We represent construction materials vital to our nation’s infrastructure and are providing comments regarding the proposal by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for Reconsideration of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Particulate Matter (PM).  Our organizations represent hundreds of thousands of employees across the country and include the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA), National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA), and the Portland Cement Association (PCA) (associations).

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is working to implement a speed limiter mandate that would restrict all heavy-duty commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) to a single top speed across the country. This mandate will be bad for road safety, crash rates, driver retention, and supply chain performance.   While a speed limiter mandate may be thought of as something affecting only the “trucking” industry, FMCSA’s proposal would apply to every commercial truck weighing over 26,000 pounds.

On behalf of the 400 National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) members, I am writing to share our strong support for H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act. NSSGA urges each member of Congress to support this needed act, which will unleash the potential of American energy and roll back permitting challenges, therefore allowing the aggregates industry to continue supplying essential building materials to American communities. H.R. 1 takes significant strides to fix a broken permitting reform process that currently makes the task of sourcing aggregates severely difficult.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is working to implement a speed limiter mandate that would restrict all heavy-duty commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) to a single top speed across the country. This mandate will be bad for road safety, crash rates, driver retention, and supply chain performance.   While a speed limiter mandate may be thought of as something affecting only the “trucking” industry, FMCSA’s proposal would apply to every commercial truck weighing over 26,000 pounds.

The undersigned organizations representing the majority of bulk commodities transported by our nations Class I railroads write to you to urge the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to prioritize a full committee hearing dedicated to the challenges and opportunities related to Class I freight rail transport reliability. Reliability and safety go hand in hand – staffing shortages and railroads' failure to adequately invest the resources required to ensure adequate capacity create challenges on both fronts.

As organizations representing a broad range of sectors from agriculture, energy, transportation infrastructure, construction and real estate, manufacturing, mining, recreation, chemical production, specialty pesticides, and many other job creators, we are incredibly invested in the scope of the 2023 “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) regulatory definition.

The organizations signed below collectively submit the following comments on the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) proposed amendment to 2 CFR 184 and 200, and responses to questions outlined in the preamble of the notice of the proposed rule. We divide our comments into three sections: 1) Authorities contained in the Build America, Buy America Act (BABAA) provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) pertinent to our construction materials; 2) Responses to questions in the preamble; and 3) Additions and strikes required by BABAA to the proposed rule.

The budget released today continues the Biden administration’s attack on individually- and family-owned businesses and should be strongly opposed by Congress. The more than $4 trillion in tax hikes it proposes target businesses responsible for most of the jobs and growth in this country and come at a time when federal tax collections are at record levels. The President claims his budget will only go after “super-wealthy” tax cheats, but it targets over one million small and family-owned businesses.

The diverse group of construction and business associations undersigned urge the U.S. Department of Commerce to ensure public investments in the semiconductor industry are not needlessly constrained by anti-competitive and inflationary policies imposed through unlawful regulatory action. The Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act provides $39 billion in federal grants, loans and loan guarantees to rebuild America’s semiconductor manufacturing capacities and allows companies a 25% advanced manufacturing investment tax credit.

The undersigned associations urge you to support the “Building United States Infrastructure through Limited Delays and Efficient Reviews (BUILDER) Act of 2023.” The BUILDER Act would reduce permitting delays and create more certainty from the beginning of an agency environmental review through any potential judicial review.  Investments in renewable energy and lower emissions technologies, critical mineral mining, and forestry to transportation projects are taking four to ten years to complete permitting.