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Naples Construction

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.

Spring is a great time to think about home improvement projects. Not only do people want to make their home look better for a 'new year' but, also, in times of economic downturn, some home improvement projects can uplift your spirits without killing your bank account. There are many home improvement projects you can do for spring, but these five home improvement projects are some of the best - they're fun, they're cheap and they'll make your home look great!

Paint Your Walls - One of the easiest home improvement projects for spring is to put a new coat of paint on your walls. You can paint just one room or your whole house. It's amazing what a new coat of paint can do to make your home look really pretty. I just spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day painting my apartment. I only have 4 rooms, so it took me just the two days but my apartment now looks gorgeous. From a new dramatic color (deep red, bright green anyone?) to a simple ivory or light gray, painting your home's interior walls will really give your home a boost. All you need is a couple of paint brushes, a paint roller and a paint tray, some masking tape and paint (a gallon of paint will do one coat on an average size room). The total cost for me was $22, but I live in Thailand. The average cost in the US for all the supplies will run around $25 for a gallon of inexpensive paint, plus another $20 for paint brushes/rollers etc. I like Sherwin-Williams interior paints as they're great quality and are easy to clean with a damp cloth. Home Depot has tons of paints though, and the Home Depot website has great information on which paints are the best.

Clean Out Your Closets - A free home improvement project for spring is to clean out all your closets. Go closet by closet and sort through all your things. Make three piles, 'Keeping', 'Giving Away' and 'Throwing Away' and put each item in one of these piles. Then, put all your 'Keeping' things back in your cupboards and closets, but this time stack them neatly. If you don't mind spending a little bit of money, you can buy storage containers for as little as $4 that will make your closets and cupboards look even neater. Over the New Year, I organized all my closets. I can now find everything because it's all in its' place and, with only 6 storage containers that cost me less than $15, my closets and cupboards now look lovely. The Container Store has great products for storage at very reasonable prices.

Trim and Clean Out Flowerbeds - I'm always amazed at how many people let their flowerbeds go wild. Spring is a perfect time to clean out flower beds as the debris of winter can be pulled out of them and thrown away. You can also trim back all your plants in preparation for the new growing season and then plant some new bedding plants so that, by summer, your garden will be full of brightly colored flowers. Bedding plants for an average garden size run around $20-$30, depending on type and how many you buy, but just a few can really spruce up your garden.

Replace Light Switch Plates - One thing I noticed with my apartment was, over time, the covers or plates on my light switches were looking grubby. Some of them also had paint on from previous home improvement projects. So, this New Year, I decided to replace all the light switch plates with new ones. You can buy light switch plates for as cheap as $2 for the plain plastic ones or as expensive as $30 and up for designer switch plates with beautiful pictures or for hand painted ceramic ones. I bought some of the plain cheap ones and a few hand painted ceramic ones and, boy, does my apartment look nice!

New Backsplash in Your Kitchen - A really fun spring home improvement project can be to add a bright backsplash to your kitchen. All you need are some ceramic tiles, a tube of grout, some tile adhesive, a tape measure, a notched trowel and a tile cutter. Also don't forget the rubber gloves, unless you want your hands to be full of grout. For instructions on how to lay grout and tiles, you can't get better than Lowe's website. Lowe's has some excellent how-to home improvement articles that tell you step-by-step how to do many home improvement projects.

These five home improvement projects for spring can make any home look brighter, prettier and can even help you sell your home if that's one of your projects this year.