Tell Gov’t What Rules Should Be Modified or Removed to Help Small Businesses
Establishes New Office to Root out Inefficiency
Both Congress and the White House have turned to 鶹Ƶfor common-sense recommendations on streamlining the federal environmental permitting and review processes.
Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt announced a one-year delay of EPA’s final designation of counties that are not attaining the 2015 ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). The 2015 standard tightened the existing 2008 standard from 75 parts per billion (ppb) to 70 ppb. Designations for the 2015 standard were originally due by this October. EPA is taking this additional time to review and re-evaluate many of the complicated issues that 鶹Ƶraised in its comments on the proposed version of the 2015 rule.
EPA Extends and Expands 2017 ‘DERA’ Clean Diesel Funding Competition Now Underway
Join us on September 13-14, in Crystal City, Virginia!
鶹Ƶmembers report struggles with Endangered Species Act (ESA) requirements that delay infrastructure projects and significantly increase costs while not necessarily providing commensurate species and habitat benefits. At the request of Congress, 鶹Ƶhas identified legislative and administrative improvements to the ESA that support: the protection of listed species; responsible land and resource management; and streamlined delivery of critical infrastructure projects.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will announce in tomorrow’s Federal Register that it will indefinitely suspend portions of a rule requiring states to develop performance measurements for tracking Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions for federal-aid highway projects. The suspension of the rule is a significant victory for 鶹Ƶand our industry allies who fought the GHG rule that was issued in the waning days of the Obama Administration.
Per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) request, 鶹Ƶprovided 30 pages of comprehensive and detailed recommendations for EPA’s regulatory evaluation in line with recent executive orders and presidential initiatives. In its submissions, 鶹Ƶhighlights the regulatory burden the construction industry bears and offers specific program modifications and solutions relating to water issues, oil spills prevention and preparedness, air and climate issues, lead-based paint issues, contaminated sites and liability, as well as compliance and enforcement initiatives. To view the complete set of 鶹Ƶsubmissions to EPA, click here, here and here.
AGC’s head of Environmental Law and Policy Leah Pilconis testified before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works at a hearing entitled “Infrastructure Project Streamlining and Efficiency: Achieving Faster, Better, and Cheaper Results.” 鶹Ƶtook the opportunity to discuss many of the ideas in its new document “Reforms for Improving Federal Environmental Review and Permitting,” which were well received.