The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent decision to pull back its latest stormwater turbidity limit proposal will help the construction industry avoid billions in new compliance costs.  Unfortunately, EPA is only seeking to delay imposing its nationwide limit on dirt in stormwater, instead of abandoning the idea all together.  AGC’s strong advocacy and outreach efforts have led EPA to hold off for a decade on forcing contractors to monitor the water running across their jobsites and publicly report any exceedance of a strict number limit. Following is a rundown on recent events, the implications for construction and AGC’s take away message.

As advocated by AGC, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reportedly delayed its release of controversial new rules to restrict stormwater that washes off land development sites after construction work is completed.  We can now expect to see a “post-construction” stormwater proposal in December 2011.  This extra time hopefully will allow the agency to resolve many of the legal, authority and process issues that AGC has repeatedly expressed to both EPA and Congressional staff with regard to first-time national post-construction rules.

Last week, the president announced that the administration will delay promulgation of new National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone.  In his statement, the president said that economic concerns and efforts to reduce regulatory burdens and uncertainty led to his decision to delay the new standard until at least 2013.  AGC welcomed the decision having asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to wait on moving forward with new standards until 2013 when the agency is scheduled to finish its next review of the most current science on ozone.

AGC is pleased to announce the appointment of five new members to serve on its Environmental Forum Steering Committee through the  2014 AGC Convention.  Members of the Steering Committee have direct access to federal regulatory officials, influence over AGC's environmental agenda, and a means to exchange valuable information with one another and industry peers.  AGC also acknowledges the invaluable contributions of those members who recently completed their terms on the Steering Committee.

This article is the first of a three-part series. Look for the second installment at the end of September. If you have oil on your jobsite, or at your asphalt plant, be aware of the Nov. 10, 2011, deadline to comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) oil spill planning rule. The federal Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) program applies to the owner and operator of any construction site that has the “capacity” to store more than 1,320 gallons of any type of oil product in above ground storage tanks/containers. This is Part I of a three-part series intended to help AGC members determine if they need a federally-required oil spill plan – and, if they do, the series will help them develop one that meets EPA requirements.

Construction contractors’ input is needed to improve three new tools that will aid in the development of green buildings and other infrastructure.  First, AGC is requesting input on a joint effort with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to create a toolkit of online resources and information on building energy codes specifically of interest to contractors.  Second, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has opened up the public comment period on the newest update to its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system.  The third opportunity for public comment is on the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure’s (ISI) new rating system that can be applied to all civil infrastructure—EnvISIon™.Building Energy Codes – Toolkit PilotAGC and the DOE Building Energy Codes Program (BECP) are piloting a new online toolkit for construction contractors on the subject of building energy codes.  DOE has thousands of pages of resources online; this toolkit is designed to compile those resources most relevant to construction contractors.  Once complete, contractors will be able to access these resources through a portal on the AGC website.  AGC would like to hear back from members during this pilot stage on whether the resources available are truly relevant and whether important materials are missing from the toolkit.  Please comment by September 16, 2011, via e-mail to tomainom@agc.org.  The toolkit is available at the AGC-BECP Resource Page.State and local government interest in the adoption and implementation of building energy codes and green building model codes, such as International Green Construction Codes (IgCC) and Standard 189.1, is growing.  Building codes will be the next trend in green buildings and will affect a much broader segment of the building professions than have existing voluntary rating systems.  AGC encourages members to comment on the building energy codes toolkit.Draft LEED 2012 – Comment PeriodThe USGBC has incorporated the first-round of public comments (nearly 6,000 received) into its newest draft of the LEED green building rating system and seeks public comment on the proposed changes by September 14, 2011.  According to the USGBC, the newest draft of LEED 2012 has a “heightened emphasis on an integrative process and building performance” and the Council used a new weighting process when organizing the credit categories and allocating points to specific credits.  There also are new credits related to the life-cycle assessment of materials and new focus on air quality and “improved incentives for testing and verification.”  Go to www.usgbc.org/leed/development to access the draft and comment on the proposed changes.Sustainable Infrastructure Rating Tool – Comment PeriodThe newly formed ISI has opened the public comment period on its new sustainability infrastructure rating system and planning tool, EnvISIon™, prior to its release for commercial use in 2012.  Comments are due December 9, 2011.  According to ISI, EnvISIon “can be applied to all civil infrastructure other than buildings and can be used to assess the sustainability of an infrastructure project at any point in its life cycle–from inception on.”  EnvISIon is a planning tool that helps communities identify their sustainable infrastructure needs and an evaluation tool that looks at how projects are delivered and how long they last.  ISI was founded by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Public Works Association and the American Council of Engineering Companies.  Go to www.sustainableinfrastructure.org to access and comment on EnvISIon.For more information, contact Melinda Tomaino at (703) 837-5415 or tomainom@agc.org.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) unveiled a first-ever program to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks.  The agencies are each proposing complementary standards under their respective authorities, which together would form a comprehensive Heavy-Duty (HD) National Program.  These standards complement the 2010 EPA and NHTSA standards that apply to passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty passenger vehicles, covering model years 2012 through 2016.

The agency’s announcement that it is delaying its effort to protect the Earth from dirt gives temporary relief for struggling contractors.  AGC's chief executive officer, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued a statement in response to the decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withdraw proposed “numeric limits” on the amount of dirt the agency will allow in stormwater from construction sites.

Early in 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a series of new measures intended to protect the environment from the release of muddy water from construction jobsites.  Embedded in this rigid “one-size-fits-all” proposal to revise the federal Construction General Stormwater Permit (CGP), are a series of costly controls that contractors will need to implement simply to reduce the dirt – regular, clean dirt – in the rain water and any melting snow that runs across their jobsites.  Climate, soil, topography and a host of other variables are all irrelevant.  These new requirements will affect all construction firms everywhere because state stormwater permit programs also have to meet with the EPA’s approval.

On July 29, AGC – through a coalition of organizations representing the housing, mining, agriculture, and energy sectors – submitted detailed comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) regarding new draft “Guidance on Identifying Waters Protected by the Clean Water Act” (proposed guidance).