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If your company wants to stay in compliance with the myriad of new and forthcoming stormwater runoff requirements, you need an effective document management system.   All stormwater permitting authorities require a site-specific Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) as well documentation of inspections, findings, and maintenance and repair of all BMPs.  In the case of an audit or incident, government enforcers will want to see written proof of your compliance. This webinar will be held Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012, from 2:00  - 3:30 p.m. ET.

If your Chapter has had a good experience with a speaker on environmental issues, please let them know about �鶹��Ƶ’s 2013 Contractors Environmental Conference: Compliant. Competitive. Cost-Effective.  �鶹��Ƶ will hold this second national conference in early June 2013, in Crystal City, Va., right outside of Washington, D.C. We invite presentation proposals for compelling educational sessions on environmental issues geared towards construction professionals. 

Forty years ago today, the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution went into effect. The Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972, known as the Clean Water Act (CWA), became law after the bill was vetoed by President Nixon.

While it’s unlikely that the issue will be raised during a lame duck session of Congress following the November elections, �鶹��Ƶ will nevertheless continue to press for legislation that will keep the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating coal ash residues, including fly ash, as a hazardous substance. Legislation (H.R. 2273) to preempt EPA from regulating the waste as hazardous and instead empower states to establish disposal programs was passed with bipartisan support in the House last October. H.R. 2273 was added as an amendment to the House-passed version of the transportation reauthorization legislation. However, when the reauthorization bill – MAP-21 – was reported from the House- Senate conference committee, this provision was dropped.

This month, the �鶹��Ƶ Environmental Forum and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) held a virtual town hall to discuss some of the proposed changes to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system, with specific focus on how the changes may impact construction practices.  USGBC is expected to open its fifth comment period on the new version of LEED on Oct. 2 and accept public input through Dec. 10.

�鶹��Ƶ recently signed onto a joint comment letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that urges the Agency to abandon its proposed Information Collection Request (ICR) for a series of surveys on “Valuing Improved Water Quality in the Chesapeake Bay Using State Preference Methods.”  The proposed ICR is one of many steps that EPA and affected states have taken over the last year and a half to meet the requirements of the extensive Chesapeake Bay clean-up plan — Total Maximum Daily Load or TMDL — finalized in 2010.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) EPA has completely revamped its timeline and approach to regulating lead paint dust in commercial and public buildings.  The Agency recently signed a revised litigation settlement with environmental groups that gives EPA four more years—until December 31, 2016—to take final action.  �鶹��Ƶ will continue to call for greater transparency, accountability and oversight in the development of national rules covering Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (LRRP) activities.

A series of changes California officials made to their off-road diesel emissions rule, after the Associated General Contractors of America discovered significant errors in the measure, will save construction employers as much as $9 billion. Association officials outlined the changes and their potential impacts during a federal hearing today on whether California can start enforcing the revised measure in 2014.

Coalition Files Amicus Brief Today in a Federal Appeals Court �鶹��Ƶ and a coalition of industry groups file a friend-of-the-court brief today in a federal appeals court arguing that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exceeded its authority under the Clean Water Act (CWA) when it revoked a Section 404 dredge-and-fill discharge permit duly issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). If EPA is allowed to revoke this permit, every valid Section 404 permit held by any entity — construction companies, public works agencies and individual citizens — would be stuck in regulatory limbo and potentially subject to the same unilateral, after-the-fact revocation. �鶹��Ƶ’s brief lays out the staggering economic, policy and legal implications that would follow such an unprecedented action.

Association Also Weighs in on the Treatment of Air Data Influenced by Exceptional Events �鶹��Ƶ recently submitted comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on proposed revisions to its National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5).  �鶹��Ƶ also commented on draft guidance to improve the Agency’s Exceptional Events Rule.  That rule allows EPA to exclude certain air-quality monitoring data when determining whether or not an area violates a NAAQS.