Construction Bills: Recent Changes to Construction Laws

• Date: 01 April 2021
• Author: By Brian R. Zimmerman and Rowan T. Mason

THE CONSTRUCTION LAWYER34Spring 2021

Published in

The Construction Lawyer

, Volume 41, Number 2, Season 2021. © 2021 American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion

thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.

CONSTRUCTION BILLS: RECENT CHANGES

TO CONSTRUCTION LAWS

President Biden’s

Infrastructure Plan

Released and OSHA

Issues OSHA COVID-19

Guidelines

President Biden Signs COVID

Relief and Issues Infrastructure

Spending Plan

On March 11, 2021, President

Biden signed into law the Amer-

ican Rescue Plan Act of 2021

1

(ARPA), often referred to as the

“COVID Relief Bill,” authoriz-

ing $1.9 trillion of spending for

COVID-19 relief. Although the

most publicized components

of the ARPA are the individual

stimulus checks and additional

Payment Protection Program

(PPP) funding, the ARPA included signicant funding

supporting the residential and commercial real estate and

construction industries, including:

•

$40 billion of rental and mortgage assistance, with

$21.55 billion for emergency rental assistance;

• $5 billion for emergency housing vouchers;

•

$750 million for tribal housing needs and $100 mil-

lion for rural housing; and

• $350 billion in direct aid to state, local, and tribal

governments, designated for alleviating pandemic-

induced budget decits, with $10 billion set aside

for infrastructure programs to assist local govern-

ments with capital projects.2

Shortly after passage of ARPA, President Biden

released his “American Jobs Plan”3 containing his infra-

structure plan for new spending of $2.65 trillion over

eight years. The Plan promises that it will “create mil-

lions of good jobs, rebuild our country’s infrastructure,

and position the United States to out-compete China.”4

Although no bill has been introduced to Congress

based on the American Jobs Plan and any bill will likely

include substantial changes through the legislative process,

this initial plan identies substantial investments in infra-

structure, manufacturing, and worker training, health,

and safety. As affecting the construction industry, the

infrastructure spending includes substantial funding for:

•

Transportation Infrastructure: $621 billion for trans-

portation infrastructure, including modernization of

20,000 miles of highways, roads, and main streets;

xing of 10 economically signicant bridges and

10,000 smaller bridges; replacement of thousands of

buses and rail cars; repairs to stations; and expansion

of transit and rail.

•

Clean Water: $111 billion for rebuilding clean drinking

water infrastructure, a renewed electric grid, and high-

speed broadband. The plan promises replacement of

100 percent of the nation’s lead pipes and service lines;

upgrading and modernization of America’s drinking

water, wastewater, and stormwater systems; and build-

ing of high-speed broadband infrastructure to reach

100 percent coverage.

•

Homes and Commercial Buildings: $213 billion for

rehabilitating and retrofitting housing, commer-

cial buildings, schools, and childcare facilities. This

includes building and rehabilitating more than 500,000

homes for low- and middle-income home buyers,

improving public housing infrastructure, providing

block grants for home upgrades, modernizing schools

and early learning facilities, and upgrading VA hospi-

tals and federal buildings.

Alongside the American Jobs Plan, President Biden

issued his “American Tax Plan,” which promises to pay for

the American Jobs Plan by making sure “corporations pay

their fair share in taxes and encourag[ing] job creation at

home.” The American Tax Plan proposes:

• raising the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from the

current 21 percent;

•

discouraging offshoring with a global minimum tax

for U.S. multinational corporations;

•

preventing companies from claiming tax havens, deny-

ing companies expense deductions for offshoring jobs;

•

enacting a minimum tax on large corporations’ book

income;

• eliminating tax preferences for fossil fuels;

•

eliminating the loophole for intellectual property; and

• increasing enforcement against corporations.

While both the American Jobs Plan and the American Tax

Plan are in the infancy of the legislative process, they offer a

glimpse at the widely anticipated and debated infrastructure

spending plan and potential tax increases that may accom-

pany a substantial investment in the nation’s infrastructure.

OSHA Issues New Guidance to Employers on

Workplace Safety During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The day after his inauguration, on January 21, 2021,

President Biden issued an executive order5 directing the

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Brian R. Zimmerman

Rowan T. Mason

By Brian R. Zimmerman and

Rowan T. Mason