AGC submitted its first set of comments on a Biden administration guidance implementing a new executive order that changes the process of developing regulations (Executive Order 14094 on Modernizing Regulatory Review). The new policy would limit the business community’s access to the administration during the inter-agency review process, while encouraging feedback from groups that ordinarily would not engage in the regulatory process. The policy effectively closes the door on the very entities that stand to bear the compliance cost of a proposed regulation. The executive order also raises the threshold of a significant regulatory action, meaning fewer regulations would be required to undergo review. AGC encourages the administration to abandon the executive order.
On May 31, the House of Representatives passed the AGC of America-backed debt limit agreement legislation entitled the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA). The U.S. Senate is expected to pass it shortly and President Biden to sign it into law thereafter.
Take the Sustainable Practices Survey to Help Inform the New Effort, Log In to August 16 Town Hall for a Carbon Reporting Overview
Will Change Federal Permitting for Construction Projects
A coalition of environmental advocacy groups, including Beyond Plastics, Environmental Health Sciences, and the Plastic Pollution Coalition, released a report calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide guidance on a safe alternative to PVC for replacing lead water service lines. The coalition claims that PVC is hazardous to human health and warns that communities replacing their lead service lines with PVC would be “leaping from the frying pan into the fire.” The report, however, lacks new research to justify such regulatory action, as the groups admit “research on this topic is thin.”
On May 10, the White House released new permitting priorities to advance its climate change policy goals. The White House touched on a few reforms that AGC has previously supported, such as reducing the length of federal decision documents, reasonable decision time frames for projects, and improving federal coordination and information sharing. However, the priorities are limited to largely transmission and renewable energy projects as well as clean energy infrastructure.
An AGC-backed lawsuit has led the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota to issue a preliminary injunction of the Biden Administration’s 2023 “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule in 24 states (see below) on April 12. Adding to the two-state injunction the association secured from a Texas court as well as a preliminary injunction in Kentucky (AGC of Kentucky joined the Chamber of Commerce on that case), the 2023 WOTUS rule is now temporarily blocked in over half the country: 27 states in all.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working on new programs to standardize the use of environmental product declarations (EPDs) and develop a low-carbon emission construction materials program as specified by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). EPDs provide data on the environmental attributes of a product and are a tool to support “buy clean” programs that mandate the use of low-carbon materials. Buy clean programs are new and untested. On May 1, AGC provided written feedback to EPA that urges a measured approach to reduce any negative impacts on the supply chain and encourages innovation. AGC highlighted the need to control the risks that arise when deviating from traditional roles and materials on projects, as well as, the importance of incentivizing markets while safeguarding materials’ performance.