2024 Legislative Recap: Implications for the Aggregates Industry

Evan Bender

By Evan Bender, NSSGA

 

Change is coming to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 3, 2025. The beginning of the 119th Congress will bring dozens of freshmen lawmakers into office. President Biden will leave office on Jan. 20, making way for a new administration. NSSGA is already discussing legislation that will be considered like tax reform and surface transportation reauthorization. But before we look ahead to next year, let’s take a moment to review the policies that advanced this year that have significant implications for the future of the aggregates industry.

 

NSSGA was awarded a five-year, $9.65 million grant by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in July. With the EPA grant funding and support, NSSGA aims to provide the aggregates industry with essential resources to robustly produce and release Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), establish guidelines on best management practices for reducing CO2 emissions and enhance the industry’s capacity to sequester CO2. With this opportunity, NSSGA continues to lead the way in promoting sustainability within the aggregates industry.

It was a transition year in Congress. With the polarizing election on the horizon, the evenly split Congress was unwilling to agree on tax reform, immigration reform and other key issues aside from a $95 billion security supplemental. The 118th Congress (2023-2024) was the least productive Congress in history by the number of bills signed into law. However, NSSGA is pleased with a few of the congressional advancements.

 

The passage of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 supported efforts to improve U.S. runways, taxiways and associated infrastructure by authorizing a 19 percent increase to the Airport Improvement Program (AIP). The aggregates industry produces 100 percent of the material for the airfield pavement foundations, 95 percent of the raw material in asphalt concrete overlays and 70-85 percent of the cement concrete overlays, making aggregates the No. 1 material used in our aviation infrastructure. The increase in the AIP will help airports complete projects to improve runways, taxiways and associated airport infrastructure. This will improve safety and foster economic development by catering to the increasing demands of the traveling public.

 

In August, the Congressional Aggregates Caucus was formally approved as a Congressional Member Organization, better known as a caucus. This effort was led by Rep. Nick Langworthy (NY) and Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA), who serve as co-chairs. The Congressional Aggregates Caucus will serve as an informal, bipartisan group of House members dedicated to enhancing our nation’s communities and environment. It will provide an educational atmosphere for members of Congress and their staff to learn about challenges and policies affecting our industry. The group is actively recruiting other members of Congress. With Congress set to consider critical legislation, from tax reform to surface transportation reauthorization, the formation of this Caucus will be an important tool to educate members of Congress on our issues.

 

Another significant development came from the Supreme Court’s 6-2 ruling that ended the legal theory established in Chevron v. NRDC (1984). In what became known as Chevron deference, courts would defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of whether Congress granted them the authority when a rule was challenged. Now, federal agencies cannot rely upon this deference. This decision is sweeping and presents new opportunities for NSSGA and members to engage at all stages of law and regulation. These include bill drafting, policymaking, agency rulemaking, enforcement and penalties, and litigation. Lawmakers and agencies alike will need to be more specific in their efforts or rules could face more court stays.

 

As NSSGA and its members highlighted at the 2024 Legislative and Policy Forum, there are several ways Congress can move our priorities forward. We must ensure we have a federal tax code that encourages investments in infrastructure development and allows producers to create and support high-paying jobs. We need a surface transportation reauthorization bill that rejects partisan mandates, executes permitting reforms and hastens implementation of Buy America efficiently and uniformly across the U.S. NSSGA looks forward to staying at the forefront of all these discussions in the coming year.