The Colorado Chapter of NUCA

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Washington Summit - May 15-17

April 2023

2023 Washington Summit: Register Today For May's Advocacy Events

$6 Billion In Drinking Water SRF Funding Released

Energy and Permitting Reform Bill Passes House

"Permit America to Build" Coalition Formed

Rural Broadband Construction Bill Introduced By T&I Chairman Graves

WOTUS Repeal Effort Passes Congress, But Finds Biden Veto

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

2023 Washington Summit: Register Today For May's Advocacy Events

It's turning out to be an exciting spring for our Washington agenda! Make plans to come to Washington next month for our annual fly-in and lobbying day on Capitol Hill. Infrastructure advocacy, new resources, and workforce development programs 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. It is located about five blocks from the U.S. Capitol complex. 

Please contact your Chapter to find out their Capitol Hill day schedule, and which state lawmakers you will be visiting with your Chapter delegation. We believe in "strength-in-numbers," so the more NUCA members a Chapter is able to bring into these discussions, the better we can make our points and show lawmakers the depth of our issues in your community. And each NUCA member can talk about their own industry stories, something appreciated by the lawmaker and their staff. 

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. Fact sheets and the day's schedule are now available at the Summit website, including a list of our tentative special political speakers at the May 17 breakfast briefing.

We can't wait to see you in D.C. next month!

$6 Billion In Drinking Water SRF Funding Released,

New Drinking Water Needs Survey and Assessment Published

On April 4 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced over $6.5 billion for states, tribes, and territories for projects to upgrade drinking water infrastructure through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF).

The DWSRF allotments to states are based on the results of EPA’s 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment (DWINSA). The survey, which is required by the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act, assesses the nation’s public water systems’ infrastructure needs every four years. The findings are used to allocate DWSRF grants to states. The survey estimated water utilities need $625 billion in infrastructure investments over the next 20 years to ensure the nation’s public water supplies are safe and efficiently delivered.

Almost $3 billion of the funding announced will be provided specifically for lead service line identification and replacement. However, about $40 billion is estimated to be needed to replace all 9.2 million lead service lines in the U.S. 

The IIJA is investing over $50 billion in total national water and wastewater infrastructure improvements across the country between FY 2022 and FY 2026.

Energy and Permitting Reform Bill Passes House

The U.S. House passed on March 30 225-204 the "Lower Energy Costs Act" (HR 1), the GOP bill promoting domestic energy production. More direct to this industry, H.R. 1 will also institute comprehensive permitting reforms to speed the approval process used for critical infrastructure construction projects.

The Lower Energy Costs Act will increase domestic energy production, reform the permitting process for all industries, reversing anti-energy policies advanced by the Biden Administration, streamline energy infrastructure and exports, and boost the production and processing of critical minerals.

"Key contributions from Transportation and Infrastructure Committee members will prevent federal water regulations from being abused to block needed energy projects and will apply One Federal Decision streamlining reforms to pipeline projects. Energy costs remain unbearably high for too many Americans, and this bill will make a real difference," said House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Sam Graves (R-MO). 

The bill's fate in the Senate remains uncertain. While the bill, at least in its entirety, is not expected to advance further, it serves as a starting point for Republicans as they seek to negotiate with Democrats on finding a way to speed up the permit approval process for energy projects. NUCA will continue to work with Congress to support a compromise on permitting reform.

"Permit America to Build" Coalition Formed

In a letter sent to Congressional leaders on March 27, nearly 350 organizations--including NUCA--called on Congress to “Permit America to Build” by passing meaningful, durable permitting reform before the end of summer.

This effort, organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, brings together over 200 state and local chambers as well as leading business, policy and labor organizations in a coalition called "Permit America to Build."

The coalition signals the unified support for reforming America’s outdated permitting process in which federal permits take an average of 4.5-7.5 years to be approved depending on the project.

Project developers and financers must have an appropriate level of certainty regarding the scope and timeline for project reviews, including any related judicial review.  

These coalition organizations find a consensus that a modernized permitting process requires predictability, efficiency, transparency, and stakeholder input.

NUCA supports the goals of this coalition as its agenda moves forward this session.

Find our more about this important coalition.

Rural Broadband Construction Bill Introduced By T&I Chairman Graves

A bill to remove barriers for communities seeking to use Economic Development Administration (EDA) grants to develop high-speed broadband access was introduced in the House on March 23.

The "Eliminating Barriers to Rural Internet Development Grant Eligibility" (E-BRIDGE) Act removes hurdles for broadband projects under EDA grants, including difficult last-mile efforts that often delay rural broadband deployment. It also ensures that local communities can partner with the private sector in carrying out broadband projects and gives communities more flexibility in complying with their funding match requirements.

“The E-BRIDGE Act will help spur projects that attract jobs and businesses to expand economic development and opportunity in rural and poor communities," said Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO). NUCA supports this legislation and will work with the Chairman as this bill moves towards passage. More.

WOTUS Repeal Effort Passes Congress, But Finds Biden Veto

The Senate on March 29 adopted a resolution that would repeal the Biden administration’s clean water regulations, on a 53-43 vote. Four Democrats sided with Republicans in favor of eliminating the Biden Administration's changes to the Waters Of The United States (WOTUS). The House passed its repeal on Feb. 2 on a 227-198 vote.

The Biden White House said it opposed this change and as expected issued a veto on April 6. Both chambers have promised veto-override votes after Congress returns for work on April 17. Supporters of the override must reach a two-thirds majority in each chamber, which may be a very high hurdle to reach in a partisan Congress.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) sponsored the Senate version of the resolution and called the President's veto “blatant executive overreach...leaving millions of Americans in limbo and crippling future energy and infrastructure projects with red tape."

The issue of which waters to regulate under WOTUS is also currently before the Supreme Court, which in the coming weeks will issue a decision in a case that largely centered around wetlands.  More.

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

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. The event is free and open to the public, and we hope Summit attendees are able to participate while they are in the District. 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. Those NUCA members using the app say they wish they had it years ago. It's worth checking out.

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

Congress returns from their spring recess on April 17.

Both chambers will be in session each week until May 19. They will take a two-week Memorial Day recess starting May 22 until June 6, and return for three more weeks of legislative business in June. August recess begins July 28 until Labor Day.

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

NUCA Official Letters To Congress & Federal Agencies

March 30, 2023 - NUCA Coalition to FHWA Administrator Bhatt: Request for 90-Day Extension of Buy America Requirements

March 29, 2023 - NUCA Coalition to Sen. John Thune: Death Tax Repeal Act of 2023

March 27, 2023 - NUCA Coalition to Congress: Letter on Permitting Reforms in Infrastructure

March 14, 2023 - NUCA Coalition to House Agriculture Committee: USDA Rural Broadband Programs

March 13, 2023 - NUCA Letter to OMB: BABAA Implementation Guidance

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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