AGC responded to EPA's proposed rule to tighten the air quality standards for ground-level ozone this week in Engineering News-Record and AGC's Environmental Observer, and noted that the rule has resulted in restrictions on the operations of construction equipment around the country.

AGC's Leah Pilconis commented on the rule in Engineering News-Record, and provided more detailed information in the environmental newsletter.

For more information, contact Leah Pilconis at pilconisl@agc.org.

Citing new state data showing California's off-road diesel equipment operators will be well below new emissions targets for years to come, AGC called on state officials to immediately order at least a two-year delay for their new off-road "diesel retrofit" rule  in an emergency petition filed Monday. The delay is needed to avoid unnecessary losses and layoffs within the state's hard hit construction industry while the California Air Resources Board continues to review its diesel rules.

AGC originally petitioned the Board to amend the rule in December 2008. At the board's request, AGC voluntarily deferred action on that original petition pending further research board staff said it needed to conduct. Since that research will continue beyond the rule's implementation date, the AGC decided to file today's emergency petition for interim relief.

Read the press release here. The news was covered by the San Diego Daily Transcript.

For more information, contact Brian Turmail at (703) 837-5364 or turmailb@agc.org.

Contractors and other operators of off-road diesel equipment will exceed ambitious new emissions targets set by California officials according to new state figures released today by AGC.  New data from the California Air Resources Board indicates there is no need to impose costly new "diesel retrofit" rules forcing contractors to purchase new equipment before 2014.

Read the press release and other details here. The news was covered by the San Francisco Chronicle, San Diego Daily Transcript, Engineering News-Record and The Daily Reporter, as well as the Sacramento ABC station.

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

Following Monday's announcement from the Environmental Protection Agency that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health, AGC issued a statement calling for the administration to rethink its misguided approach.

AGC said that the finding will delay construction activity, undermine economic recovery and push construction unemployment above its current 19.4 percent rate.  AGC pointed out that while it fully supports measures to improve our environment, EPA's announcement will make it harder to build the greener future our planet needs.  Every construction project in America is now likely to be put on standby until federal bureaucrats decide whether or not to grant Clean Air Act permits, making it even hard to construct efficient new buildings, cut polluting traffic or retrofit existing inefficient buildings.

Read the entire statement here.

For more information, contact Karen Lapsevic at (202) 547-4733 or lapsevick@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.

AGC and the Clean Air Task force called on Congress to give states the authority to require diesel emissions reductions on federally-funded transportation projects.  The two groups agreed, however, that any such requirement should be made via a contract change order and that the cost of the reductions should be fully covered with federal funds.

Read AGC and the CATF release here, and the Clean Construction Principles here.

The announcement was covered by Greenwire/New York Times.

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

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Clean Diesel Campaign (NCDC) just announced a new "clean diesel helpline."  Get answers to your questions on clean diesel funding and technologies within one business day.

Do you have questions about:

• Clean diesel funding?
• Clean diesel projects?
• Clean diesel technologies?

Ongoing technical support is available at (877) NCDC-FACTS (1-877-623-2322) or via email at cleandiesel@epa.gov.

Click here to access EPA's clean diesel tools and other resources - or to sign up to receive e-mail updates on technologies, funding, policy and other issues related to reducing emissions from heavy-duty diesel engines.

AGC Invited To Help Shape New Action Plan Aimed at Improving Water Permit Compliance

U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has directed the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance to examine its Clean Water Act enforcement program and report back to her in early October with an action plan to strengthen and improve the Agency's enforcement efforts.  This new initiative comes in light of information showing that water quality goals are not being met, there are too many violations in too many places, and the level of EPA enforcement is unacceptably low, according to Administrator Jackson's memo to key Agency officials.

AGC met with EPA officials last week to discuss the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System stormwater permit program and how it is enforced on construction jobsites.  AGC suggested positive incentives and expressed concerns about any potentially punitive measure; AGC plans to provide EPA staff with more detailed, written recommendations later this week.  In addition, AGC Chapters and members can help shape the future direction of EPA's national water enforcement program (and comment on EPA's current enforcement efforts) by participating in an online EPA discussion forum by August 28.

The stormwater permit program regulates mostly stormwater discharges associated with municipal sewer systems, industrial activities and construction activities. (All facilities that discharge pollutants through a point source into waters of the United States are regulated by EPA and states under this program.)  If your construction activity disturbs one or more acres of land, you most likely need a permit to discharge stormwater runoff from your construction site, available from EPA's stormwater program or the state stormwater permitting authority. Additional information on the federal stormwater requirements is online at http://www.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater. You also can obtain information about state and local stormwater requirements through the Storm Water Resource Locator.

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

For the first time in over 35 years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed changes to the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for nitrogen dioxide (NO2).  NAAQS define the maximum allowable level of pollutants and drive state air pollution cleanup programs.  EPA has proposed adding a new one-hour standard to the existing annual standard.  EPA also proposes to establish a roadside monitoring network to track peak levels of NO2 along major highways.  AGC is analyzing what a new NAAQS for NO2 may mean for future construction, including new stricter requirements and/or restrictions on diesel engines and their use.

EPA must set its final rule for NO2 air quality by January 22, 2010. NO2 serves as the indicator for the entire family of nitrogen oxides; diesel engines emit NOx (mono-nitrogen oxides).  Based on our consultation with diesel experts, a tighter NAAQS for NO2 could impact diesel engine users in the following ways:

• Trigger federally enforced clean-up measures and additional stress on state and local air quality planning. If EPA ratchets down the standard (allowingless NO2 in the air), many states may need to reduce their sources of NO2 to stay in attainment of the new federal air standards. (Currently, California is the only state that has ever had NO2 nonattainment areas.) States are responsible for preparing and executing state implementation plans (SIPs) to achieve and maintain NAAQS within their borders. As part of the SIP, states may enact and enforce requirements that affect the business of construction. (What is more, states that fail to develop suitable SIPs could be subject to numerous federal sanctions, including emissions caps limiting economic development and the loss of federal highway transportation funds.)

• Potential for more stringent new diesel engine emission standards for NOx. The proposed rule discusses all the progress made across the board for diesel engines, which seems to suggest that EPA is not thinking about proposinglower NOx standards for diesel engines of any kind. Still, more stringent new diesel engine emission standards for NOx area possible consequence of tighter NO2 standards. (NOTE: If EPA's NO2 proposal goes final, the "official" designations for attainment and non-attainment will not occur until 2012 - with the first compliance dates coming in the year 2022, at the earliest. At that point, a substantial number of the unregulated Tier 0 (high NOx emitting) equipment may be retired.)

• Establishment of a roadside monitoring network to identify where NO2 levels are the highest and requirements to monitor the effectiveness of control measures. The proposed rule puts a lot of emphasis on "hot-spots" and, in particular, concentrations of NO2 near roadways. EPA is proposing specific minimum requirements to guide placement of new NO2 monitors, including a condition that at least one monitor be located near a major roadway in any urban area with a population greater than or equal to 350,000 people. That could mean more state measures to reduce NOx emissions from in-use diesel vehicles and equipment. This could trigger restrictions on how contractors use and operate their construction equipment, as well as early retirement and/or retrofit requirements.

• Restrictions on future transportation planning and programs. Transportation and traffic is one of the biggest contributors of NO2, according to environmentalists' reports. If EPA sets new more stringent standards for NO2, it will certainly impact transportation planning and programs in the future. Transportation conformity (a Clean Air Act process that requires coordination of transportation and air quality planning) applies to all ozone, carbon monoxide, particulate matter and NO2 nonattainment and maintenance areas, regardless of classification. When an area is out of conformity, meaning the projected motor vehicle emission in the transportation planning documents (TIP) do not stay within the budgets set by the air quality planning documents (SIP), the funding and implementation of all federal highway/transit projects in the nonattainment area are suspended.

For an EPA PowerPoint presentation on NO2 click here.

The text of the proposed rule and additional information is on EPA's Web site at http://www.epa.gov/air/nitrogenoxides/. For more information, contact Leah Pilconis at (703)837-5332 or pilconisl@agc.org.

When Congress reconvenes after Labor Day, the U.S. Senate will resume its work on a comprehensive energy and climate bill.  In part, those deliberations will focus on a companion bill, the America Clean Energy and Security Act, or H.R. 2454, which the U.S. House of Representatives passed on June 26, 2009, by a vote of 219 to 212. This article begins a series of articles that AGC will publish in AGC's Environmental Observer to keep members informed of the ongoing climate change debate in Congress.  These articles will summarize H.R. 2454 in plain English and include AGC's preliminary reactions.

Majority leaders in the Senate are aiming to vote on their version of the climate change bill as early as October.  After the differences between the two bills are reconciled, the resulting language will need to secure passing votes in both houses of Congress before a final bill can go to President Obama.

As Congress debates climate change, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also laying the foundation to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act though both industry groups and several government agencies (including EPA) have expressed concern that regulation under the existing statute is not the best course of action.

Read more here.

For more information, contact Karen Lapsevic at (202) 547-4733 or lapsevick@agc.org.