The Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works held a hearing today concerning “the Federal Role in Keeping Water/Wastewater Infrastructure Affordable.” AGC’s testimony emphasized several financing tools that would help contractors and their local government partners build the nation’s water/wastewater infrastructure. AGC also called for increased appropriations to the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Funds (SRFs), enacting a long-term dedicated revenue stream for water/wastewater infrastructure (like a water trust fund), resurrecting the Build America bonds program, funding the new WIFIA program of direct federal loans and loan guarantees, and unlocking private capital by making private activity bonds for water and sewer exempt from the PAB volume cap. AGC and its coalition partners in the Water Infrastructure Network will continue to advocate for every method of increasing funding and financing for water/wastewater infrastructure.
The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a new hard-hitting enforcement initiative to crack down on violations of worker safety and environmental laws. AGC members are urged to take note that the federal government seeks to investigate and enforce alleged safety violations in conjunction with environmental crimes, which carry much harsher fines and significant jail time. In its announcement, the Department stated its belief that environmental offenses often occur in conjunction with worker safety violations. Given the government’s coordinated response and potential ramifications for industry, AGC members may want to consider the benefits of pursing an integrated health, safety and environmental program
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced this week the eleven technologies and practices that are being promoted as part of the fourth-round of Every Day Counts (EDC) for 2017-2018. EDC is FHWA’s state-based initiative to deploy proven innovations to shorten and enhance project delivery. FHWA will offer technical assistance, training and resources to help transportation agencies and stakeholders adopt the innovations in 2017 and 2018.
AGC held a WebEd this week to inform members and chapters about developments in the use of mileage based user fees to fund transportation infrastructure investments at the federal and state levels in the future. Participants heard from Jack Basso, former DOT Budget Director and Chairman of the Mileage Based Use Fee Alliance (MBUFA), who discussed the current depleted status of the Highway Trust Fund and the need to find alternative revenue sources to supplement and possibly replace the gas tax. Bob Arnold, Director of DOT’s Office of Transportation Management reported on provisions in the FAST Act which provided $95 million in grant funding to support states in implementing pilot programs to test various alternative user fee initiatives for purposes of maintaining the future long-term solvency of the Federal Highway Trust Fund. Finally, Malcolm Dougherty, Director of CalTrans, reported on California’s road charge pilot program.
AGC and its industry coalition partners in the Water Infrastructure Network havebeen working for a number of months to get significant water infrastructure provisions included in the 2016 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) in the Senate. We were successful in getting many important provisions approved by the Committee. The bill creates a longtime AGC priority, a Clean Water Trust Fund, and, while this bill itself does not carry additional funding, it authorizes voluntary contributions to the trust fund. Creation of a trust fund dedicated to water infrastructure opens many new possibilities for future dedicated revenue prospects.
The Senate Transportation Appropriations Committee unanimously approved the fiscal year 2017 budget for the U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT) which includes FAST Act investment levels for federal-aid highways ($43.266 billion) and transit ($9.734 billion). Additionally, the bill provides $525 million for the TIGER grants, $2.338 billion for transit Capital Investment Grants and $3.35 billion for Airport Improvement Program grants.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking this week detailing performance measurements for congestion, freight and on-road mobile source emissions for the national highway System which it was required to do in the 2013 “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century” (MAP-21) reauthorization law. The notice, however, proposes to go beyond MAP-21 requirements by attempting to use the rulemaking to address the Administration’s climate agenda by expanding the proposed rule to include greenhouse gas emissions.
After overcoming some procedural blocks, the Senate began consideration on Thursday of legislation reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Some 100 amendments have been introduced and more are expected, however, it is anticipated that action on the measure could be completed as early as the end of next week. Extraneous issues such as the extension of several expired tax provisions could slow things down but compromises are being worked out to keep the legislation on track. The nearly two-year authorization provides a $400 million increase in 2017 for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) but does not lift the volume cap on the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) program. The AIP and PFC are the main funding and financing mechanisms for airport and runway infrastructure projects.
AGC of South Dakota held a press conference in Rapid City and held other state wide awareness events in conjunction with officials from South Dakota DOT, SD Highway Patrol, Department of Public Safety and Federal Highway Administration in recognition of Work Zone Awareness Week April 11-15, 2016. Many other AGC chapters are holding their own events to raise awareness with the public about dangers in work zones to workers and motorists alike. This year’s theme is "Don't Be THAT Driver: Work on Safety. Get Home Safely. Every Day."
In comments to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), AGC pointed out the difficulty the construction industry is having finding qualified truck drivers with Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDL) and urged that new rules not make the shortage worse. The comments were directed at a proposed rule that FMCSA has developed requiring minimum training requirements for entry-level truck drivers.