according to AGC's analysis of metropolitan area employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, construction employment nationally tumbled by 1.1 million jobs over the past 12 months alone, with 328 metro areas reporting losses. Construction employment was unchanged in four metros.

Read AGC's press release here. The news was covered by the Arizona Daily Star and San Diego Union Tribune, among others.

For more information, contact Brian Turmail at (703) 837-5310 or turmailb@agc.org.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has for the first time imposed nationwide monitoring requirements and enforceable numeric limits on the amount of sediment that can run off any construction site that impacts 10 or more acres of land at any one time, despite AGC's years-long effort to explain the detrimental effect on the construction industry.

The rule, finalized on November 23, specifies the exact types of erosion and sediment controls that contractors must use, at a bare minimum, to control stormwater runoff on all construction sites that disturb one or more acres of land.  The rule will take effect in February 2010 and be phased in over four years. Specific requirements and other details here.

EPA's ruling comes as AGC urges the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to reconsider plans to require the state's construction companies to replace billions of dollars worth of construction equipment as part of their "off-road diesel retrofit" rule.  AGC has worked with CARB for several months to show that the economic downturn has already done more to reduce construction-related diesel emissions than regulators predicted.  In fact, CARB previously estimated 147,000 pieces of construction equipment would be present in California in 2009, but have only located 103,000 pieces, indicating that thousands of pieces have been sold for pennies on the dollar.

AGC will continue making the case for construction companies nationwide on the harmful impact of poorly-planned environmental mandates.

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

Construction workers continued to suffer dramatic job losses as all but one state saw declines in construction employment this October compared to last year, according to AGC's analysis of new state-by-state employment figures released today by the federal government. The analysis points to the need for Washington officials to include new infrastructure investments as they consider proposals for a new "jobs" bill.

Read AGC's press release here. The news was covered by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, New Orleans City Business and Minnesota Public Radio, among others.

For more information, contact Brian Turmail at (703) 837-5310 or turmailb@agc.org.

Sen. Carper addresses the group at the Transportation Construction Coalition-sponsored luncheon.

The Transportation Construction Coalition, of which AGC is co-chair, sponsored a transportation event today on Capitol Hill.  The event focused on the nation's infrastructure needs, the current reauthorization debate and how to finance the system of the future, and included a conversation about some of the environmental issues surrounding the transportation program.

The event was presented by National Journal and featured transportation reporter Lisa Caruso, as well as Jack Schenendorf, vice chairman for the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission.  Sen. Tom Carper addressed the group and called for immediately raising the gas tax as a way to stimulate new job creation.

Watch it here.

For more information, contact Monica Cardenas at (703) 837-5364 or cardenasm@agc.org.

While the $27 billion dedicated to highway construction in the $775 billion stimulus package likely saved thousands of construction-related jobs, it was not enough to prevent widespread lay-offs among road and transit construction businesses according to a survey released today by the AGC co-chaired Transportation Construction Coalition.

While stimulus funds will continue supporting transportation projects next year, 44 percent of contractors anticipate having to lay off additional permanent employees due to overall economic conditions, the survey found.

The results of the survey were released during a conference call, which included remarks from AGC's chief economist Ken Simonson. Read the press release and complete survey results here.

The news was covered by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, CQ Today and the Denver Daily News, to name a few.  AGC of North Dakota's executive vice president, Russ Hanson, discussed the results on the local NBC news station.

For more information, contact Brian Turmail at (703) 837-5310 or turmailb@agc.org.

AGC explained the three options Congress and the administration must weigh to create jobs with new public-works funding. Options include accelerating the surface transportation reauthorization, a quick-spending, additional recovery, and additional funding for the 2010 spending bill.

AGC's senior executive director for government affairs, Jeff Shoaf, explained the options in an Engineering-News Record article, Congress Moves to Spur Job Creation.

For more information, contact Brian Turmail at (703) 837-5310 or turmailb@agc.org.

Written by John Lynch from the State of Washington and published as a joint effort of AGC of America and the National Association of State Facilities Administrators (NASFA), this eight page article is targeted toward public owners who construct capital projects and those contractors who are engaged in this type of work.  It is particularly useful in this challenging economy.

Click here to access the article. For more information, contact Mike Stark at (703) 837-5365 or starkm@agc.org.

Originally written in 1999, a task force of AGC members updated and recently completed the AGC Guide to Construction Financing-Second Edition.  This 26-page publication clearly explains the construction financing process and points out some of the opportunities and pitfalls for the contractor.  It is intended to serve a  reference to get contractors thinking about the risks associated with project financing.

Click here to access this resource. For more information, contact Mike Stark at (703) 837-5365 or starkm@agc.org.

ConsensusDOCS today released the construction industry's first and only comprehensive standard contract document addressing the unique risks and responsibilities associated with building green projects - the ConsensusDOCS 310 Green Building Addendum.

Stakeholders on green building projects will benefit by using the new ConsensusDOCS 310 Green Building Addendum because it incorporates contractual best practices to identify the project participants' roles and responsibilities, as well as the implementation and coordination efforts critical to achieving a successful project using green building elements.  It was drafted to work well not only with the other ConsensusDOCS contract documents, but also with other form contracts.

This new ConsensusDOCS Green Building Addendum, as well as every document in the ConsensusDOCS family, was developed through a collaborative team of professionals representing every part of the construction process, including owners, contractors, designers, subcontractors and sureties.

ConsensusDOCS offers a catalog of 90+ standard contract documents addressing all project delivery methods.  AGC members receive a 20% discount on all ConsensusDOCS purchases.

Please visit http://www.agc.org/contracts or contact Meghan McLellan (mclellanm@agc.org or 703-837-5417) for more information about ConsensusDOCS products.

The Department of Labor canceled the Manchester New Hampshire Job Corps Center construction solicitation due to concerns surrounding a project labor agreement (PLA) requirement.

In September, AGC of America, in cooperation with AGC of  New Hampshire, sent a letter to the Department of Labor expressing concerns about the agency's decision to include a PLA mandate in solicitations related to the construction of a new Job Corps Center in Manchester, N.H., and demanding information about the agency's justification and decision-making process. Read more here.

DOL announced in November that the solicitation was cancelled because it believes that "it is in the public interest for the Department to further evaluate the issues involved in the PLA requirement" as it is a new issue to DOL.

AGC will continue to closely monitor any federal agency PLA activity. If your chapter becomes aware of any PLA mandates on federal or federally assisted construction projects, please send information to Marco Giamberardino at giamberm@agc.org.