AGC and the staff of the California Air Resources Board have reached an agreement on proposed changes to the state's off-road diesel rule designed to give the local construction industry time to recover from the recession while protecting air quality.

AGC and the staff of the California Air Resources Board have reached an agreement on proposed changes to the state's off-road diesel rule designed to give the local construction industry time to recover from the recession while protecting air quality.As part of the agreement, CARB will delay enforcement of the rule until 2014, ease annual compliance requirements and give contractors greatly flexibility in how they can comply. The proposed changes, which will need approval from the board in December, are the result of AGC's successful efforts to identify significant flaws in the Board's original diesel emissions estimates.Read the press release here. Listen to the media conference call for details on the agreement.

AGC has received reports that its members have received a letter from the U.S. EPA directing them to complete a mandatory survey on construction stormwater management practices within 60 days - or face significant fines and penalties of up to $37,500 per day per violation. 

Several AGC members have reported receiving a letter from the U.S. EPA directing them to complete a mandatory survey on construction stormwater management practices within 60 days - or face significant fines and penalties of up to $37,500 per day per violation.

AGC members in California sent hundreds of letters to the California Air Resources Board, urging it to repeal its costly and unnecessary off-road rule, which could be adopted by 32 other states.

Association Calls on CARB to Repeal Costly, Unneeded Off-road Diesel Rule The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has acknowledged that it has vastly overestimated the amount of diesel pollution being emitted by the construction equipment currently in use in California. In fact, the construction industry will meet state-mandated targets for reducing pollution for many years to come even with no statewide rule forcing contractors to retire or retrofit their equipment.  CARB staff recently reviewed and fixed significant flaws in its emissions data in direct response to an AGC study showing that actual diesel fuel sales in California to construction companies were far lower than the state's computer model predicted.  AGC is calling on CARB to repeal its costly and unneeded rule.  If AGC stops the rule in California, other states won't be able to adopt it locally.

The California Air Resources Board abandoned its original estimates of off–road diesel emissions, conceding that its “off–road rule” is not needed to meet ambitious goals for the off–road equipment in the construction industry.

Construction Associations' Coalition Will Help Contractors Cut Emissions from Bulldozers, Excavators and Other Heavy Construction Equipment Used in Construction Statewide. The Associated General Contractors of Greater Florida in partnership with a coalition of construction associations in the Southeast will invest more than $1.6 million over the next two years to cut diesel emissions from off-road construction equipment that is currently in use.  The U.S. EPA has awarded the National Funding Assistance Program grant to the Florida Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Contractors Association to support voluntary diesel retrofit efforts by AGC of Greater Florida contractors and other diesel users across Florida, Alabama and Georgia.

Recognizing AGC's influence on "clean diesel" initiatives that affect the construction industry, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invited AGC to help plan and moderate the "Non-road Track" at Clean Diesel 10, a significant event to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of EPA's National Clean Diesel Campaign (NCDC).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just released a Construction Fleet Inventory Guide designed to help fleet owners/operators build an accurate inventory of construction equipment and vehicles. Having this fleet inventory is an essential component for many clean diesel grant applications. EPA's comprehensive 118-page guide contains photos and specific directions for how to locate vehicle and engine information such as make, model, model year, horsepower and more.