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ASA Calls Upon the House Appropriations Committee to Reprogram Military Construction Funding
ASA, along with the Construction Industry Procurement Coalition (CIPC), called upon the House Appropriations Committee Leadership for consideration of raising the reprogramming threshold with respect to military construction. More specifically, our concerns lie with the limits on appropriated funds permitted to be reprogrammed for Military Construction (MILCON) and family housing projects. This is causing a serious disruption, at a time when materials and labor costs are rising. It is making cost estimates increasingly challenging to accurately forecast, and thus putting projects at risk. Currently, the reprogramming limit for MILCON projects is the lesser of 25 percent of the project funded amount or $2.0 million, and this has remained unchanged since 1982. This limit is in contrast with the threshold for variations in authorized project costs, which is currently 25 percent of the appropriated amount or $12 million, whichever is less. This was last updated in 2018. We believe it is important to provide the military services with an appropriate level of flexibility to proceed with construction contracts without disruption or delay, especially in our current inflationary circumstances. In addition to cost estimating challenges, it is not uncommon in the private or public sector to encounter unanticipated environmental issues during construction; thus, we also support the flexibility Congress has provided for paying for unanticipated environmental hazard remediation issues that may arise.
ASA Supports the Advancement of the Water Resources Infrastructure Bill
On Wednesday, May 4, 2022, ASA, along with the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC), sent a letter to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Leadership thanking them for their work on the Water Resources Development Act of 2022 (WRDA 2022). This bipartisan legislation will provide much needed investments for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) projects, including dredging, locks, levees, dams, and water supply projects. This legislation builds on the investments provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and continues the two-year cycle ensuring the timely delivery of water projects across the country. WRDA 2022 will provide for 36 new Corps feasibility studies and authorizes or modifies 21 projects for construction, and emphasizes expedited completion of several projects critical to flood risk mitigation, navigation and ecosystem restoration. The bill will provide a much-needed investment in our port infrastructure, at a critical time when supply chain shortages are hampering economic growth. The bill will address the harbor deepening and maintenance needs of commercially significant ports to ensure America can remain competitive globally. If fully funded through the annual appropriations process, WRDA 2022 will have an increased focus on projects and help keep the Corps moving.
ASA Submits Comments to OSHA’s COVID-19 Healthcare (Construction Work) Setting Rule
On Thursday, April 28, 2022, ASA, along with the Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC) submitted comments to OSHA regarding the agency’s limited reopening of the Occupational Exposure to COVID-19 in Healthcare Settings rule and possible coverage of construction activities being performed in healthcare facilities. These comments oppose OSHA’s proposal to expand coverage of the COVID-19 final rule to include construction work in healthcare settings and support our coalition’s August 2021 comments on this rulemaking.
Additionally, ASA participated in the Informal Rulemaking Hearing for Occupational Exposure to COVID-19 in Healthcare Settings hearing on Friday, April 29th. Here is the full hearing schedule: https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/OSHA-COVID-19-Healthcare-Rulemaking-Hearing-Schedule-Revised-042022.pdf.
Per our comments:
“Any attempts by OSHA to expand the ETS to cover construction is not supported by the evidence and would be impermissible under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (“OSH Act” or “Act”). As in the Coalition’s August 20, 2021, comments on the ‘Occupational Exposure to COVID-19; Emergency Temporary Standard,’ these comments support the Agency’s original determination not to include the construction industry within the scope of this rule. An expansion of the Occupational Exposure to COVID-19 in Healthcare Settings Rule is inappropriate and expanding the rule to cover employers in low-risk industries, like construction, only months after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that OSHA’s COVID-19 Vaccine and Testing: Emergency Temporary Standard was not authorized by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, is bewildering. As explained by the Court, ‘[t]he Act empowers the Secretary to set workplace safety standards, not broad public health measures.’ In proposing to expand the healthcare ETS to cover additional industries, OSHA risks the same type fails to account for [the] crucial distinction – between occupational risk and risk more generally – …’ for which it was chided by the Supreme Court. For these reasons and those addressed below, the CISC respectfully opposes OSHA’s proposal to expand coverage under any promulgated final rule to include certain construction work. OSHA has not provided sufficient information regarding its various ‘proposed rulemaking outcomes’ to allow for meaningful substantive comment on the merits of its proposal. Instead, our comments address (1) deficiencies in the process taken by OSHA in promulgating this rule; (2) the low risk posed by COVID-19 in the construction industry; (3) difficulties in applying the healthcare ETS to construction; and (4) recommendations, based on industry experience, on how best to mitigate the risk of occupational exposure to COVID-19 in construction.”
