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Architecture | Construction | Education | Energy | Engineering | IT | Manufacturing | Oil and Gas | Petrochemical | Transportation

October 2019 | Advertising for Certified Women, Veteran & Minority-Owned Subcontractors | 43rd Edition

HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS: The Power Behind Houston’s Strong Foundation Back row LR: Gary Norman - Government Relations, Roel Garcia - Chief of Staff, Christon (Chris) Butler - MCD, Houston Permitting Center. Middle row LR: Michael Y. Ereti - P.E., Capital Projects, Samir Solanki - CPA, Financial Management Services, Alanna Reed - Communications, Jeffrey S. Weatherford - P.E., PTOE, Transportation & Drainage Operations. Front row LR: Eric K. Dargan - Chief Operating Officer, Carol Ellinger Haddock - P.E., Houston Public Works Director, Yvonne W. Forrest - Houston Water.

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INSIDE

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04

OMA and Powers Brown Unveil Adaptive Reuse Design for Houston’s 1962 Central Post Office Building

12-13

NAMC-DFW: 2019 Business Expo and Golden Shovel Awards

Houston Airport System unveils Sustainable Management Plan to align its local, global goals

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PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE

Keith J. Davis, Sr. CERTIFIED:

HMSDC

The Subcontractors USA Texas Journal highlights opportunities and news relevant to the construction, energy, architecture, manufacturing, education, engineering, oil and gas, transportation and IT industries we serve. We hope you find this issue not only informative, but inspiring and educational as well.

This month’s issue highlights Houston Public Works and the department’s Office of Business Opportunity.

Houston Public Works provides basic services that many Houstonians take for granted, including administration, planning, maintenance, construction management and technical engineering of the City’s infrastructure. The

Port of Houston

PUBLISHER & CEO Keith J. Davis, Sr. COO & MANAGING EDITOR Kimberly Floyd ACCOUNTING MANAGER Eugenie Doualla EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Tiffany Brown STAFF WRITER Carly Hammack PROJECT COORDINATOR Lindsey Ford PHOTOGRAPHY Grady Carter L.C. Poullard

DISTRIBUTION Rockie Hayden CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Helen Callier Subcontractors USA News Provider

– Michelle Obama

City of Houston

HISD

04 ARCHITECTURE 04 OMA and Powers Brown Unveil Adaptive Reuse Design for Houston’s 1962 Central Post Office Building 06 CONSTRUCTION 06 Transcendence in residential construction Off-site construction isn’t necessarily new 06 McCarthy Undertaking Three Phases of Houston’s Northeast Water Purification Plant 10 ENERGY 10 A Look Inside Our Energy Future 10 IT & TECHNOLOGY 10 How and Why to Keep Up With the Latest Tech Trends 12-13 IN THE SUBCONTRACTORS USA COMMUNITY...

12-13 NAMC-DFW: 2019 Business Expo and Golden Shovel Awards 16-17 COVER STORY 16-17 Houston Public Works: The Power Behind Houston’s Strong Foundation 18 PERMITS 18 7 Ways To Play Ball In Permitting During A Changing Economy

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HUB

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OUR SERVICES

CONTENTS

ART DIRECTOR Angel Rosa GRAPHIC DESIGNER Kendra Wiseman

“Success isn’t about how much money you make; it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.”

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BEHIND THE JOURNAL

department also places great emphasis on growing business and opportunity for small, minority and women-owned business. Several programs and events are in place to help achieve this goal such as the Interagency Mentor Protégé Program, the annual networking event, Contractors Connect and the Small Contractor Rotation Program.

As always, thank you for your continued support of Subcontractors USA Texas Journal. When you support us, you are supporting more than just our company; you are supporting the communities in which we live and work. Working together, we can succeed in making positive things happen.

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20 SAFETY 20 Why it's time to take your safety enrollments and orientations online 24 U.S. Department of Labor Orders Kinder Morgan to Pay Back Pay, Damages And Fees for Retaliation Against Whistleblower

24 Working Safely Near Overhead Power Lines 24 U.S. Department of Labor Proposes Revisions to OSHA’s Beryllium Standards for Construction and Shipyards

ADVERTISING | MARKETING MEDIA | COMMUNICATION GRAPHIC DESIGN • Logos • Flyers • Ads • Folders • Brochures • Door Hangers PRINTING • Business Cards • Flyers • Folders • Pull-up Banners • Step and Repeat Banners • Brochures • Door Hangers • Letterhead • Envelopes PHOTOGRAPHY • Headshots • Event Photography Online & Email Marketing Social Media Advertising

26 TRANSPORTATION 26 Texas Central signs design-build agreement with Salini Impregilo-Lane JV for $20B high-speed rail project 28 Houston Airport System unveils Sustainable Management Plan to align its local, global goals 28 New USDOT rules would speed up project permitting

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ARCHITECTURE

OMA and Powers Brown

Unveil Adaptive Reuse Design for Houston’s 1962 Central Post Office Building

By Subcontractors USA News Provider

R

eal estate development in Houston throughout its history has been mostly unremarkable, the minimum product of pro formas and adherence to the city’s slipshod patchwork of building, site plan, traffic, and parking ordinances. The only notable interruption in the pattern of averages was during the go-go years of the 1970s and 1980s when, according to an April 1982 Texas Monthly profile, Houston was “(maybe) the architectural capital of the United States, the place where styles are set.” At that time, interest rates were sky-high, and certain progressive developers (Gerald Hines being the best-known example) experimented with hiring fashionable architects to add high-quality design as a means to differentiate their products in a crowded and already expensive market.

Lately, perhaps as a result of a ripple effect from Austin, whose sizzling architectural scene has been fueled by a steady supply of rich, techtax refugees from California, Houston now has a handful of developers pushing design.

A new member of this clique is Kirby Liu, son of Frank Liu, whose real estate companies include Lovett Homes, Intown Homes, and Lovett Commercial Realty. Lovett’s townhouses and strip malls, neither ugly nor distinctive, are mostly inconspicuous despite their large numbers. In his role as director of development at Lovett Commercial, and in particular as project manager for the redevelopment of the former central Houston post office, Kirby Liu appears to be working to raise Lovett’s design standards. He studied for two years at the Harvard Graduate School of Design before he became impatient to work in the real world. He tested out working at a fancy firm, Rex, for about half a year before returning home to become involved with Lovett’s purchase of the former downtown post office, which sits on a prominent 16-acre site on the northern edge of downtown and had been mothballed in May 2015.

The central U.S. Post Office building (1962) was designed by Houston firm Wilson, Morris, Crain & Anderson. It was built on the site of the moderne Southern Pacific Railroad Station (1934), designed

by Fort Worth architects Hedrick & Gottlieb, that was demolished in 1959 when the site was acquired for the post office. The complex consisted of a 530,000-sf, two-story, windowless mail-sorting facility covering six acres, fronted by a five-story slab containing a post office on the ground floor and administrative offices above. In front of the office tower is a flat terrace with a modernist checkerboard of planted and paved sections. Because the site slopes down toward Buffalo Bayou, the edge of the terrace has a tall retaining wall butting up to the street.

The complex is impressive mostly for its vast spread.

When the building opened, for example, newspaper

accounts described in detail the electric buggies used to carry postal workers across the 880-foot-long space.

Literally detached from the surrounding urban fabric by virtue of its parking lots and retaining walls, it represents the suburbanizing trend of American postwar modernism that is now considered troubling.

Lovett’s first idea for the site was to scrape the post office building and repopulate it with high-rises. While they were studying this option, they were approached by the founders of a music festival called Day for Night, who proposed using the building as a temporary venue.

After two successful iterations of the festival in the winters of 2016 and 2017, Lovett became convinced that the building could be reused rather than being demolished.

They then applied to have the post office listed on the National Register of Historic Places in order to be eligible for redevelopment tax incentives. Although there is a slew of them, the two largest and most commonly used incentives are the 20-percent federal income tax credit and the 25-percent Texas franchise tax credit.

These can amount to several million dollars’ worth of tax breaks for a large project. (Lovett has not indicated whether it will have the post office listed as a City of Houston landmark. Were they to do so, the building could potentially be protected from demolition, and such additional incentives as a 40-percent reduction in the city’s onerous parking requirements would be available.)

Because of its prominent location, Kirby Liu pushed for the post office rehabilitation to be a showpiece. Lovett considered several well-known national and international architects for the job. They eventually selected OMA,

with Jason Long out of its New York office as partner in charge. The architect of record is the Houston firm Powers Brown. The great challenge of this project was how to rework and reintegrate what is essentially a gigantic suburban complex on its own superblock plopped right next to downtown. The initial design, which appeared briefly on Swamplot in October 2017, before it was taken down at Lovett’s request, was quite aggressive (but fascinating, nonetheless), with giant gashes cut out of the mail-sorting warehouse. However, in order to maximize all the incentives that make these types of projects viable, the team revised the design to adhere more closely to the Secretary of the Interior’s standards for the treatment of historic properties.

The design as publicly presented in June of this year is officially called POST Houston (abbreviated POST HTX) and is respectful of the historic fabric of the building. The mail-sorting hall is going to be broken up into three sections reflecting modern life: shopping, eating, and (co-)working. Each programmatic unit will surround a central atrium sawed out of the cast-in-place concrete structure that will daylight the spaces. In each atrium, there will be a differently designed sculptural, central stair to allow access to the second level and to the roof. On the roof, there will be a quasi-public, landscaped park, the “Skylawn,” designed by Chicago landscape architect Hoerr Schaudt, who also designed Centennial Garden in Houston’s Hermann Park.

It will afford splendid views of downtown Houston’s glimmering collection of skyscrapers. The eastern end of the roof will become a farm, either for the restauranteurs down below or for a community gardening organization. The eastern third of the mail-sorting building is currently reserved for a music venue, and the office tower will become a hotel, both to be done in a later phase. The ample surface lots will suffice for now for parking, with the addition of landscaping and way-finding signage.

Although POST Houston’s mixed-use program, essentially a repeat of Gerald Hines’s 50-year-old Galleria (minus Neiman Marcus), breaks no new ground, it is impressive: Not only did Lovett save an important, and problematic, piece of Houston’s postwar architectural heritage that might more easily have been razed; they also commissioned an internationally-known architectural firm to work it all out. POST Houston is promising, especially because it comes from one of Houston’s large, established developers, which in the past has been indifferent to the historic resources on its properties. In 2015, for example, Intown Homes destroyed the modern Shell Research Laboratory (1946) on Bellaire Boulevard, designed by Houston modernist Herbert Cowell, then working for the Austin Company, to build townhouses. Lovett, and especially Kirby Liu, should thus be commended for their ambitious break from precedent. We can only hope that Houston’s other developers take note.

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Source: Texas Architect

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A PUBLIC NOTICE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM TxDOT

New Proposed Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Triennial Goal Methodology for Federal Highway Administration Projects for Fiscal Years 2020 - 2022 The public is encouraged to provide comments during the open comment period.

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) proposed DBE triennial goal methodology for Fiscal Years (FFY) 2020-2022 supports an overall goal of 14.4%.

TxDOT plans to satisfy this goal on its Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) funded contracts with a 7.5% race-conscious component and a 6.9% race-neutral component.

The goal methodology was established using information from the disparity study conducted by Colette Holt & Associates.

TxDOT's Civil Rights Division sets overall goals for DBE participation on USDOT-assisted contracts with FHWA, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funds.

Get Involved TxDOT encourages any interested persons to provide comments regarding the proposed DBE goal methodology during the open comment period. Comments may be submitted using any of the following methods: Submit a public comment online: https://www.research.net/r/txdot-dbegoalmethodology2020 Contact the Civil Rights Division at (512) 416-4715 or email us at: CivilRights@txdot.gov Note: The open comment period for the Proposed FFY 2020-2022 Overall DBE Methodology will be open for a minimum of 45 days after it is posted.

Register to Attend a Public Outreach Meeting Near You: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2020dbe-goal-methodology-public-outreachmeetings-tickets-75050653525

HOUSTON OCTOBER 21, 2019 FORT WORTH OCTOBER 23, 2019 DALLAS

OCTOBER 24, 2019

AUSTIN

OCTOBER 28, 2019

SAN ANTONIO

NOVEMBER 1, 2019

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CONSTRUCTION

CONSTRUCTION

McCarthy Undertaking Three Phases of Houston’s Northeast Water Purification Plant

By Subcontractors USA News Provider

“We were running between 62-64 days,” Johnston says. “The labor issues have been well documented in every market for many years. We started experiencing schedule slippage in 2015 and saw the cycle times increase to 70-80 days.”

While Tarina Homes is still fine-tuning its formula, Johnston said that he believes the company will be able to get its cycle time down to 27 days.

“Dropping that number makes a huge impact on the balance sheet. Being able to deliver a house before the buyer’s loan is complete is really a game changer and limits the developer’s risk,” Johnston explains.

At MiTek, the term “the cassette movement” is used to define some of the changes in the building strategy.

Various components of the home, including flooring and wall panels, are put together with utilities, siding, and wallboard pre-installed. The tactic avoids jobsite collisions with subcontractors running into one another and adding more time to the process.

While just 10% to 15% of the industry might be building this way now, that number could grow to as much as 40% in the next 5 years, according to MiTek’s projections. But if the floor panels and wall panels aren’t arriving at the site at the same time, much of the cost savings can be lost.

Jamie Moore, senior VP of marketing for residential construction at MiTek describes residential construction as a tried and true industry that’s been building homes in a similar manner for decades.

“Changes are hard to adopt, integrate or bring to the forefront,” Moore says. “The company that is able to bring the right process, quality and leadership is really going to bring value to the industry long term.”

Home Innovation Labs sees custom builders, making up about 20% to 25% of the market, using precut framing packages. Meanwhile, production builders, making up 70 to 75% of the market, appear to be utilizing more panels.

“Home builders want to keep carpenters at their disposal and on their job site but are willing to get more done by lower-skilled workers,” says Hudson, who expects precut packages to increase in popularity to satisfy the need to get more done with fewer skilled people.

The industry has evolved from the early 1900’s with companies being more vertically integrated and employing tradesmen, to the late 1900’s with much of the work being subcontracted. Managing the quality and the schedule has become more and more difficult.

“To use a baseball analogy, we’re really in the top of the first when it comes to factory-built housing. It’s really an exciting time to be in the business. We’ll see more changes in the next 5-10 years than we did in the last 200,” Johnston says.

Source: HBSDEALER

Source: Associated General Contractor

Transcendence in residential construction

Off-site construction isn’t necessarily new

By Subcontractors USA News Provider

B

ut new products and techniques are helping to improve housing construction. And the primary disruptor in home building — a lack of skilled labor — is prompting today’s builders to turn to alternative methods. The result is a ripple effect leading to additional disruptors in how homes are built.

“Off-site is getting a lot more attention from home builders today than it has in recent years, and the primary driver is the declining availability of highly skilled trades people at the job site,” says Ed Hudson, director of market research at Home Innovation Labs.

Open construction jobs reached a post-Great Recession high of 434,000 this past April before openings settled back down to 369,000 in May, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Association of Home Builders.

Accompanying the labor shortage are rising land prices and costly regulations, and the industry is looking for answers. A promising solution has been a shift from on-site construction to a mix of offsite, pre-cut components and panels or complete framing packages.

“What we are also going to see is an uptick in wall panels,” Hudson says. “Our data shows that wall panels and precut floor panels are among the leading off-site solutions that builders are considering at this point and expect to be adopting.”

In addition to cost savings, an advantage of off-site construction is speed. Housing remains landconstrained with 2% fewer communities built this year than a year ago. At a recent summit conducted by John Burns Real Estate Consulting, land developed was rated the “worst risk adjusted by housing sector” by nearly 60% of the executives at the summit.

“Builders who build their homes ‘fast’ are able to justify a higher purchase price on a finite supply of land, potentially leaving slower builders without lots,” says Todd Tomalak, executive vice president at John Burns.

Tarina Homes in Bakersfield, Calif. uses SIPs (structural insulated panels) as a backbone for factory-built housing. Panelizing with sticks forces builders to shear at least one side of the wall for transport whether it’s needed structurally or not. But with SIPs, the panels are already insulated and sheared with code-qualifying 7/16” OSB for the faces of the panel.

“We found that if we stitch together multiple SIP panels and then install value added items such as doors, windows, drywall, and siding in the factory, then we can have the house completely dried in and secured within a few days,” says Chris Johnston, president of Tarina Homes.

Cycle times are what originally opened Johnston’s eyes to SIPs.

I

n order to meet the needs of a growing population and to shift from reliance on groundwater to surface water as the source for its drinking water, the City of Houston and four regional water authority partners are currently undertaking a 320MGD $1.765B design-build expansion of the Northeast Water Purification Plant (NEWPP). It is currently the largest progressive designbuild water treatment plant project underway in Texas and in the United States. McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., a member of multiple AGC chapters, through the Houston Waterworks Team, was awarded three separate contracts on the project - the early works Central Plant foundations package which broke ground in June 2018, the raw water Intake Pump Station which began in early 2019, and the balance of the Central Plant which started in August 2019.

The NEWPP project’s first 80MGD phase will be in operation in early 2023, the balance of McCarthy’s construction work will be complete in 2024, and the overall 320MGD plant will be in full operation in early 2025.

“Water projects have been and will continue to be a big part of what we do at McCarthy,” said Kurt Knebel, McCarthy’s executive vice president. “We are proud to be selected by a prominent team for one of its largest and most complex projects in years; it is a true testament to the quality of work our heavy civil/marine/industrial team produces.”

McCarthy’s involvement on the NEWPP project consists of three distinct construction work packages of work that will allow for an additional 320-million-gallon-per-day capacity. First is the early works Central Plant foundations package, which consists of furnishing as well as installing all rebar and structural concrete, embeds, pipe penetrations and under-slab process mechanical piping on the west Filter Module and Transfer Pump Station facilities. The second package is for the construction of a 30,000-square-foot raw water Intake Pump Station building, which includes an access bridge, constructed on pilings 1,000 feet from the shore within the middle of Lake Houston.

The third package includes the balance of construction of the Central Plant, which will consist of a full buildout of the two facilities already underway as part of the early works package to complete Phase 1, as well as the rest of the filters, the second Transfer Pump Station, and postchemical facilities for Phase 2. As part of the Central Plant work McCarthy is building the largest filters in Texas.

Throughout the project, McCarthy’s team will self-perform several aspects of the job including: • Process piping • Process equipment installation • Pile driving • Concrete work • Metal installation • Earth work Other marine/treatment plant projects McCarthy has completed include the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) surface water facilities and the Village Creek Water Reclamation Facility – Peak Flow Basin. Additionally, McCarthy has extensive experience along the Texas coast with Port Houston including the construction of Bayport Phase I Wharf and Wharf 2, Bayport Phase I Stage 1 and Phase I Stage 2 Container Yards, Bayport Truck Gate Complex and Bayport Port Road. McCarthy is also currently working on the new Container Yard 7 as well as the rehabilitation of Wharf 3 within Barbours Cut Container Terminal at Port Houston as part of the latest expansion efforts, both slated for completion in 2020.

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ENERGY

A Look Inside Our Energy Future Energy formodern modernlife. life.

Energyis is fundamental fundamental for

By Subcontractors USA News Provider

A

ccess to reliable, affordable energy has completely transformed how people live, communicate, travel, conduct business, build infrastructure and so much more.

And in the coming decades, even more people will need access to the transformative power of energy.

ExxonMobil’s 2019 Outlook for Energy serves as the company’s latest analysis on how the world will use energy, in all its forms, through 2040.

As populations grow and gain greater access to energy, living standards around the world will rise. A booming middle class will increase demand for homes, transportation, electricity and consumer goods, as well as the energy to power them all. The challenge is – and will be – satisfying this growing demand while reducing the risks of climate change.

Technology holds the greatest potential for helping society address the dual challenge. Technological advances have significantly improved energy efficiency and helped unlock diverse and abundant sources of energy.

There is no one single solution to this problem. Instead, it will take harnessing a variety of energy sources and technologies that, guided by policies, will help deliver reliable energy around the world.

This year’s Outlook has seven key takeaways. Check them out below.

In the coming decades, more and more people around the world will live in modern homes, purchase timesaving appliances, open new businesses and require additional transportation options – all of which depend on reliable access to modern and affordable energy. This energy offers millions of people the chance to prosper and improve the quality of their lives.

Globalenergy energy demand rises Global risesby by20%.

20%.

Oiland and natural natural gas Oil gas remain remainimportant importantenergy energy sources and require significant investment. sources and require significant investment.

Today, more than half of the world’s energy comes from oil and natural gas, and it’s likely that these sources will continue to power the world well into the future.

To continue to meet future demand, investment in oil and natural gas is required to replace the natural decline from existing production.

Globalelectricity electricity demand Global demandrises rises60%.

60%.

Thanks to emerging energy-efficient technology, OECD countries are expected to reduce their overall demand by around 5% and reduce energy-related CO2 emissions by nearly 25%. In non-OECD (or developing) countries, a combination of growing populations, increased access to modern energy and improved living standards will likely result in greater energy use, driving up overall global demand by 20% by 2040. China and India, two of the world’s fastest-growing nations, are likely to contribute around half of that growth.

The need to power more homes, factories, electric vehicles and consumer goods is expected to increase electricity demand by 60% over the next two decades. Natural gas, solar and wind will be the fastest-growing energy sources helping to meet future electricity needs. Today, natural gas is the No. 1 source of electricity generation in the U.S. It’s not only popular for its affordability and abundance, but when gas-fired electricity generation replaces coal plants, CO2 emissions can be reduced by up to 60% while also producing fewer pollutants.

Almost world’senergy energyisis Almosthalf half of the world’s dedicated activity. dedicated to to industrial industrial activity.

Globalenergy-related energy-related CO Global CO22emissions emissionspeak, peak, but remain above assessed 2°C scenarios. but remain assessed 2°C scenarios.

Rising populations and urbanization will also result in the construction of new homes and roads, as well as the production of household appliances. Steel, cement and chemicals are essential in satisfying these needs and today rely on energy-intensive industries. But with new efficient technologies, manufacturers can increase their output while curbing emissions.

Increased energy efficiency and lower-carbon sources are expected to help curb CO2 emissions, but not enough to reach a 2°C pathway. Additional technology-driven solutions and policies are still needed to achieve society’s climate aspirations. ExxonMobil and its partners are doing their part by working to develop lower CO2 emission energy sources like advanced biofuels and finding new ways to capture CO2 .

Commerce and and trade drive Commerce drivetransportation transportation energy consumption up more energy consumption up morethan than25%.

25%.

While more electric, hybrid and other energy-efficient vehicles are expected to hit the road by 2040, overall demand for energy in the transportation sector is still expected to increase. This is especially true in developing regions, where a growing middle class will require more commercial transportation by bus, rail, plane, truck and marine vessel. Affordable and widely available oil will remain the predominant transportation fuel.

Source: ExxonMobil

IT & TECHNOLOGY

How and Why to Keep Up With the Latest Tech Trends

By Subcontractors USA News Provider

(StatePoint) Whatever industry you work in and no matter what your role is, it’s possible you have wondered how emerging technologies will affect your job in the years to come or whether you’ll even have to switch careers entirely at some point.

Experts say that while such concerns are understandable, embracing the newest tech can empower individuals and businesses to do great things. Previous technical revolutions have consistently led to net job gains.

In 2018 the number of job postings for positions in emerging tech increased 74 percent over 2017, according to Cyberstates, a resource on the U.S. tech industry.

“Unease about innovation is understandable, but education can alleviate the concerns,” says Todd Thibodeaux, president and CEO, CompTIA, a leading technology association that created Future of Tech, a new education hub designed for anyone interested in learning about technology.

Thibodeaux points out that if it feels like things are shifting quickly at work, at home and in the world around you, it isn’t your imagination.

“It’s been decades since we’ve had this many paradigm changing technologies hitting the market at the same time. Artificial intelligence (AI), augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), big data analytics, robotics, bionics, and digital health

are a few examples,” he says. “We want to normalize these technologies for people.”

Whether you’re feeling lost in the sea of all this new tech or you simply want to get a handle on the trends, consider using resources such as Future of Tech to

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familiarize yourself with new concepts.

Learning units include such topics as cybersecurity, the internet of things, AI and AR/VR. Designed for anyone interested in learning more about technology, such resources are great for teachers, professionals, business leaders and the intellectually curious, and will leave anyone who uses them with a good conversational knowledge and understanding about new technologies.

To learn more, visit www.future oftech.org.

“There is no reason to fear the future,” says Thibodeaux. “By understanding the newest tech, you’ll be in a better position to harness it for your success.”

Source: StatePoint

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In the Subcontractors USA Community...

To View More Photos, Visit Our Website www.subcusa.com and Click on ‘Photo Gallery.’

NAMC-DFW 2019 Business Expo and Golden Shovel Awards

LEFT TO RIGHT: Javier Huerto - Carrco Painting, Craig Obar - UNT System, Taylor Gray - The Cordish Companies, Gulnara Calec - Dallas Digital Signs, Demetria Bivens - DLB Consultants, Keith J. Davis, Sr. - Subcontractors USA, Jim Watry - Texas Live!, Kari Furman - The Cordish Companies, Bret Terry - The Beck Group, Damian Lee - McCarthy Building Companies.

The National Association of Minority Contractors – Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter hosted its annual NAMC-DFW Business Expo and Golden Shovel Awards recently.

This event was held in Arlington, Texas at the Live! By Loews Hotel and Conference Center. Over 300 participants, consisting of contractors, consultants and NAMC stakeholders, were in attendance of this year’s event.

Following the business expo, which allowed contractors to showcase their businesses and network with other contractors, was the first annual Golden Shovel Awards ceremony. The Golden Shovel Awards was a chance to showcase hard working construction firms that have made great strides in the industry.

Awards were given in the categories of: • Community Outreach and Diversity Advocacy • Corporation of the Year • SMWBE Firm of the Year • Public Entity of the Year • Supplier of the Year • Safety Excellence of the Year • Media Advocate of the Year • Project of the Year Attendees were also able to hear special remarks from Mayor Jeff Williams of Arlington and special guest speaker United States Marine Corps Major General Craig Timberlake.

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1 Briones Consulting & Engineering, a certified Minority Business Enterprise, is working with Houston Public Works, providing construction management on the consolidation of four wastewater treatment plants by diverting the flow of wastewater and, in turn, reducing maintenance and operating cost.

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4

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How Houston Public Works is Empowering Small, Minority and Women Owned Businesses

“Houston Public Works is united across all service lines to create a strong foundation for Houston to thrive and our small, minority and women owned businesses play a vital role in creating that foundation.”

—Carol E. Haddock - Director of Houston Public Works

By Subcontractors USA News Provider

SOURCE: Houston Public Works

E

very day Houstonians use thousands of miles of city roads, thousands of gallons of city water and thousands more of other city amenities most people take for granted on a daily basis. But who is responsible for all the work that goes into keeping these amenities available and usable? Who handles the administration, planning, maintenance, construction management and technical engineering of the City’s infrastructure, all of which are necessary to provide amenities like water, roads, etc.?

Houston Public Works is the provider of these basic services that affect the daily lives of every person who lives and works in Houston. The City of Houston’s Public Works Department is the largest and most diverse public works organization in the United States, employing over 4,000 people and having an annual operating budget of over $2 billion.

Some of the responsibilities of Public Works include the production and distribution of over 146 billion gallons of water per year and the treatment of over 90 billion gallons of wastewater per year, which is enough to fill the Astrodome four times per day with fresh water and over twice per day with wastewater. They also handle the maintenance of the City’s 16,000+ lane miles of streets, over 60,000 stormwater manholes, over 100,000 stormwater inlets, over 1,100,000 street name and traffic control signs, over 17,000 freeway and under bridge light fixtures, over 50,000 fire hydrants and traffic signals at over 2,450 intersections, just to name a few.

Despite their extensive list of responsibilities, Houston Public Works has made it a priority to ensure that representation and opportunity are given to Small, Minority, and Women-Owned businesses in this city. In January 2018, Carol E. Haddock was appointed the Director of Houston Public Works, making her the first women ever to serve in that position. Under her leadership, dollars awarded to small, minority and women owned businesses as prime contractors increased from $28 million to over $54 million.

“Houston Public Works is united across all service lines to create a strong foundation for Houston to thrive and our small, minority and women owned businesses play a vital role in creating that foundation,” Haddock said.

Will Norwood III is the leader of the newly renamed Houston Public Works – Office of Business Opportunity, which is responsible for advocating, promoting and creating access to Houston Public Works for small, minority and women owned businesses.

“I feel our name truly reflects the collaborative efforts we are making with the Office of Business Opportunity to increase the success of small businesses working with Public Works,” Norwood said. “One of the things we are really proud of is, in 2019 alone, Houston Public Works was able to award over 50% of our professional services to MWBE certified firms, and over $244 million was awarded through public works to small, minority and women owned businesses.”

Through Houston Public Works’ Interagency Mentor Protégé Program, new partnerships have formed with METRO, Houston Independent School District, Houston Community College and Houston First Corporation in the hopes of expanded opportunities for certified firms.

“We are partnering with other departments and agencies to have a greater impact on the businesses we serve,” Norwood said.

Houston Public Works has several other programs and events created with the intent of bringing more contracts, connections and opportunities for small, minority and women owned businesses.

One of those events is Contracts Connect, Houston Public Works’ premier networking event. It was designed to connect major engineering consulting firms and construction companies with small, minority and women owned businesses in areas of engineering, design and civil construction.

“One of the things we are really proud of is, in 2019 alone, Houston Public Works was able to award over 50% of our professional services to MWBE certified firms, and over $244 million was awarded through public works to small, minority and women owned businesses.”

—Will Norwood - Division Leader, Houston Public Works Office of Business Opportunity Another program the department has initiated is the Small Contractor Rotation Program. The goal of this program is to provide capacity building and assistance to small, minority and womenowned business construction contractors and help them transition from subcontractors into prime contractors. This two-year program was designed to enable small construction contractors to compete for City business, while also strengthening their ability to obtain financing and bonding. The initial launch of this program debuted with nine contractors and awarded over 260 contracts totaling $4.49M, and even greater numbers are expected with the second launch starting this fall.

Houston Public Works has gone above and beyond in their efforts to bring opportunity and support to small, minority and women owned business in this community. Every year they have been able to award more business to these certified firms, and the department has no plans to slow down.

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PERMITS

7 Ways To Play Ball In Permitting During A Changing Economy 1.

By Helen Callier Contributing Writer

M

arkets go up and down, but the requirements to comply with building codes and standards are a constant reality. That is one thing we have learned over the years of pulling building permits across many geographical regions.

So, as other contractors may complain about business slowing down in their area, know that like Jerry Rice, the greatest wide receiver in NFL history, it is best to play full out all the time in pulling building permits. Building permits keep you in compliance, provide clarifications on your projects and help you to build safe structures.

For example, some industry construction data from this month show building activities are down in some residential markets in the West Coast and even in parts of Texas and other geographical markets show signs of slowing in commercial projects. You can buckle at the knees and become fraught with worry on ways to cut corners including forgoing pulling a permit, or you can move forward in executing a sound pre, during and post construction plan involving adhering to local jurisdiction building codes.

To assist your construction, architectural or special trades firm in pulling permits regardless of market economics, below are 7 ways to play ball in permitting.

Understand the Playing Field – Visit jurisdiction web site to check on the latest changes in permitting processes, building codes, new systems and organizations changes, etc. Doing prior to submission will minimize delays in permitting and save you money.

Focus on Your Preconstruction Checklist Activities – Checklists are wonderful tools to keep your processes and deliverables against construction schedule on track.

They are inexpensive to use and like the above point, this chart of x’s and o’s will help you in the permitting process.

Make sure you are diligent during preconstruction as this phase positions you for success during the rest of the game and sets the tone for pulling a permit in a timely manner.

Ask Questions – Making inquiries to plan reviewers, plan analysts, etc. cost you zero dollars and provide huge returns. Yes, your area jurisdiction’s plan reviewers are busy. Yes, you might not receive a call back or response to your email in a time frame you were expecting, but keep calling and emailing until you receive an answer. Why? This is the ultimate time and money saver, and it is a lowcost way to make sure your permitting package is spot-on prior to submission.

Check the Jurisdiction’s Website – It is true that some jurisdiction’s web sites are sparse with information including outdated forms. We have found that across the States, most jurisdiction web sites offer a plethora of information on permitting residential, commercial, industrial and other kinds of projects Punt Making Assumptions – Guessing how a plan reviewer may view the way your plans attempt to satisfy building codes is a risky path to run. We have heard

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this too many times from contractors making assumption, and after the 2nd rejection, call us to help. To stay in the game and on a timely track to obtain your building permit, consider doing your prework, including reviewing web sites and contacting the jurisdiction for clarification, prior to submitting.

Respond to Jurisdiction Rejection Comments – It is an awful feeling sometimes to receive a lot of rejection comments on your plans. When you consistently receive repeat comments, that is a sure sign that the jurisdiction comments were not addressed, and on some occasions, it may indicate that the plan reviewer simply did not see response. Even the latter scenario occurs, our data reveals that the contractor, architect or project owner missed responding to a rejection comment.

Realize Compliance Matters – Building codes and design standards shape the plays that contractors and architects must comply with in order to make sure safe structures are built. This is reality in today’s world.

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CONCLUSION CONCLUSION In closing, economies and markets are cyclical, and like in football, consistency in sound play patterns and executing the basics win games. And this same wisdom applies to permitting. Factor in, do the early work and move forward in pulling permits when local codes and ordinances dictate.

If you have any stories or tips to share in permitting, I would love to hear them. Please connect with me on Linkedin or call 1.844.PERMIT.4.

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#BuildSafe

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SAFETY

Why it's time to take your safety enrollments and orientations online

These are common hazards that team members will be educated about through an online orientation.

By Subcontractors USA

• Fall Protection Protocols • Scaffolding and Ladder Safety • Respiration Protection • Face and Eye Guard Protection • Effective Hazard Communication • Power Tool and Machinery Safety • Chemical and Environmental Hazards

News Provider

O

SHA has placed a heavy burden on construction operations to adhere to stringent safety regulations. All workplaces must conform to the agencies guidelines and standards.

Proper tool usage, safety equipment, training, and hazard notices all seem like common sense practices.

But many worker duties can evolve quickly and pulling a safety trainer to update each crew member about specific job-related risks is grossly inefficient and ineffective. More often than not, the following construction safety gaps occur.

LanguageGaps Gaps Language Experienced workers develop specific safety vocabulary that relates to the tasks at hand. When multicultural workforces come together, relating these and other terminology in a primary language can become challenging.

By utilizing mobile safety technology in each worker’s primary language, communication gaps can be avoided.

WorkplaceGaps Gaps Workplace It's a common practice to pull workers off one team when another group needs help to meet timelines. For example, asking a carpenter's apprentice to support a masonry crew changes the safety landscape. Worksite dangers that seem like common sense to supervisors with years of experience are not clear to relatively new hires. That’s one reason why one-on-one safety training may result in gaps about the risks in different settings.

GearUsage UsageGaps Gaps Gear Running new hires through the steps of how to use safety gear such as breathing masks, hard hats, and protective wear seems, again, common sense. But the single run-through is often part of a broader introduction to the employee's new job. Many are overwhelmed but nod their heads "yes" when asked if they "get it." In only a few hours, new hires cannot remember half of what they learned.

By outfitting new workers with mobile construction safety software, supervisors can task them with ongoing online orientations. These can be scheduled after lunch breaks, before starting work the next day, and any time a team leader believes re-education is needed.

EnvironmentalGaps Gaps Environmental Employees that work in tight quarters must be acutely aware of risks such as air quality. Knowing how to adequately ventilate spaces while using gas-powered tools is in no way common sense. Workers need to be repeatedly reminded to seek out an experienced supervisor to check the safety methods they are utilizing. Reinforcing the message to have experienced team leaders evaluate safety protocols before starting tends to resonate when workers are able to go back to said protocols or training held within a mobile safety platform.

mandates, they are burdened with excessive paperwork, designating specialists or supervisors to educate new hires, and persuading subcontractors to engage in highlevel safety training. The data concerning workplace injury and fatalities demonstrates this model is ineffective. The question is: How can online enrollment into construction safety prove beneficial? These are some of the answers.

What stands as, perhaps, the single most significant benefit of utilizing this type of construction technology is that it delivers employers the ability to educate and monitor workers about job site safety measures remotely.

Nothing falls through the cracks, and there are no longer gaps in communication because online orientations are thorough, standardized, cost-effective, and offered in each employee’s primary language. Safety is job one, and mobile construction safety technology takes it to the next level.

• Reduces Costs Associated with Safety Training • Supervisors Can Spend More Time on Goal Achievement • Reduces Cumbersome Paperwork • Provides Proof and Transparency that Employees have Undergone Required Training

Online enrollment into construction safety platform technology delivers a cost-effective method to educate, train, update workers, and ensure everyone on your job site understands how to conduct themselves in a safe fashion. Industry leaders can anticipate their bids will be supported by proven efforts to promote workplace safety and make insurance carriers aware you are lowering the risk of injury. These potential financial benefits can be enjoyed above the primary goal of keeping your hard-working team as safe as possible.

OnlineOrientation OrientationImproves ImprovesConstruction Online Construction Safety Safety Requiring that all team members and subcontractors utilize an online platform safety technology ensures that everyone on the job site has received the necessary safety training. People who work in construction understand that is not necessarily the injured worker who created the hazard. It’s not uncommon for an experienced, safetyconscious employee to suffer a significant loss due to someone else's negligence. Among the many benefits of online orientation is knowing even new hires have the knowledge to follow through with appropriate safety protocols. That fact will make everyone breathe easier.

BenefitsofofOnline OnlineEnrollment Enrollmentfor for Benefits ConstructionSafety Safety Construction It may seem counterintuitive to people who have worked in the sector for many years, but reducing the human factor in construction safety can be a positive step. When outfits take on the full weight of OSHA Experience Our World of Advertising, Marketing, Media and Communication

Source: Construction Dive

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SAFETY

SAFETY

Working Safely Near Overhead Power Lines

By Subcontractors USA News Provider

W

orking with or near power lines can expose workers to electrical hazards, but these dangers can be avoided through safe work practices.

These practical steps can prevent injuries from contact with power lines.

U.S. Department of Labor Orders Kinder Morgan to Pay Back Pay, Damages And Fees for Retaliation Against Whistleblower

By Subcontractors USA News Provider

T

he U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has ordered Kinder Morgan Inc. – an energy infrastructure company based in Houston, Texas - to pay a former employee back wages, damages, and attorney’s fees after an investigation found that the company violated the whistleblower provisions of the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act (PSIA).

The employee informed a contractor of Kinder Morgan’s attempt to avoid complying with the PSIA’s spill reporting requirements. Kinder Morgan later insisted that the employee retract the statement. When the employee refused, the company terminated the employee on January 3, 2018.

OSHA determined that the employee’s actions were protected activity and the discharge violated the employee’s whistleblower protections. OSHA ordered Kinder Morgan to pay $113,040 in back pay, $30,000 in compensatory damages and $20,552 in attorney’s fees. OSHA also ordered the company to expunge the complainant’s employment record of any reference to exercising whistleblower rights under PSIA; not retaliate or discriminate against the complainant; pay interest on the back pay; and post a notice of OSHA’s finding in a conspicuous place in or about its facility. Kinder Morgan or the former employee may appeal the order to the Department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges.

“This order recognizes the vital importance of pipeline safety and that federal law protects whistleblowers who engage in protected activity,” said OSHA Dallas acting Regional Administrator Eric S. Harbin.

OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the PSIA and more than 20 other statutes protecting

employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, worker safety, public transportation agency, maritime and securities laws. For more information on whistleblower protections, visit OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Programs webpage.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to help ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

• Conduct a hazard assessment to identify and address potential safety hazards before work begins.

• Ask the electric company to de-energize and ground overhead power lines.

• Educate workers on safety procedures and requirements.

• Know the safe working distance for workers and equipment.

• Use non-conductive wood or fiberglass ladders.

• Wear personal protective equipment, such as rubber insulating gloves and insulating sleeves, and • industrial protective helmets.

For more information on recognizing hazards from energized power lines, visit OSHA’s Electrical Safety and Health Topics page. OSHA videos on electrocutions in construction show how to work safely with cranes and ladders near power lines.

Source: OSHA

SAFETY

U.S. Department of Labor Proposes Revisions to OSHA’s Beryllium Standards for Construction and Shipyards

By Subcontractors USA News Provider

T

he U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has finalized its June 27, 2017, proposal to revise the construction and shipyards standards.

In the final rule, to be published on September 30, 2019, OSHA: • Does not implement the proposal to revoke all of the standards’ ancillary provisions; but • Extends the compliance dates for the ancillary provisions to September 2020 to account for OSHA’s new proposal to revise or remove specific provisions; and • Maintains enforcement of the permissible exposure limit.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.

Source: OSHA

In a forthcoming rulemaking, OSHA will publish a proposal to amend the beryllium standards for construction and shipyards by more appropriately tailoring the requirements of the standards to the exposures in these industries. The proposed changes would maintain safety and health protections for workers, facilitate compliance with the standards, and increase cost savings.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to help ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.

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Source: OSHA

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TRANSPORTATION

Texas Central

signs design-build agreement with Salini ImpregiloLane JV for $20B high-speed rail project Texas Central announced on Friday that it has entered into a designbuild agreement for its $20 billion high-speed rail project between Houston and Dallas with the joint venture of Italian civil engineering contractor Salini Impregilo and The Lane Construction Corp., a U.S. division of Salini. The value of the JV's work is estimated at $14 billion, which is incremental to the work they have already done on the project, according to Texas Central.

By Subcontractors USA News Provider

T

his is a significant step forward for Texas Central, which has had to not only deal with legal action — and some bad publicity — brought by landowners reluctant to give up their property for the rail project, but also with comparisons to the once-$77 billion California bullet train that was so plagued with cost overruns and delays that California Gov. Gavin Newsom significantly scaled it back soon after being sworn in earlier this year.

But the Houston-to-Dallas project is very different, said Holly Reed, managing director of external affairs at Texas Central.

First, she said, every decision that the Texas Central team makes is datadriven, including the one that put the project between Dallas and Houston after an evaluation of 90 pairs of U.S. cities. The sweet spots of high-speed rail, Reed told Construction Dive, lie between cities that are too far for people to drive but too close to justify a plane trip.

The Texas Central approach, she said, is to solve that problem by build-

The JV's contract includes the continuation of early engineering design and other preconstruction work — i.e. strategy, logistics, cost analysis and scheduling — that the JV has already been performing for Texas Central, in addition to design and construction of viaducts and embankments, installation of the track system, alignment and construction of maintenance and equipment buildings.

ing a point-to-point solution where the company can also be most successful.

Another difference between the California and Texas projects, Reed said, is that Texas Central has assembled a team of experts that is accountable to private investors. "We have every incentive to be on time and on budget," she said. In addition to bringing in Japanese train technology and contracting the work out to Salini, which has built thousands of miles of high-speed lines before, Texas Central will hand over operations to Spain-based Renfe, with project manager Bechtel overseeing it all.

The use of private investment rather than public funds, said Joseph Schofer, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University, means that Texas Central is likely more

Texas Central estimates that the project will produce a $36 billion economic benefit for the state during the next 25 years and will generate 10,000 construction jobs annually during peak construction. The train itself will be based on Central Japan Railway’s Tokaido Shinkansen train system, which Texas Central said is the safest mass transportation system in the world.

motivated to make the project a success and has more freedom than an agency that must endure the pressures of political winds.

The Dallas-to-Houston route, he said, is closer to a commuter market, unlike the California bullet train, he said, which was "all over the place and had to serve everybody." The chance for a solid market success, he said, likely is greater with the Texas project.

Texas Central, Reed said, has acquired approximately 30% of the necessary total parcels of land and still faces some legal hurdles. Reed said the company is facing opposition in some rural counties, primarily around the question of whether Texas Central is a railroad and has the right to gather up land as such.

"The answer to that is yes we are," she said, "... [and we believe] the merits of the case will prove that out."

One of the standout features of the Texas Central project, Reed said, is the high level of safety. There are no at-grade crossings anywhere along the route, which will all but eliminate the chance that motorists or pedestrians will ever cross paths with the train. In addition, the train will not share tracks with any other rail line, instead running on dedicated north-

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bound and southbound tracks.

The rail developer still has to navigate some Federal Railroad approvals, Reed said, which should put the start of construction into sometime next year.

The project, she said, will be broken into 10 segments that will be built simultaneously.

A potential obstacle that the Texas Central team is working on now, well in advance of construction, is assembling a skilled workforce large enough to handle the project, which Reed said will use three times the concrete that it took to build the Hoover Dam. The company is developing relationships with community colleges, workforce agencies and other sources in order to ensure a robust pipeline of workers for the high-profile project.

Source: Construction Dive

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TRANSPORTATION

Houston Airport System unveils Sustainable Management Plan to align its local, global goals New initiative seen as essential to enhancing sustainability in areas of design, procurement, assets and infrastructure.

recognizing the role of airports in creating enduring communities, acknowledging the social costs of air travel and creating airports that are resilient to future challenges such as energy or water scarcity.

“It is about operating airports in an efficient and responsible manner such that Houston’s airports are able to connect the world and Houston now and well into the future,” adds Diaz.

By Subcontractors USA News Provider

I

n support of the City of Houston’s Climate Action Plan and in keeping with its commitment to being recognized as a “five-star, global air service gateway where the magic of flight is celebrated,” the Houston Airport System (HAS) is promoting its new Sustainable Management Plan (SMP). The SMP is an HAS initiative to maximize operational efficiency while strengthening sustainability in multiple areas: economics, environmental and social priorities to address all key sustainability categories (solid waste/recycling, energy, water, greenhouse gas emissions, sustainability design, sustainability assets and infrastructure, and sustainability procurement).

As Houston Aviation Director Aviation Mario Diaz recently noted, operational efficiency is recognized in the aviation industry as a fourth pillar to the “triple bottom line” definition of sustainability, which evaluates the social, environmental and economic aspects of airport operations. “To that end,” Diaz says, “the goals of this SMP not only promote energy efficiency, waste mitigation, water resource management and greenhouse gas reductions, but also focus on enhancing our sustainable operations in the areas of design, assets and infrastructure, and procurement.”

The SMP report is the outcome of a multi-year planning process that engaged numerous HAS stakeholders.

The plan was developed by HAS leadership and staff

To that end, the SMP is a critical aspect of HAS’ strategic priorities, which include: • Making passengers happy • Achieving “opening day fresh” conditions at all HAS airports • Building the platforms for future success • Investing in HAS partnerships and employees

members all participating in a series of engagement activities, including meetings, workshops, open houses, online surveys and online collaboration sites.

In preparing the SMP, HAS stakeholders have recognized sustainable management as being a critical element of doing business today. Sustainability is not only about minimizing effects on resources or “using less”; it is about

The SMP specifies two categories — resource-based and functional — to identify the issues essential to the HAS journey to becoming a sustainable organization and to defining early operational areas of focus.

The SMP’s resource-based priorities are: energy, solid waste/recycling, water and greenhouse gas emissions, while the functional priorities are: sustainable design, sustainable assets and infrastructure, and sustainable procurement.

Source: Houston Airport System

TRANSPORTATION

New USDOT rules would speed up project permitting

By Subcontractors USA News Provider

T

he U.S. Department of Transportation has announced two rule changes that could reduce the permitting process for the department's construction projects to two years. Both are effective as interim policies as of Aug. 23, but the department is accepting comments until Sept. 23.

The first policy change mandates that both draft and final environmental impact statements (EIS) prepared in order to meet National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements be limited to 150 pages — with the suggestion that they be kept to 75 — unless the project scope or complexity requires additional documentation. In that case, the rule would limit the number of pages to 300.

While the new policies don't mandate a page limit for environmental assessments, the DOT suggests that those be limited to between 10 and 15 pages.

The other policy change applies the processes and procedures developed as part of the One Federal Decision component of President Donald Trump's Executive Order 13807 to DOT projects and requires that one federal agency be designated to usher each project through the environmental review and permitting process.

The DOT said in its Federal Register announcement that the length of NEPA submissions had grown so bloated with irrelevant data that it not only increased the cost and time of reviews but made it difficult for those relying on the documentation to find the information they needed to make important project decisions.

In order to pare down the page count, the DOT suggests that authors of environmental reports:

• Identify the most important issues — and eliminate the others — through pre-scoping and scoping processes.

• Use an annotated outline for each chapter of the report.

• Tier their reports so that issues impor tant to each level of the review can be given proper consideration and redun dancies can be eliminated.

• Make clear to contractors they hire to write environmental reports they should abide by the new page limits

and new policies to streamline the process.

• Use a concise writing style that favors plain language, bullet points, visual elements, and definitions of key terms early in the report and avoids jargon.

• Use appendices, incorporations by reference, EIS summaries and errata sheets.

Many environmental reviews, said Brian Deery, senior director of the Associated General Contractors of America's highway and transportation division, have become "convoluted, draw-out processes," claiming about half of the process is tied up in evaluating and presenting alternatives to the project, including no-build options.

"The intent here is to limit the number of pages and hopefully limit the overall review process ... to the [items] that really need to get reviewed," he said.

The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), Deery said, allowed states to take over the NEPA process, eliminating the time-consuming chore of obtaining approval from the Federal Highway Administration. This latest policy change should further reduce the time it takes for states to get their projects off the boards and under construction.

The designation of one federal agency to guide projects through the permitting process, Deery told Construction

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Dive, should also hopefully save time and money.

"There are a number of different federal agencies [involved] in different parts of the NEPA review," he said, "and all have different priorities. So the idea here is ... one federal agency has the authority to rein in other agencies, giving them deadlines and schedules."

For a long time, Deery said, federal agencies have been siloed in the way they perform environmental reviews, engaging in a back and forth that results in inevitable delays.

The Army Corps of Engineers, for example, might approve a route for a new highway and bridge only to have the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service kick it back based on the potential impact on protected species.

"The idea here," he said, "is to have [the federal agencies involved] concurrently review [the project], so all decisions are made at the same time."

Source: Construction Dive

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