We appreciate President Biden’s commitment to MSHA in his FY 2022 budget request and urge the Committees to support additional funding for MSHA’s Directorate of Educational Policy and Development (EPD). EPD is essential to promoting mine safety through better training and compliance assistance. Further, we call on the Committees to provide resources for thorough and continuous training of inspectors – particularly newly hired individuals and those who are transitioning from inspecting coal mines to inspecting metal/non-metal operations.

On behalf of the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) and the aggregate industry we represent, we welcome recent developments between a bipartisan group of Senators and the Biden Administration to reach agreement on a framework that will provide roughly $600 billion in new infrastructure investments. We call on you to move this bipartisan infrastructure proposal through congress in the coming months to deliver historic infrastructure investment that the American people have been waiting for.

ALEXANDRIA, VA – The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) President and CEO Michael Johnson issued the following statement regarding the Biden administration’s announcement that a bipartisan deal has been reached with the Senate on an infrastructure framework.

The undersigned trade associations represent millions of individually- and family-owned businesses operating in every sector of the American economy. We write to voice our strong opposition to any reductions or repeal of the 20-percent deduction for qualified business income under Section 199A, including phasing out the deduction above certain income thresholds. Section 199A is an essential part of the Tax Code.

NSSGA appreciate STIA’s five -year, $78 billion authorization of critical safety, trail and multimodal programs necessary for our advancement of our transportation system. We welcome STIA’s authorization for $36 billion in federal investments for rail programs, $27.8 billion for multimodal programs and $13 billion for safety programs. Further we appreciate your efforts to invest roughly $1.2 billion a year in the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight program and improving coordination between federal and state governments regarding freight planning.

Investing in infrastructure remains a transformational opportunity for Congress to improve the nation’s economy, create thousands of good-paying jobs, and build for the future. We are encouraged by your May 25 comments pledging to seize this opportunity and move an infrastructure bill in July. We urge you to take the next step by formally scheduling Senate floor time now for action on the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021 (STRA) before the August state work period.

On behalf of the Portland Cement Association (PCA), National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) and the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA), we are writing to express our strong support for the Revive Economic Growth and Reclaim Orphaned Wells (REGROW) Act of 2021, which will provide needed federal investments to advance infrastructure development that improves the environment in communities impacted by orphaned oil and gas wells.

ALEXANDRIA, VA – The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs Michele Stanley issued the following statement after the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced its surface transportation reauthorization package, the INVEST in America Act after a 19-hour markup.

While we welcome the urgency your committee is undertaking to introduce and markup your surface transportation reauthorization package, we encourage you to continue to strive for bipartisan solutions that incorporate stakeholder feedback across infrastructure and surface transportation industries. Meaningful federal investment and bipartisanship go hand-in-hand and we look forward to the package you report out of committee and ultimately pass on the House floor

Thank you for your efforts to prioritize much-needed resources for our Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF), authorizing $40B over five years, that will dramatically improve our nation’s wastewater infrastructure network. We welcome the attention and resources afforded to states and municipalities regarding their local pollution control programs and attention on those projects of most need for sewer improvement.