EPA Targets Construction-Site Pollution
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By JUDITH BURNS
WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule Monday aimed at reducing pollution from construction sites, saying that it will significantly improve the quality of water nationwide.
The rule will be phased in over four years, starting in February, and when it is fully in effect, the EPA estimates there will be four billion fewer pounds of sediment discharged from construction sites each year.
Nearly 82,000 home builders, commercial and industrial building contractors, and civil-engineering companies are expected to be covered by the rule, which the EPA estimates will impose about $953 million of annual costs.
Such costs could raise home prices and cause a small number of builders to go out of business, resulting in some job losses, the EPA said in a draft version of the final rule. It said job losses may be temporary given the relatively high turnover in the construction industry, and acknowledged that the new rule is being introduced at a time when construction has fallen off sharply.
“However, the four year phasing process is expected to give the industry sufficient time to experience several years of growth before all the rule requirements are in effect,” the EPA draft said.
Construction site owners and operators covered by the rule will have to use best management practices, including soil stabilization and erosion control, to ensure that soil that is excavated, moved or otherwise disturbed by construction activity doesn't pollute nearby bodies of water. In addition, owners and operators at larger construction sites will be subject for the first time to federal monitoring requirements and limits on storm water discharges. The monitoring requirements will take effect first at sites that disturb 20 or more acres and eventually at sites of 10 or more acres.
The EPA said the rule, which will establish minimum national standards, is intended to work in concert with existing state and local regulations that may be more stringent.
Adoption of the rule came in response to a court order in a lawsuit brought by a handful of states and nonprofit environmental groups alleging that the agency had failed to issue regulations required under the Clean Water Act. A U.S. district court ordered the EPA to issue the rule no later than Dec. 1, 2009.
A spokesman for the National Association of Home Builders couldn't be reached immediately for comment. A spokesman for Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. said the group wouldn't be able to comment until the final rule is published in the Federal Register.
FEMA's trailers have become a symbol of FEMA's potential disorganization. Many remember the photos of FEMA trailers standing unused in parking lots, while citizens are in need of homes. Last year's fermalgyheide incident, involving FEMA trailers, did not help reduce this stigma. FEMA's trailer program has once again been thrust into the spotlight.
After last year's flooding, many Iowans were left either with homes in disrepair, or without home altogether. Many of these citizens were provided with a FEMA trailer. FEMA's trailers gave these displaced Iowans a place to live. Especially for citizens who either did not have flood insurance, or whose insurance was not sufficient to repair their homes.
FEMA announced that Iowans, in FEMA trailers, would soon be asked to pay rent. TheHawkeye.com reported, “FEMA spokeswoman Crystal Payton says charging rent after a time is a standard practice that is deemed necessary to extend a program. Displaced residents faced a Nov. 27 deadline to be out of FEMA-provided housing. According to Payton, trailer users will be charged the fair-market rate set by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which in the Cedar Rapids market is $649 for a two-bedroom unit.” (FEMA trailer users to start paying rent, 2009)
Readers may find it hard to put the $649 rental charge into perspective. Factors such as average household income, health care costs, food costs, and/or utility costs figures into whether or not rental rates are affordable. To provide a little perspective, I compared my town in Missouri (Jefferson City) to Cedar Rapids, Iowa using PayScale.com. In Jefferson City, Missouri, a two bedroom, 1 and ½ bath town home may be rented for $575 a month. PayScale.com states that Cedar Rapids housing costs 3-4% higher than Jefferson City (Cost of Living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa by Expense Category, 2009). That would put a two bedrom town home between $592.25 to $598 per month. That would put FEMA's proposed rental rates of $649 higher than the average.
It is also important to consider how FEMA's $649/mo rent compares to the average Cedar Rapids household income. PayScale.com lists City-data.com lists the avergage household income, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at $43,704/year (Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 2009). FEMA is asking Iowans to pay $649/mo or $7,788/year. That equates to asking these citizens to pay approximately 22% of their income (after taxes) for rent. By Dave Ramsey's standards this is a little high but not unreasonable. The real question is, while the rent may not be unreasonable, are FEMA's trailers worth it?
References
FEMA trailer users to start paying rent. October 2009. TheHawkeye.com. Retrieved on October 28, 2009 from http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/k0134-BC-IA-FEMATrailers-10-27-0244
Cost of Living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa by Expense Category. October 2009. PayScale.com. Retrieved on October 28, 2009 from http://www.payscale.com/cost-of-living-calculator/Iowa-Cedar-Rapids/Missouri-Jefferson-City
Cedar Rapids, Iowa. October 2009. City-Data.com. Retrieved on October 28, 2009 from http://www.city-data.com/city/Cedar-Rapids-Iowa.html