ARTBA for ARTBA

Civil Rights/Civil Liberties CIV

ARTBA staff and members met with senior officials at the U.S. Department of Transportation to discuss implementation of the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program. The group discussed several larger DBE program issues including legal and regulatory limitations on prime contarctors' abilities to help grow DBE capacity, as well as the disparity between the pool of certified DBE firms and those actually able to participate as subcontractors on federal-aid highway projects.

Contacted: Small Business Administration (SBA); SENATE; Office of Management & Budget (OMB); Transportation, Dept of (DOT); HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Federal Highway Administration (FHA)

Transportation TRA

Met with officials from U.S. Department of Transportation to discuss the implementation of H.R. 4348, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act.

Contacted: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Federal Highway Administration (FHA); SENATE; Transportation, Dept of (DOT); Small Business Administration (SBA); Office of Management & Budget (OMB); HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Bills named: H.R. 4348 (113th)

Taxation/Internal Revenue Code TAX

ARTBA staff have met with congressional offices to urge inclusion of a long-term Highway Trust Fund revenue solution in any tax reform or deficit reduction package in 2013.

Contacted: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Office of Management & Budget (OMB); SENATE; Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Transportation, Dept of (DOT); Small Business Administration (SBA); Federal Highway Administration (FHA)

Economics/Economic Development ECN

ARTBA and industry colleagues expressed support for H.R. 2542, the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2013 in a July 30th letter to all House members.

Contacted: Small Business Administration (SBA); HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Transportation, Dept of (DOT); Office of Management & Budget (OMB); Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); SENATE; Federal Highway Administration (FHA)

Bills named: H.R. 2542 (113th)

Budget/Appropriations BUD

Urged appropriators to provide the full amount for federal transportation programs authorized in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act.

Contacted: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Transportation, Dept of (DOT); Small Business Administration (SBA); SENATE; Office of Management & Budget (OMB); Federal Highway Administration (FHA); Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Environment/Superfund ENV

Urged U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials not to regulate coal ash as a "hazardous" waste, which could make concrete more costly and less durable, thus increasing costs and the environmental impact of vital transportation improvement projects. Expressed support for H.R. 2218, the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act in a July 24 letter to the House of Representatives.

Contacted: Office of Management & Budget (OMB); HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Federal Highway Administration (FHA); Small Business Administration (SBA); Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Transportation, Dept of (DOT); SENATE

Bills named: H.R. 2218 (113th)

Immigration IMM

ARTBA wrote all senators May 13 emphasizing the importance of an efficient and dependable employment verification system for U.S. employers and expanding temporary visas for all classes of future foreign workers. ARTBA urged senators to modify S. 744, legislation to reform the nation's immigration system, to ensure the construction industry would be allowed to fully participate in a proposed new guest worker program--the bill currently singles out the industry for minimal participation in this program.

Contacted: Small Business Administration (SBA); Transportation, Dept of (DOT); Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Office of Management & Budget (OMB); SENATE; Federal Highway Administration (FHA); HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Bills named: S. 744 (113th)

Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace LBR

Urged members of Congress to clarify the definition of "asbestos" in proposed legislation seeking to ban all asbestos materials.

Contacted: SENATE; Small Business Administration (SBA); Transportation, Dept of (DOT); HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Office of Management & Budget (OMB); Federal Highway Administration (FHA); Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Clean Air and Water (quality) CAW

Urged opposition to expanding the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers jurisidional authority under the Clean Water Act.

Contacted: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Transportation, Dept of (DOT); Office of Management & Budget (OMB); HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Small Business Administration (SBA); SENATE; Federal Highway Administration (FHA)