According to the Wall Street Journal, the economy showed moderate recovery during the month of May. The Federal Reserve's beige book report showed the twelve Federal Reserve districts showed improvement, although this growth was only considered "modest." Consumer spending, tourism, manufacturing and transportation increased, however the report acknowledged commercial real estate's lagging performance.For the article from the Wall Street Journal, and a summary of Federal Reserve district activity, please click here.
Building contractors, lean construction professionals and other industry leaders shared best practices and lessons learned at the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø Building Contractors Conference on June 9-12 in Midway, Utah.The Conference included sessions sponsored by the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø Lean Construction Forum, which included an Introduction to Lean Construction and four case studies. Speakers at the Conference covered other important topics, such as EPA's Effluent Limitations Guidelines, OSHA's agenda, material prices outlook, sustainable design return on investment, an update on surety, and a presentation and group discussion on the future challenges of growth in construction.Presentations from the Conference will be available soon at www.agc.org/building.
Public and commercial building contractors have an opportunity to help shape a future lead paint rule. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has started to develop lead-safe work practices and other requirements that may well apply to renovation and remodeling activities both on the exterior and inside of all public and commercial buildings.EPA is actively reviewing the lead paint laws that are already on the books for residential renovation and remodeling work and considering whether and how to apply those requirements to public and commercial building renovation and remodeling. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø needs your input before July 2 on a variety of important industry-specific issues currently under consideration at EPA. Read more on the rule and how to provide input here.For more information, contact Leah Pilconis at (703) 837-5332 or pilconisl@agc.org.
Contractors and owners at ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø's Private/Public Industry Advisory Council meeting on June 11 reported mixed levels of construction activity. Most categories of private and state and local government-funded construction remain moribund. However, two leisure-industry owners reported a pickup in spending on hotel and entertainment facilities. Two contractors said data center construction has been strong. One reported several midsized new factories and major retooling in existing auto plants, but not enough to match pre-recession levels of manufacturing activity. The General Services Administration has now awarded more than $4 billion of contracts out of $5.55 billion to be committed under the 2009 Recovery Act, with another $1 billion of awards expected by September 30.For more on the latest construction economic figures, click here.
EPA recently finalized its new stormwater rules that will impact nearly every construction and development project in the United States. The so-called Construction and Development Effluent Limitations Guidelines (C&D ELG) rule for the first time imposes an enforceable numeric limit on stormwater discharges from sites disturbing 10 acres or more at one time, requires monitoring to ensure compliance with the numeric limit, and requires nearly all construction sites to implement a range of prescriptive erosion and sediment controls and pollution prevention measures. Both the homebuilding industry and the U.S. Small Business Administration have taken legal action to challenge EPA's C&D ELG rule and, in particular, its numeric turbidity standard that dictates how murky stormwater can be when it runs off regulated construction sites. The new C&D ELG requirements, published in the Federal Register on December 1, 2009, will directly apply to a construction site "operator" when they are incorporated into an individual or general NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) stormwater permit that applies to his/her project(s). Construction stormwater permits are good for five years. States are required by EPA to incorporate the new ELG requirements into their permits upon next reissuance. For detailed information on the ELG rule and a list of state permit expiration dates, click here for an ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø article. Click here to find out more about the challenges brought against EPA's national stormwater rules.For more information, please contact Leah Pilconis at (703) 837-5332 or pilconisl@agc.org.
OSHA's 10 regional administrators have been directed in a memo by OSHA Administrator Dr. David Michaels to revise how the current penalty calculation system contained in the Field Operations Manual is being used in enforcement proceedings. The administrative penalty changes are scheduled to take effect over the next several months.The overall goal of the agency is to provide an adequate deterrent to employers using increased penalties. The average penalty for serious violations will be increased from $1,000 to an average of $3,000 - $4,000, according to the changes. The following are the most significant changes to the calculation system:An employers' history of violations will expand from three years to five years.10 percent increase in their penalties for employers (up to the maximum) for employers who have been cited for any high-gravity, serious, willful or repeat violations, or have been cited for a failure to abate notice in the previous five years.The time period for repeated violations will be increased from three to five years.Area directors are authorized to offer up to a 30 percent penalty reduction to employers at an informal conference.Where circumstances warrant, at the discretion of the area director, high-gravity serious violations related to standards identified in the Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) will no longer need to be grouped or combined, but can cited as separate violations, each with its own proposed penalty.No size reduction will be applied to employers with 251 or more employees.10 percent reduction for employers with a strategic partnership agreement will be eliminated.³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø is greatly concerned about the impact of these administrative changes on its members and is working to inform ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø members of these changes. We will continue to have discussions with OSHA to gather more information on the changes and convey the impact they will have on the construction industry.To view a copy of the OSHA memorandum, click here.For more information, please contact Kevin Cannon at (703) 837-5410 or cannonk@agc.org.
According to ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø's Chief Economist Ken Simonson, construction employment rose for the second straight month, up .2 percent, or 14,000 jobs. Total construction employment in April was down nine percent for the same month last year, and April construction unemployment was also up to 21.8 percent, the highest April level since 1976. Reed Construction Data predicts that the market will expand, however it will be at least another year before the positive effects are felt. Commercial construction should prepare for starts to have little to no decline over 2010, but should prepare for expanding bid opportunities.For more from Ken Simonson's Data DIGest, please click here.For Reed Construction Data's recovery predictions, please click here.
New federal employment figures show the construction industry added 40,000 new jobs in March and April as the number of stimulus-funded projects underway continues to grow.  The numbers were even better on the nonresidential side, with the industry adding 24,600 jobs in April and 36,500 jobs in March.On a media call to discuss the latest figures, ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø's chief economist Ken Simonson told over 20 reporters that "the good news is the stimulus has stemmed the losses in construction employment for now; the bad news is the stimulus is temporary while the construction downturn will be protracted." Six ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø members, including president Ted Aadland, joined Ken on the call to share their stories.Click here for ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø's press release on the latest figures. Listen to the call here.The news was covered by Wichita Eagle, NJ Biz, Sacramento Business Journal,Antelope Valley Press, BNA's Construction Labor Report and Better Roads, among others.
According to a Washington Post article, April saw the addition of 290,00 jobs, a possible sign that the economy is starting to recover. Jobs have been added every month since January 2010, however the unemployment rate has slightly increased.  Though Reed Construction Data reports that economic activity increased in twenty-seven states from January through March, many construction sectors are still hurting, particularly the hotel market.The Wall Street Journal describes the debt situation of many hotel chains as a muddled mess with unsure outcomes. Many large hotel chains are struggling to refinance loans on billions of dollars of debt.  For example, budget chain Red Roof Inn has been trying to restructure $1.2 billion dollars of debt since the summer of 2009 with no forseeable outcome. Reed Construction Data's Jim Haughey believes that hotels are at their rock-bottom levels, and that the current occupancy rate of 58 percent will slightly rise by the end of this year, with "progressive" improvement over the next few years, aided by the slowly expanding economy.For more from the Washington Post, please click here.For more information on state by state economic activity, please click here, and for a ranking of state economic performance, please click here.To read the Wall Street Journal article on hotel debt, please click here.For Reed's article on the hotel market, please click here.
Congress passed and President Obama signed the twelfth extension of authorization for federal aviation programs, lasting this time until July 2, 2010. House and Senate negotiators continue to work on reconciling the different versions of FAA reauthorization legislation they passed previously. The House passed a four year authorization back in July 2009, while the Senate more recently passed a two year bill. Both bills include Airport Improvement Program funding at approximately $4 billion per year, up from the current $3.5 billion level. The House bill allows all airports to increase the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) from $4.50 to $7.00, which is estimated to generate $1 billion per year in additional revenue for airport infrastructure investment. The Senate bill would only allow six airports (to be determined in the future) to raise the PFC to $7.00. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø is working in support of allowing the PFC ceiling to increase for all airports to $7.00.