At the AGC Annual Convention last month, AGC presented its National Committee Chair of the Year Award to Connie Determan of Kiewit Corporation (Omaha, Neb.) for her outstanding leadership of AGC’s Environmental Forum.  A member of the Forum’s Steering Committee since 2009, Connie Determan accepted the chairperson position in April 2012.  In this role, she works to maximize the accomplishments of AGC’s Environmental Forum and advance AGC’s educational and advocacy efforts.

Unless EPA Shows Hazard and Causal Linkage to Renovation Work, Additional Rules Unwarranted AGC and its partners in the “Commercial Properties Coalition” recently filed a 61-page response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) latest request for data and information on renovation and remodeling activities in public and commercial buildings and potential lead-based paint hazards therein.  EPA plans to use this to implement future regulatory determinations.  By July 1, 2015, EPA must decide whether or not it will propose new nationwide certification, training and lead-safe work practice requirements, all of which would apply to contractors who work in public and commercial buildings.

Today, AGC celebrates green construction efforts on Earth Day, along with its chapters and members.  While AGC debuts a new online toolkit for building energy code information, AGC chapters and members celebrate Earth Day through building green, recycling, carpooling, planting trees, cleaning up rivers and sponsoring awareness events.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently published a proposed rule to withdraw the nationwide numeric discharge limit from its 2009 Construction and Development Effluent Limitations Guidelines rule (C&D ELG), along with revising some of the rule’s non-numeric requirements. If faced with a numeric limit, contractors would have been required to monitor the turbidity levels in the stormwater running off their construction jobsites, implement extremely costly advanced treatment controls to try to meet EPA’s potentially unachievable legal limit and publicly report any exceedances of the limit. We urge you to submit any comments to EPA – they are due May 31, 2013.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued its final National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit, regulating discharges, including ballast water, from commercial vessels. EPA’s 2013 Vessel General Permit (VGP) will replace the 2008 VGP when it expires on Dec. 19, 2013.  The permit provides the practices and procedures for owners and operators of vessels to comply with federal NPDES requirements.

FHWA Administrator Victor Mendez to Deliver Keynote at ConferenceAttendees at the AGC 2013 Contractors Environmental Conference (CEC) on June 13-14, 2013, will gain access to up-to-date information and resources on compliance and trends that affect the business of construction across the nation.  From a keynote address by Administrator Victor Mendez of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and award-winning speakers to this year’s “Compliance Assistance Hour: A Meet and Greet with the Federal Agencies,” AGC opens the doors to resources that help contractors maintain compliance and meet the sustainability goals of their projects. Watch a video interview of Administrator Mendez and learn more about the conference here.

Attendees at the AGC 2013 Contractors Environmental Conference (CEC) on June 13-14, 2013, will gain access to up-to-date information and resources on compliance and trends that affect the business of construction across the nation.  From a keynote address by Administrator Victor Mendez of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and award-winning speakers to this year’s “Compliance Assistance Hour: A Meet and Greet with the Federal Agencies”, AGC opens the doors to resources that help contractors maintain compliance and meet the sustainability goals of their projects. Watch a video interview of Administrator Mendez and learn more about the conference here.

For the first time, AGC members responded to a survey that gathered information for a market report on green schools.  McGraw-Hill published “The New and Retrofit Green Schools SmartMarket Report” in March 2013.  As a benefit of their participation, AGC members can access the report for free by clicking on this link.

AGC joined 190 other industry groups from a wide selection of economic sectors to express concern about a growing path of influence whereby groups use lawsuits that seek to force federal agencies to issue regulations that advance their policy priorities. These lawsuits are used to negotiate rulemaking schedules and other concessions from agencies outside of the traditional regulatory process. Unfortunately, impacted parties, including private citizens and states who may be subject to the regulations at issue, have been denied the opportunity to intervene in these suits as some courts have held that they lack standing to participate.

Exciting Learning and Networking Opportunities Planned for June 13-14 After an extremely successful first-ever AGC Contractors Environmental Conference last year, AGC will keep the momentum going at this year’s conference – scheduled for June 13-14, 2013, in Arlington, Va.  This year will bring some exciting opportunities from an impressive line-up of speakers to technology demonstrations and a new Compliance Assistance Hour where attendees can explore resources and ask targeted questions.