Federal Contractor Report

 

Congress passed a compromise National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2021 (NDAA). This bill authorizes $8.4 billion for military construction, family housing, and Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) cleanup activities. Earlier this year, AGC, along with a coalition of associations, sent Congress a list of over 130 priorities to consider for the NDAA.

 

AGC of America filed suit recently to compel Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to revise the questionnaire being used to reassess whether companies were eligible for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. The construction association is also asking the federal courts to restrict use of the information that the questionnaire generates until the SBA makes it available to the public and revises it.

 

On December 9, the Small Business Administration (SBA) and Treasury Department issued new guidance on the “Loan Necessity Questionnaire” that SBA is requiring borrowers with loans of $2 million or more to complete as they apply for loan forgiveness. The new guidance does not expressly disavow any intention to use this controversial form to change the rules in the middle of the game but it does provide that SBA will base its review of a borrower’s eligibility for a PPP loan on the borrower’s “individual circumstances” and “in light of the language of the certification and SBA guidance,” as required “at the time of the loan application, and “even if subsequent developments resulted in the loan no longer being necessary.” SBA adds that it “may take into account the borrower’s circumstances and actions both before and after the borrower’s certification” but implies that it will consider the latter only “to the extent that doing so will assist SBA in determining whether the borrower made the statutorily required certification in good faith at the time of its loan application.”

 

On November 13, 2020, AGC submitted comments generally supportive of recently proposed revisions to the Nationwide Permits (NWP). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposal included revisions to several NWPs, including modifications to the thresholds for streambed loss for certain permits, establishment of a new mitigation requirement, and clarifications to the pre-construction notification process. The Corps also intends to reissue the entire suite of NWPs for a new five-year cycle on an earlier timeframe (they are currently set to expire in 2022).

 

Do you have knowledge to share with construction industry safety, health and/or environmental professionals? If so, please complete AGC’s call for presentations for the Construction Safety, Health and Environmental Conference (CSHEC) on July 20-22, 2021 in Washington, DC. Presentation proposals are due Feb. 12, 2021.

 

AGC’s CSHEC is designed for emerging to senior-level management professionals who work in any of the commercial construction markets. All educational sessions should speak to these attendees and should involve topics that reflect current and emerging issues in construction safety and health or the environment. AGC is looking for presentations within the broad categories of regulatory compliance, technology, training and communication, leadership development, risk management, sustainability and resilience.

 

 

Industry unemployment hits highest November level since 2012 as sluggish nonresidential building and infrastructure construction lags, while residential employment nears pre-pandemic peak

Construction employment increased by 27,000 jobs in November, as continuing robust gains in residential categories masked more sluggish increases in nonresidential jobs, according to an analysis by AGC of America of government data released recently. Association officials cautioned, however, that pandemic-induced project cancellations and looming tax bills for firms that used Paycheck Protection Program loans to save jobs threaten to undermine future job growth in the sector.