On Sept. 22, Bernalillo County’s board of commissioners passed an ordinance requiring a community workforce agreement, also known as a project labor agreement, on all construction projects performed for the county that are valued at more than $7 million. The threshold was originally set at $5 million, but was raised to $7 million after a 30-day comment period following the introduction of the ordinance in August.

On Sept. 22, U.S. Rep. Garrett Graves (R-La.) introduced H.R. 8333, the Building U.S. Infrastructure Through Limited Delays & Efficient Reviews (BUILDER) Act. The legislation would codify much of the Council on Environmental Quality’s National Environmental Policy Act rulemaking, which ABC supports. Developed with input from the House Transportation and Infrastructure, Energy and Commerce and Judiciary committees, the bill includes important provisions to create a more efficient NEPA review process and clarifies which projects require NEPA review. This will promote better agency coordination and set reasonable time limits for preparing environmental documents.

On Sept. 22, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a proposed rule that would revise its interpretation of independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The DOL indicates the proposal would offer clarity to determine whether a worker is an employee under the FLSA as well as promote certainty for stakeholders, reduce litigation and encourage innovation in the economy.

On Thursday, Sept. 24, ABC will continue its Election Briefing Series with a national update from the National Republican Congressional Committee. It will be followed by a Mountain West and Pacific region election update on Thursday, Oct. 8, and a national update from the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Thursday, Oct. 22.

On Sept. 14, 2020, in a 2-1 ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and vacated a U.S. District Court’s preliminary injunction in 2018 that barred the Department of Homeland Security from implementing or enforcing its determinations to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti and El Salvador while the case continued its way throug

ABC’s Chief Economist Anirban Basu reports on the construction backlog indicator which rose in August, according to an ABC analysis of data published by the U.S. Census Bureau. Confidence among U.S. construction industry leaders also rose in August regarding sales, staffing levels and profit margins, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index. 

On Sept. 11, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued revisions to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act regulations, which implement paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave. FFCRA requires private-sector employers with fewer than 500 employees and certain public employers to provide covered employees emergency paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave. 

On Sept. 3, ABC sent a letter to  Rep. James Comer, the ranking member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform, explaining the negative impacts of the Obama administration’s regulatory expansion on ABC member contractors, as well as the Trump administration’s regulatory relief initiatives, which have helped to remove burdensome barriers to job creation.

On Sept. 8, a U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York judge ruled that parts of the U.S. Department of Labor’s joint employer final rule, which was issued on Jan. 16, 2020, are illegal. Associated Builders and Contractors had applauded the 2020 joint employer final rule, which promised to make the joint employment test more narrow and focused when it went into effect on March 16.

On Aug. 31, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a final rule amending its standards for occupational exposure to beryllium and beryllium compounds in the construction and shipyard sectors. ABC and other construction organizations previously filed a settlement with the agency to effectively narrow the scope of the Obama administration’s beryllium final rule, which would have applied a comprehensive, burdensome set of requirements related to beryllium on all construction employers.