AGC joined members of the Waters Advocacy Coalition (WAC) Wednesday in a letter to the editor of The New York Times in response to an article the newspaper published March 1. The article addressed concerns with water and wetland protection under the Clean Water Act following two Supreme Court decisions over the last decade. The New York Times article reports that WAC, of which AGC is a founding member, has used scare tactics to block consideration of the Clean Water Restoration Act, which its proponents claim would restore federal jurisdiction over waters and wetlands they believe have been lost due to the Supreme Court's rulings. WAC's letter to the editor responds to this mischaracterization by stating that WAC fully supports the Clean Water Act and its implementation to protect waters and wetlands, and that WAC's concerns with the Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA) are valid and based on the explicit language of the bill.  The bill would grant EPA and the Corps virtually unlimited regulatory control over all "intrastate waters" - essentially all wet areas within a state, including groundwater, ditches, pipes, streets, gutters and desert features.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) recently announced that until further notice, no enforcement action will be taken for noncompliance with the March 1, 2010, deadline for large fleets (exceeding 5,000 hp) across the state to meet the first of California's strict exhaust standards, per CARB's new "diesel retrofit" requirements.  CARB also announced that - in accordance with AGC's request - it will hold a public hearing on March 11, 2010, in Sacramento, on the question of whether the off-road regulations should be further modified to account for the down economy and subsequent emissions reductions.  These actions come in direct response to the emergency legal petition that AGC filed Jan. 11 with CARB requesting a two-year extension of the rule's fleet performance requirements to avoid needless job losses for the already hard hit California construction industry.  To read CARB's response letter to AGC, click here.

According to the Regulation Gateway Web site the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched this month, the agency expects to release a rulemaking on coal combustion residuals (or waste) in April 2010, with a hazardous designation reported likely.

Three recently released Web sites help the public stay informed and involved with policymaking decisions at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal government agencies.  Add these pages to your internet favorites to check often. 

More Time Needed to Incorporate New Numeric Discharge Limits and Monitoring Requirements The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is extending its federal 2008 stormwater Construction General Permit (CGP) by one year to June 30, 2011, according to a Jan. 28 Federal Register announcement.  The extension of the 2008 construction general permit is needed to allow the agency sufficient time to incorporate the new, national Construction and Development Effluent Limitations Guidelines (C&D ELG) requirements into the CGP.  The CGP applies in Idaho; Massachusetts; New Hampshire; New Mexico; Washington, D.C., and most territories and Indian country lands, which is where EPA is the permitting authority.

The nation's economy is caught in a tug of war between the U.S. Congress and the Obama Administration on the details surrounding future regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from mobile and stationary sources.  Greenhouse gases are emitted from cars, trucks, equipment, factories, commercial buildings, healthcare facilities, educational institutions, homes and even animals.  Any efforts to reduce emissions from such sources will have a profound impact on the way we generate energy, design and operate buildings and other infrastructure, make land planning decisions and transport goods.  A top concern is whether any resultant greenhouse gas controls will stifle the economy through unwieldy and strict regulations, or strengthen the economy by spurring new markets and innovations and creating jobs.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010 - 1:30 - 3:00pm ET Prepare now for first-time nationwide discharge limits and monitoring requirements for construction site stormwater runoff. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set a numeric limit for how clear the stormwater runoff from construction sites must be and "operators" of those sites that are subject to the numeric limit must monitor all of their stormwater discharges to show compliance. Penalties for violating these new federal requirements - called Construction and Development Effluent Limitations Guidelines (C&D ELG) - may reach $37,500 per day per violation.

AGC issued a statement in response to the California Air Resources Board's decision to delay enforcement of its off-road diesel emissions rule, but to proceed with the off-road diesel rule as soon as is legally permissible.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently considering whether or not to expand and strengthen requirements of the 2008 Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule to cover renovations of both the exteriors and the interiors of all public and commercial buildings.  EPA's anticipated action is required by a legal settlement it reached in August 2009 with environmental and health advocacy groups that had challenged the RRP rule.   The current RRP requirements, which will take full effect on April 22, 2010, require paid contractors and maintenance professionals to be trained and certified on certain mandated lead-safe work practices before renovating or repairing housing and facilities for children built before 1978.

As we enter 2010, the Oil Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) amendments finalized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the end of 2008 have finally gone into effect.  Many of these amendments (and other reforms finalized by EPA back in 2006) will ease the compliance burden on construction companies covered by the federal oil spill control regulations.  The amendments respond to many of AGC's main concerns as well as the association's recommendations on how to improve the SPCC program. EPA has set a November 10, 2010, compliance deadline for regulated construction sites to prepare and implement SPCC Plans that meet all of the current requirements; however, the Agency plans to separately propose to extend the deadline because of the uncertainty surrounding the final amendments to the rule and an earlier delay of the effective date.