AGC Welcomes StormwaterONE as CICA's 2017 Platinum Level Supporter

Both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have increased civil penalties for new enforcement cases. This is the second time in six months that these federal agencies have raised their penalties for environmental or safety/health violations.

Matthew Lee, Young Contracting Have you ever had to sit through a presentation where you spend the entire time checking you phone for emails and messages even though you know you haven’t received any new ones? At some point in your career, whether you are in business development, sales, marketing, management, or otherwise, most of us will have to get up in front of a group of people and make a presentation. Here are FIVE tips that may help you give a meaningful presentation.

Call for Presentations Is Open; Save the Date for September 13-14

Join AGC and EPA for this Free WebEd on March 1 at 1:30pm Eastern

The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 announced it will resolve a dispute over what court should hear the legal challenges to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ controversial 2015 rule that redefines the term “Waters of the United States” in the Federal Code of Regulations. The WOTUS rule determines what waters and wet areas are subject to federal control, water quality limits, permitting, enforcement and other reviews under the Clean Water Act. States, industry, environmental advocates and others criticized the 2015 WOTUS rule in a host of district courts and courts of appeals.

AGC Highlights Major Accomplishments, Notable Changes and Areas for Improvement The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its final 2017 Construction General Permit (CGP). It takes effect on Feb. 16, 2017, which is when the 2012 CGP expires. As with any reissued CWA discharge permit, there comes new or modified requirements. AGC served its members well by making sure the construction industry’s top issues of concern were heard and vetted. We kept the most troubling provisions out – and we got some new clarifying language and flexible provisions worked in. Looking ahead, the new language on “joint and several liability” may prove to be contentious and will likely be a key focus of near-term debate and future improvement.

DOT Proposes Updates on Environmental Review Procedures Including Climate

Corps Refrains from Adding More Restrictions, Limits on Use of General Permits

AGC members, particularly its highway contractors, may breathe a sigh of relief when learning that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized a rule to relax a mandate for smaller cities to install near-road nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions monitoring stations. Indeed, it would not have been easy to administer a comprehensive monitoring network near roadways and obtain results that can be easily understood. Bad data could have pushed more areas into “nonattainment,” which puts highway/transit funding and new construction in jeopardy. AGC was also concerned about the increased use of roadway concentration data in future standard-setting processes or to inform transportation planning and decision making. (For instance, AGC recently responded unfavorably to a U.S. DOT proposal that contemplates measuring greenhouse gas emissions from on-road mobile sources as a way of evaluating highway performance.)