Â鶹ÊÓƵrecently participated in a roundtable discussion with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Smart Sectors Partnership and highlight initial successes. Â鶹ÊÓƵtook the opportunity to express support of EPA’s efforts to improve the clarity and speed of the permits it issues. Â鶹ÊÓƵunderstands that state agencies issue most environmental permits; however, states use EPA’s permits/programs as a model. Improvements EPA makes can have a positive impact on state-issued permits. To this end, EPA is working on a policy for how the agency assesses the adequacy of state pollution control programs. to see EPA’s priority goals and latest action plan.
Courtesy of U.S. EPA
Smart Sectors staff liaison with Â鶹ÊÓƵand other trade associations representing 13 sectors of the economy to find sensible approaches that better protect the environment as well as reduce regulatory burden. Through Smart Sectors, Â鶹ÊÓƵhas participated in two Administrator roundtables, additional meetings with EPA program staff, and the sector liaisons have met with Â鶹ÊÓƵcontractor members in addition to moderating an EPA panel at the September 2018 Â鶹ÊÓƵConstruction Environmental Conference on a host of regulatory issues. Â鶹ÊÓƵlooks forward to continued collaboration with the agency in the coming year.
EPA also released the , which shares metrics showcasing the program’s first year, such as: developing ongoing relationships with the regulated community, hosting two Administrator roundtables with all sectors, and participating in 17 site visits that covered the operations of 9 different sectors. In its first year, the program also created a video and story map about best practices in permitting, and unveiled a new sector snapshots web tool to provide environmental and economic data about three sectors participating in the program.
To learn more about the program, visit: , or contact AGC’s Melinda Tomaino at tomainom@agc.org.