CMRA TO HONOR TOP RECYCLERS
What is believed to be the first national awards program for C&D recyclers has been developed by the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA), Lisle, Ill. The first recipients of the awards will be honored at the CMRA’s Annual Meeting in March 2005.
"The goal of the awards is to honor those entities and individuals that have accepted the challenge of recycling C&D in an outstanding manner," says Robert Hosier of General Environmental Companies, Des Moines, Iowa, chairman of CMRA’s Awards Committee.
The three categories the CMRA will honor are:
•
Facility of the Year recognizes a facility actively recycling or diverting construction and demolition material from landfills. The facility must show superior or substantial contributions to the C&D recycling industry.•
Recycler of the Year recognizes an individual in the construction and demolition recycling industry who has made superior and substantial contributions to his/her company or industry in achieving sound operating practices.•
Governmental Recycling Program recognizes a county, state or federal government recycling program. The program receiving recognition must show superior or substantial contributions in construction and demolition recycling.The entries will be judged on five main criteria, including quality of the application; research; planning; implementation/execution; and results.
The entry deadline is Oct. 8, 2004. Only CMRA members are eligible. For more information or to receive entry forms, contact the CMRA at (630) 585-7530 or at info@cdrecycling.org.
EPA WARNS OF CCA IN MULCH
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) has sent out a memo to its regional offices clarifying its position on mulch made from CCA-treated wood.
The memo dictates that scrap wood treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) cannot be used to make mulch products.
The memo, which was signed by Director of OSWER Robert Springer and Office of Pesticide Programs Chief Jim Jones, says that the original exemption for CCA wood from being characterized as a hazardous waste dates from 1980 and is only for those who "utilized the arsenic-treated wood and wood product for these materials’ intended end use."
Regarding the recycling of this CCA-treated wood, which is often used as lumber for outdoor decks, stairs and playground equipment, the EPA says, "Any CCA-treated wood used to produce wood mulch is not the ‘materials’ intended end use,’ therefore wood mulch produced from CCA-treated wood is not exempt from regulation as hazardous waste." The real or intended end use of CCA wood is as a building material, the memo says.
Housing Carries Construction Market
December of 2003 followed a similar pattern cut earlier in the year: The residential housing segment remained healthy while other construction sectors struggled.
Figures calculated by McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge, New York, showed that Americans were willing to buy new homes in 2003, but office, industrial and infrastructure construction activity declined for the year.
"The overall level of construction activity was quite healthy during 2003, thanks to the robust volume of single-family housing," says Robert A. Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction. "The tough fiscal climate in 2003 dampened institutional building and caused public works to lose momentum after four straight years of expansion. Commercial building in 2003 weakened further, but on the plus side this sector showed it was turning the corner, as gains for stores and hotels partially offset declines for offices and warehouses. Moving into 2004, continued growth for total construction will require more broad-based improvement from commercial building, since it’s expected that single-family housing will ease back from its exceptional 2003 pace."
Murray’s forecasted residential slowdown may have started in December, as new residential contract numbers remained flat compared to November. The overall residential number concealed a divide between single-family home building, which advanced by 3 percent, compared to multi-family housing starts, which retreated by 19 percent compared to November.
Alabama’s Coast Crushing Changes Name
Sunbelt Crushing LLC is the new name of the former Coast Concrete Recycling in Mobile, Ala.
"Please be assured that nothing else will change except the name," states a news release from the firm. "Company ownership, employees, mailing address, phone numbers, etc., will all stay the same."
Corey Jenkins, controller, says the name was changed to more accurately reflect what the company is currently doing. "We wanted to let customers know we are doing more than just our recycling yard," he says. "Besides our yard, we have been doing some contract crushing."
Also, Sunbelt is a truer definition of the area the company serves, he comments. Jenkins says the company has had projects as far away as Louisiana, Tampa, Fla., and Birmingham.
AgC AMONG TRADE GROUPS PUSHING FOR PASSAGE OF TEA-LU HIGHWAY BILL
The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), Washington, is foremost among the interested parties waiting for Congress to finalize a multi-year federal transportation spending bill, working its way through Capitol Hill as the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (TEA-LU).
In late February, the AGC arranged for many of its members to fly into Washington to personally remind Congressional representatives of the importance of the bill to its constituents. "The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee should be allowed to follow the lead of the Chairman and pass TEA-LU," says Stephen E. Sandherr, CEO of the trade group. "The Senate has acted and now the House Leaders need to support action on a comprehensive six-year package that includes a minimum of $318 billion funding level to address the needs of the federal-aid highway and transit programs."
However, in early April the House Transportation Committee passed a slimmed down version of the bill allocating $275 billion in spending projects, a figure some $100 billion less than what was recommended by Committee chair Don Young (R-Alaska). The AGC has expressed alarm that the Bush Administration’s initial budget submission "missed an opportunity to improve the American quality of life."
Contractors Eye Decision by Accounting Board
A financial accounting standard (known as FAS 150) that would have been detrimental to closely held contracting companies by requiring them to account for mandatorily redeemable shares on their income statements as a liability has been "indefinitely delayed."
This standard, proposed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), Norwalk, Conn., would wipe out much of the net worth of private companies and make it extremely difficult for them to obtain bonding and insurance on projects, according to a release from the Associated General Contractors of America, Alexandria, Va.
Most non-public construction-related companies have buy/sell agreements. FAS 150 originally required companies to classify mandatorily redeemable shares as a liability on their balance sheets. In many cases, this would wipe out the net worth of these closely held businesses, making it difficult to demonstrate collateral to lenders, to insurance companies and to bonding agents.
Explore the April 2004 Issue
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