MORE STATS: TRYING TO LIVE WITH REGULATION

Recently I received a letter from Rep. Jim Talent asking me if I wanted to testify before the House Small Business Committee's Subcommittee on Regulation and Paperwork. The purpose of the hearing was "to discuss regulatory issues of concern to business owners," "testify about the burdens of government" and "tell Congress what specific regulations should be repealed."

In trying to decide if I had anything worth testifying about, I did a little research. When I signed the contract and bond for our Highway 47 project in Warren County project, I had, by inclusion, agreed to:

1. Be governed by the following 15 acts:

-- Clean Water Act

-- Federal Endangered Species Act

-- National Historic Preservation Act

-- Farmland Protection Act

-- Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Recovery Act

-- Work Hours Act of 1962

-- Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance ACt of 1987

-- Public works Employment Act of 1977

-- Federal-Aid Roads Act

-- Clean Air Act

-- Federal Water Pollution Control Act

-- Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act

-- American Disabilities Act of 1990

-- Copeland Act

-- Davis-Bacon Act

2. Abide by 16 sections in six titles of codes of federal regulations.

3. Be bound by three executive orders (11246, 11738 and 12549).

4. Obey nine sections in six titles of the United States Codes.

5. Fill our Standard Form LLL (Disclosure Form to Report Lobbying) and Form PR-1391 (Federal Aid Highway Construction Contractors Annual EEO Report) and Form WH-347 (Certified Payroll).

6. Comply with provisions of OSHA, Equal Employment Opportunity, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, Unmarked Human Burial Sites, Missouri Solid Waste Management, Nationwide Permit No. 26, Section 404 Permit, Nationwide Permit No. 4, Standard Grading Rules for West Coast Lumber, Hometown PLan, Non-Discrimination in Employment, Missouri Seed Law, Workman's Compensation Insurance, General Wage Order No. 38, Prevailing Wage, Community Block Grant Development Programs and other Public Laws and REvised Statutes of Missouri.

7. Deal with and meet the requirements of the following 12 agencies:

-- National Register of Historic Places

-- State Historic Preservation Office

-- United States Fish and Wildlife Service

-- National Marine Fisheries Service

-- United States Army Corps of Engineers

-- Office of Federal Contract Compliance, United States Department of Labor

-- Federal Highway Administration

-- Occupational Safety and Health Administration

-- Wage and Hour Division, Employment Standards Administration

-- Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards

-- Employment and Training Administration, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, United States Department of Labor

-- Missouri Department of Natural Resources

I'll let you know how my testimony went. After all, all I wanted to do was build the bridge.

Tom McCrackin III is president of the Associated General Contractors of Missouri in Jefferson City.