One week after AGC's Steve Sandherr sat down with him, Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard made a compelling case for why conservatives should support highway construction and a $.10 to $.15 increase in the gas tax.

The Federal Railroad Administration announced the award of $2.482 billion in High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail grants. Fifty-four projects in 23 states and several multi-state regions are included in the grant awards. These awards are in addition to the $8 billion in grants for projects approved earlier this year through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Projects in 31 states and the District of Columbia were funded under ARRA awards.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced nearly $600 million in TIGER II discretionary grant awards for major infrastructure projects ranging from highways and bridges to transit, rail and ports. In total, forty-two capital construction projects and 33 planning projects in 40 states will receive funding from this program.  According to the US DOT, roughly 29 percent of TIGER II money was awarded for road projects, 26 percent for transit, 20 percent for rail projects, 16 percent for ports, four percent for bicycle and pedestrian projects and five percent for planning projects. A list of the projects can be viewed here.  The Tiger grant program was first started as part of the ARRA stimulus legislation which included $1.5 billion in funding. Over $60 billion was requested in the Tiger I program from the $1.5 billion made available in ARRA. The $600 million in funding for the Tiger II grants was included in the US DOT FY 2010 appropriation legislation. There were over 1000 applications requesting $19 billion of Tiger II funding.  Selection for award was based on an evaluation by DOT judging the likelihood of the project to address sustainability and economic competitiveness. The planning grant portion of the Tiger II awards were selected in conjunction with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) judging the ability of the projects integrate transportation, housing and urban development.  Joining DOT and HUD in the evaluation of the planning grant applications were the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As part of Livability initiative DOT signed a memorandum of understanding with HUD and EPA to cooperate on future integration of transportation and housing planning. 

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) announced this week a proposal to convert the federal tax on gasoline and diesel fuel from a cents-per-gallon basis to a percentage basis, a mechanism that could raise revenues to pay for greater highway and transit investment if the price of fuel rises in future years. AASHTO proposed an 8.4 percent tax on a gallon of gas instead of the current 18.4-cent gas tax. The tax on a gallon of diesel would be 10.6 percent instead of the current 24.4 cents.AASHTO estimates that converting the present fuel-tax rates to a percentage could generate $43 billion more during the expected 2011-16 period that would be covered in a new transportation authorization measure. The estimate is based on anticipated increasing gas and diesel prices -- an average increase of slightly more than $7 billion per year. The additional revenue would enable the reauthorization bill to fund $330 billion worth of projects compared to the $287 billion funding level in SAFETEA-LU.ASSHTO's Executive Director John Horsley said in releasing the proposal, "The most significant barrier to the passage of a long-term transportation authorization bill continues to be the question of how to pay for it. Over the next two months, we hope to start a dialogue on transportation funding options that have a chance of bipartisan support to either grow the level of transportation funding to the level we're shooting for in a new bill, or at least to sustain it at current levels."AFTEA-LU expired on September 30, 2009, and the highway and transit programs have been operating under short term extensions ever since. The current extension expires on December 31, 2010 so Congress must take action in a lame duck session or program funding will be shut down.

According to a report released by University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs, the nation will not be able to continue to compete economically with the rest of the world without new ways to fund America's ailing transportation system. The report is co-authored by former Transportation secretaries Sam Skinner and Norman Mineta and is the result of a three-day conference in September 2009 that included about 80 transportation experts. The report, "Well Within Reach: America's New Transportation Agenda," highlights 10 recommendations on how to improve America's roads and bridges. The group estimated that an additional $134 billion to $262 billion must be spent per year through 2035 to rebuild and improve roads, rail systems and air transportation.

AGC responded to a new report from the Treasury Department detailing underinvestment in transportation, noting that failure to repair aging roads and bridges and expand transportation capacity is costing tens of thousands of jobs.

 The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently released new reporting requirements for recipients of federal financial assistance, including grants and loans, in compliance with the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act.Included in the rules is a requirement that recipients report the total compensation of its five most highly compensated individuals. AGC contacted the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to clarify that this requirement does not apply to contractors working on contracts funded through the federal-aid highway program. FHWA’s General Counsel has verified that these requirements do not apply.

Don't miss the excellent array of speakers and sessions planned for the 2010 Highway and Utility Contractors Issues Meeting scheduled for November 11-13, 2010 at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. This popular resort facility is tightly booked in November and AGC's room block may not be available after the October 19, 2010 deadline. Make your hotel reservations today by calling 1-800-950-0086 or 602-955-6600 and request the Associated General Contractors of America room rate of $189/night, plus taxes (NO RESORT FEE). Register for the meeting by following this link.The meeting schedule is:Thursday November 11, 201012:30- 5:00 PM Ritchie Brothers Golf Tournament5:30- 7:00 PM Golf Tournament ReceptionFriday November 12, 20107:00 AM - 4:30 PM Highway and Utilities Contractor Issues Meeting Session I6:00- 7:00 PM Issues Meeting ReceptionSaturday November 13, 20107:00 AM - Noon Highway and Utilities Contractor Issues Meeting Session IISpeakers will address the following:• Election 2010: How Will the Midterm Election Results Impact Your Market, Taxes And Business Operations• Using Social Media to Sell Your Company or Your Project• CM at Risk- Panel Discussion on Owner and Contractor Perspectives• Outreach and Mentoring with DBE Subcontractors• Overcoming Impediments to Sharing Electronic Data for Automated Machine Guidance• Implementing FHWA's Every Day Counts Initiative• Update on CARB Rule• State of the Water/Wastewater Industry• Federal Regulation of State Damage Prevention Programs - Proposed Rule from PHMSA• Increasing Efficiency in Joint Highway and Utilities Projects• Case studies Using BIM on Transportation and Utility Projects• New OSHA Regulations on Cranes and DerricksDon't delay. Make the call today.

EPA has drafted a model rule on anti-idling for non-road diesel equipment.  Several Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states are reported to be actively considering adopting it once it becomes final, and it could eventually be adopted in other locations.  As drafted, the model rule would limit idling of construction equipment to no more than three (3) consecutive minutes, with limited exceptions.AGC will submit comments on this draft rule in advance of the SEPTEMBER 30 DEADLINE.  Please email Leah Pilconis at pilconisl@agc.org this week with your thoughts and concerns regarding the Model Rule.The draft model rule was written by the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) Mobile Source Committee, which includes representatives for the OTC states, EPA Regional Offices and EPA headquarters.  The OTC is a multi-state organization created under the Clean Air Act that is responsible for advising EPA on transport issues and for developing and implementing regional solutions to the ground-level ozone problem in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.  Approximately 15 states and dozens of local counties already have laws that restrict the amount of time that vehicles/equipment can idle their main engines (see current list of state and local laws).