Welcome to the energy and environment section of the AGC of America website. Staying on top of environmental and green issues is important for every construction firm, whether you perform highway, building or utility projects. You can visit this page to find resources on environmental compliance and green construction initiatives, to get involved with AGC on environmental issues, or to take action by writing your legislators or the Federal agencies. If you are new to environmental issues, you may find this listing of common acronyms helpful.
Get Involved
You are invited to participate in AGC’s Environmental Forum, receive a subscription to AGC’s Environmental Observer newsletter, and join the Environmental Forum —three great resources available to AGC members and chapter professionals. The forum provides a means to interact with other environmental professionals in the construction industry through task groups, conference calls, and programs. The Observer (10 issues per year) comes directly to your email inbox and is filled with industry perspectives on environmental regulations, green building, as well as related news and events. The Forum is an email listserv group where you can ask questions of your peers.
Find Information
Whether you are interested in federal or state environmental permits or building green, AGC supports your efforts with information that will point you in the right direction. Interested in learning how climate change policies will impact construction? Click here for AGC’s Climate Change Toolkit. AGC also contributes to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-supported Construction Industry Compliance Assistance (CICA) Center at www.cicacenter.org. The CICA Center provides “plain English” resources on federal and state environmental requirements pertaining to construction activities. Here are some of the issues covered:
- Air, Open Burning, Dust
- Construction and Demolition Debris
- Endangered Species
- Lead Based Paint
- Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines
- Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures
- Stormwater
- Waste (Non-hazardous, Hazardous, and Toxic)
- Wetlands/Water Bodies
In addition, you will find information on green building, recycling, building energy codes, and environmental management systems. AGC recommends this resource, and we encourage you to use it often. It can be especially helpful for preparing tool box talks.
Take Action
AGC of America regularly advocates for sensible solutions to today’s environmental challenges. Meeting environmental requirements has become a huge and growing responsibility for contractors, delaying if not threatening construction projects and increasing the cost of doing business. To minimize the environmental barriers to business opportunities, environmental policies must be reasonable and achievable. Both Congress and the White House have turned to AGC for common-sense recommendations on streamlining the federal environmental permitting and review processes. AGC of America created resources to diagram and describe the environmental review and permitting process for a federally-funded or federally-permitted infrastructure project in the United States.
- AGC’s Flowchart: Federal Environmental Review and Permitting
- Backgrounder: Understanding AGC’s Federal Environmental Review and Permitting Flowchart
To make participation as easy as possible, AGC also created an advocacy website specifically for its members to use to communicate with federal and state officials. Go to advocacy.agc.org for voting records for your members of Congress, important construction-related legislation, registering to vote, AGC Political Action Committee, Construction Advocacy Fund, and the latest construction news involving Congress and the Administration. AGC also releases regulatory "Action Alerts" when opportunities arise to take action on specific rulemakings and also announces these opportunities in AGC's Environmental Observer newsletter.
DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this section is intended to be general in nature and is not intended to constitute legal advice. In addition, the authority to implement certain environmental regulatory programs may be delegated to the states. A state may have requirements that are more stringent than the federal requirements. Therefore, be sure to check with your state and local agencies before starting a construction project. Users are also advised to consult legal counsel on specific facts and before taking any action with respect to any matter addressed. AGC does not warrant the contents and links for accuracy, adequacy, legality, suitability, practicality, originality, timeliness, or otherwise and assumes no liability for reliance on the contents.