With the federal Highway Trust Fund projected to be unable to support any new highway, bridge or public transportation improvements in fiscal year 2015, the AGC co-chaired Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) developed a new national grassroots campaign called “Hardhats for Highways.”  The campaign is designed to help educate Congress about the connection between local jobs and federal highway and transit investment. Since the launch of  “Hardhats for Highways”  last week in Las Vegas during CONEXPO/CONAGG, over 5000 “Hardhats for Highways” stickers have been requested.

AGC submitted comments to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on a Draft Core Toll Concessions Public Private Partnership Model Contract Guide for P3 concessions using tolling as the revenue source. The Guide was prepared by FHWA in response to a requirement in MAP-21 that the agency develop model transaction documents for P3s. It is the first of several Guides that FHWA intends to produce dealing with P3 arrangements. AGC’s comments were favorable about the Guide pointing out that FHWA did a good job of balancing the desire for not mandating specific contract language with the equally strong desire to make P3s more uniform from a risk allocation point of view. AGC participated in a Listening Session that DOT held seeking suggestions on how to implement this MAP-21 directive and also previously submitted written comments and suggested at those sessions that FHWA not develop any mandatory contract language.

Get Involved at www.HardhatsforHighways.org   With your Senators and Representatives working in their home states next week, it is the perfect opportunity to get involved in the Hardhats for Highways campaign.  Contact your members of Congress today to set up meetings with each office and educate them on the connection between local jobs and federal highway and transit investment.

AGC submitted comments to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on a Draft Core Toll Concessions Public Private Partnership Model Contract Guide for P3 concessions using tolling as the revenue source. The Guide was prepared by FHWA in response to a requirement in MAP-21 that the agency develop model transaction documents for P3s. It is the first of several Guides that FHWA intends to produce dealing with P3 arrangements. AGC’s comments were favorable about the Guide pointing out that FHWA did a good job of balancing the desire for not mandating specific contract language with the equally strong desire to make P3s more uniform from a risk allocation point of view. AGC participated in a Listening Session that DOT held seeking suggestions on how to implement this MAP-21 directive and also previously submitted written comments and suggested at those sessions that FHWA not develop any mandatory contract language.

Administration to Send Reauthorization Plan to Congress in April This week, committees in the Senate and the House heard from the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and other Department officials about their FY 2015 budget submission, MAP-21 reauthorization, and how they intend to administer highway and transit programs considering the pending insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF).

Get Involved at www.HardhatsforHighways.org With the federal Highway Trust Fund projected to be unable to support any new highway, bridge or public transportation improvements in fiscal year 2015, the AGC co-chaired Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) is launching a new national outreach campaign called “Hardhats for Highways.”  This campaign – which was launched yesterday in Las Vegas at CONEXPO/CONAGG, one of the world’s largest construction trade shows, where more than 125,000 industry professionals are gathered – is designed to help educate Congress about the connection between local jobs and federal highway and transit investment.  

Rep. David Camp (R-MI) this week released a draft proposal for comprehensive tax reform.  Included in the proposal is an initiative to direct $126.5 billion in revenue to the Highway Trust Fund over the next ten years.

In a speech in St Paul, Minn. this week, President Obama provided his Administration’s broad concepts for reauthorization of the highway and transit programs, including his ideas for how to provide the needed revenue. The president called for a four-year, $302 billion authorization that would be paid for with $150 billion in revenue from corporate tax reform initiatives. Full details of the proposal will be spelled out in the president’s budget proposal, which will be released on Tuesday, March 4.

Take Action: Visit AGC’s Legislative Action Center to Submit Your Comments Today On Sept. 12, 2013, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a proposed new rule on silica exposure. AGC members, chapters and interested stakeholders are encouraged to submit comment letters opposing the proposed new rule on silica exposure through the AGC Legislative Action Center (LAC). A sample, editable letter has been provided for your convenience and can be customized to your respective operations. Click here to access the letter. All comments must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. (ET) Feb. 11, 2014.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) released a study this week that it claims supports the restart provision in FMCSA’s current hours-of-service rule as more effective at combating fatigue than the prior hours rule. The hours of service rule, which became effective July 1, requires any driver working long enough to need a restart to take off at least 34 consecutive hours that include two periods between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. FMCSA said the study found that drivers who began their work week with just one nighttime period of rest, as compared with the two nights in the updated 34-hour restart break, exhibited more lapses of attention, reported greater sleepiness and showed increased lane deviation in the morning, afternoon and at night.