AGC's Construction Legislative Week in Review - 05/04/2017
AGC's Construction Legislative Week in Review - 05/04/2017
Environment
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.” AGC took the opportunity to discuss many of the ideas in its new document “Reforms for Improving Federal Environmental Review and Permitting,” which were well received.
AGC focused on three of its recommendations at this hearing. First, Congress should require a nationwide merger of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Clean Water Act Section 404 permitting processes, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issuing a 404 permit at the end of the NEPA process, based on the information generated by NEPA. Data show these processes take the longest, are the most costly, and are subject to the most disagreements.
Second, the monitoring, mitigation and other environmental planning work performed during the NEPA process, and included the final Environmental Impact Statement / Record of Decision, must satisfy federal environmental permitting requirements unless there is a material change in the project. Time and money is wasted on redoing project analyses and reviews and on collecting duplicate information from permit applicants.
And third, Congress must consider a reasonable and measured approach to citizen suit reform to prevent misuse of environmental laws. These lawsuits can take years to resolve and, in far too many cases, litigation impedes projects that are vital to the renovation and improvement of our nation’s infrastructure. AGC will continue to advocate in Congress and with the Administration for additional infrastructure funding and additional environmental permit reform as new opportunities arise.
You can read AGC’s full statement and view our flow chart of environmental permits.
Infrastructure
House Members are Pushing for a Highway Trust Fund Fix as Part of Tax Reform - Tell your Rep. to Sign Bipartisan Letter to Support a Long-Term Highway Trust Fund Fix
As the push continues for Congress to fix the Highway Trust Fund, a bipartisan group of members of the House of Representatives are circulating a letter calling for a permanent Highway Trust Fund fix to be included in any tax reform package. If you recall, Representatives Graves and Holmes-Norton circulated a similar letter last year (check here to see if your Rep. signed the 2016 letter) that was signed by 130 bipartisan members of the House. Help us to significantly increase that number by contacting your Representative and asking them to sign on to the Graves/Holmes-Norton letter. So far, 91 members of the House have signed onto the letter. See if your member has signed on and, if so, send an email thanking them for their support.
The FAST ACT provides funding certainty for the Highway Trust Fund through fiscal year 2020. However, following the FAST Act's expiration, the Highway Trust Fund will face cuts of approximately $18 billion per year. A permanent fix for the Highway Trust Fund needs to be found in order to eliminate these cuts.
The letter – which is being circulated by Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and Ranking Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton (District of Columbia) – is asking House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Ranking Democrat Richard Neal (Mass.) to fix the Highway Trust Fund in any tax reform package that the committee considers.
For more information, contact Sean O’Neill at [email protected]
Congress Completes Fiscal Year 2017 Funding Bill - Maintains Funding for Federal Construction Accounts
This week, the House and Senate agreed to a funding bill at an annualized spending rate of $1.165 trillion for the remainder of fiscal year 2017, which ends Sept. 30. The House passed the bill by a vote of 309-118 with 178 Democrats and 131 Republicans voting in support of the bill.