The Colorado Chapter of NUCA

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE


February 2023

NUCA's Interview With T&I Chairman Sam Graves

House Seeks To Overturn Administration WOTUS Rule Changes

EPA Justly Opposes Petition on PVC Hazardous Waste

Biden Details Expanded "Buy America" Plan In SOTU

NUCA Government Affairs Committee Meeting: March 13

Come to Las Vegas March 13 For NUCA's Annual Meeting

Registration Open For 2023 Washington Summit, May 15-17

Celebration of Construction On The Washington, D.C. National Mall

NUCA/PAC: Going Strong Since 1976

First Session, 118th Congress Schedule

NUCA Official Letters To Congress

Sign Up For NUCA Advocacy Alerts!

Join NUCA's Government Affairs Committee

The Newsletter of the NUCA Governmental Affairs Department

NUCA's Interview With T&I Chairman Sam Graves

NUCA's pull on Capitol Hill is opening doors in this new Congress! NUCA's government affairs staff was able to secure an interview in December with then-incoming House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO). Rep. Graves kindly answered our questions about his committee's agenda for 2023, and what issues might affect our industry and operations. 

Rep. Graves discussed infrastructure project streamlining, including pipeline permitting changes. He also talked about his committee's oversight program for the new Congressional session, and a look at the Biden Administration "twisting" the intent of the 2021 core infrastructure law to fit their agenda, instead of the letter of the law. "Oversight of that law [IIJA] and other issues is absolutely critical," said Chairman Graves in our interview.

The four-page interview appears in the January/February 2023 issue of NUCA's Utility Contractor member magazine, which should be arriving in your company mailbox shortly. We've also included below a link to our interview in the digital version of our fine membership magazine. Link here.

House Seeks To Overturn Administration

WOTUS Rule Changes

T&I Committee Chairman Graves and his Water Resources subcommittee chairman Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC) introduced on Feb. 2 a resolution that would repeal the Biden Administration's proposed changes to the "Waters of the United States" (WOTUS) rule. The rule changes would repeal the roll-back of WOTUS regulations under the Trump Administration, reinstating the previous burdensome and costly WOTUS regulations rejected by our industry and many others.

NUCA CEO Doug Carlson said in his media statement that our industry strongly supported the Graves-Rouzer resolution, remarking "The Biden Administration’s repeal of the Trump Administration's clean-up of the WOTUS rules is going to add unnecessary confusion and delays to this industry's projects. Contractors will now be faced with more uncertainty when trying to comply with the new WOTUS rules, an outcome that will face even more confusion with a pending U.S. Supreme Court ruling on these regulations.”

The House resolution has 147 cosponsors, with a companion Senate bill finding 49 Senators supporting it.

Rep. Rouzer's subcommittee held a hearing on WOTUS Feb. 8, hearing testimony from the business community about the damage this rule change would do to their companies and their employees. More here.

EPA Opposes Petition on PVC To Be Reclassified As Hazardous Waste

The EPA is opposing a regulatory action brought on by a 2014 lawsuit by an environmental group seeking to regulate PVC disposal as a hazardous waste. The EPA has publicly stated that there is no science-based evidence to require such a regulatory change. 

NUCA CEO Doug Carlson said in a statement that PVC pipe is used every day to safely deliver drinking water to millions of Americans. "It is absurd," he wrote, "to then claim that these pipes suddenly become hazardous waste...and are not fit to be recycled or managed as solid waste."

NUCA agrees with EPA and opposes this threatened regulatory change. Our government affairs staff submitted a response to the EPA on Feb. 13.

Several members also submitted their own comments through our Muster advocacy alert sent last week, and we thank them for their help.

Biden Details Expanded "Buy America" Plan In SOTU

President Biden unveiled in his Feb. 7 SOTU address a proposed standard to require all construction materials used on federally-funded infrastructure projects to be made in the United States. The 2021 core infrastructure law included a "Build America, Buy America Act" (BABAA) chapter requiring only certain materials or carefully defined projects fall under domestic sourcing requirements. The proposed standard would expand the BABAA requirements to all infrastructure projects paid for by the federal government.

NUCA opposes this expansion of BABBA, arguing that a one-size-fits-all mandate will hurt the Administration's overall infrastructure program. 

"Some components are not made in the United States and must be bought overseas to complete a job...On some projects, a delay on a single critical part can delay the entire project, driving up costs and significantly postponing its completion," wrote NUCA CEO Doug Carlson. More here.

Come to Las Vegas March 13 For NUCA's Annual Meeting

NUCA members: Are you coming to Las Vegas in March? Attend NUCA's March 13, 2023 one-day Annual Meeting and get the leg up on your competition one day before the open of CONEXPO.

We've got top speakers, networking, industry info, NUCA's Government Affairs Committee meeting, and more.

The meeting will be held at the spectacular MGM Grand Hotel, 3799 South Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, Nevada.

Register today at nucadigs.com#NUCA2023 

NUCA Government Affairs Committee At

Annual Meeting

The Government Affairs Committee meeting at the NUCA Annual Meeting will be held March 13, 2023, from 7:30am to 9:00am, Conference Center Level 2, at the MGM Grand meeting headquarters. The meeting is open to all members and you are encouraged to attend.

Topics to be discussed include our legislative priorities for the new 118th Congress, as well as NUCA National and our Chapter's topics for our Summit meetings with lawmakers on May 17. 

If you have a legislative item you'd like to discuss at the March 13th meeting, please email it to NUCA's Zack Perconti at zackp@nuca.com before March 1 to be included in the meeting agenda.

NUCA Thanks Our Many National Partners For Their Generous Support Of NUCA's Washington Summit & Advocacy Programs

2023 Washington Summit: May 15-17

Make plans to come to Washington in the spring for our annual fly-in and lobbying day on Capitol Hill. Infrastructure advocacy and workforce development will be a top priority for our industry in the new Congress.

This Summit's HQ will be located at the Holiday Inn Washington Capitol--National Mall Hotel, 550 C St. SW, Washington, D.C. 20024.

We hope you have penciled in on your calendar May 15-17, 2023 to travel to D.C. and attend NUCA's Washington Summit. Our Capitol Hill day is scheduled to be held Wed., May 17.

Registration and hotel booking is now open at the Summit's website, www.WeDigAmerica.org.

Celebration of Construction, Washington, D.C. National Mall - May 14-16

NUCA will be participating at the Celebration of Construction event being held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. NUCA members will be on hand promoting the variety of career paths in the underground utility construction industry. Over 16,000 people from government agencies, Congress, and the public are expected to attend during this three-day event, sponsored by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). 

Several NUCA National Partners are involved in the event, which will showcase their equipment to our nation's lawmakers. Stay tuned for more details about this exciting event as they are announced in the weeks ahead. More here.

Elections and NUCA/PAC: Going Strong Since 1976

NUCA's Political Action Committee, NUCA/PAC, continues to be your strong voice on Capitol Hill - supporting pro-infrastructure policies, and defending your business against harmful laws and regulations that can affect your bottom line.

NUCA/PAC enables the American utility construction industry to approach vital public policy issues by helping to elect like-minded Members of Congress. 

Get engaged in the process by authorizing NUCA/PAC to share information with you and your employees. However, Federal law requires NUCA/PAC to first obtain your written permission to solicit your voluntary contributions.

Please click here for the NUCA/PAC authorization form. (You will need you NUCA member logon. If you do not have it, please contact NUCA's Lauren Hensley at lauren@nuca.com or 703-358-9300.)

2022 proved to be an exciting election cycle for Congress. NUCA/PAC will be more engaged and involved in 2024--let's make our industry's PAC the strongest it can be.

Record All Your Jobsite Incidents With Just One App: NUCA WINS

NUCA WINS 2.1 offers even more valuable new features and enhancements. NUCA WINS 2.1 allows multiple incidents to be linked together in one documented event.

Whether your supervisors need to document injury, damage, or safety events, they can now do it all from one convenient, intuitive app, right on their tablet or smartphone. Your company will benefit from accurate and timely reporting, and receive immediate notification in case of any jobsite incidents.

NUCA WINS 2.1 is your one-stop app for all adverse event recording and tracking.

Visit NUCAWins.com to learn more and schedule a demo of the app.

NUCA WINS Logo B 08-17-20.jpg

First Session, 118th Congress Schedule

The 118th Congress has begun its work, but it is about two weeks behind schedule because of the extended House Speaker contest in early January. Committee hearings have begun in both the House and Senate. It is still very early in the session for legislative action, but opening bills are being filed and sent to committees for action later this year.

Congress is adjourned the week of Feb. 20 for Presidents Day, and will come back to session on Feb. 27. It will be in session throughout March, taking a two-week break beginning April 3. Both houses of Congress will be in session the week of our May 2023 Washington Summit.

A full House-Senate Congressional calendar for 2023 can be downloaded from here.

NUCA Official Letters To Congress & Federal Agencies

February 13, 2023 - NUCA to EPA: Reject Petition To Change PVC Waste Designation

All formal NUCA correspondence with Congress and federal regulatory agencies can be found at nuca.com/letters.

Sign Up For NUCA Advocacy Alerts!

If you're a NUCA member, your Washington governments affairs team wants you to be part of our Capitol Hill advocacy program! NUCA urges you to sign up to receive our Muster advocacy alerts. These emails will alert you to pending legislative action where your opinion can make a difference.

It's easy to sign up via the link below. Use your personal home address if you can do so, since our online Muster advocacy program finds your members of Congress via your voter registration address. But business addresses work just as well to receive our alerts.

I'm a NUCA member and I want to receive NUCA's Advocacy Alerts!

For Breaking Legislative News: Follow @NUCA_National on Twitter!

Join NUCA's Government Affairs Committee!

If you enjoy analyzing politics and find the inner workings of Congress and our industry's legislative program interesting or useful to your business, why not take the next step and join NUCA's Government Affairs Committee? Membership is open to all NUCA members, and we welcome the active participation of those seeking to make a difference in their industry, and to help shape NUCA's official policies on legislation.

Help shape the legislative and advocacy program of your association. Contact NUCA's Vice President of Government Affairs Zack Perconti to get started today.

The House's Cannon HOB subsurface

infrastructure being rebuilt, 2019. Photos: AoC.

National Utility Contractors Association

Governmental Affairs Department

3925 Chain Bridge Rd., Suite 300

Fairfax, Virginia 22039

703-358-9300


NUCA of Colorado Christine Barnes
5023 W. 120th Ave Executive Director
Box 297 (970) 376-1190
Broomfield, CO 80020 Christine.Barnes@nucacolorado.com 

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