The National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA) would like to take this opportunity to provide comments in response to the Office of Management and Budget’s (“OMB”) Aug. 2, 2023, “Assessing Changes in Environmental and Ecosystem Services in Benefit-Cost Analysis” (Draft Guidance). Our industry is heavily regulated from federal, state, and local entities. These regulations are ever changing, and many times are contradictory, causing significant delay and expense for approving projects.

On July 13, 2023, The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) published a proposed rule, “Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica and Improving Respiratory Protection.” The National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA) and our member companies have carefully reviewed and analyzed the proposed standard. We respectfully submit the following comments, which include issues, recommendations, and most importantly, rationale backed by research and data.

The National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA) is pleased to submit these comments on proposed U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS), National Marine Fisheries Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (the agencies) Listing Endangered and Threatened Species and Designating Critical Habitat; Implementing Changes to the Regulations for Designating Critical Habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In general, NSSGA finds much of the proposed changes unjustifiably add to confusion and the scope of the ESA.

The National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA) is pleased to submit these comments on proposed U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Regulations Pertaining to Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants, under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In general, NSSGA finds the proposed changes unjustifiably expand the scope of the ESA.

The undersigned organizations respectfully urge a comment period extension of at least 45 days on the Council on Environmental Quality’s (“CEQ’s”) proposed rule to amend the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), including the implementation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act’s significant amendments to NEPA. The undersigned organizations represent many sectors of our economy. Our industries drive economic growth, from telecom to ports, airlines to automakers, energy, construction and labor, real estate, mining, trucking, manufacturing and more.

The undersigned organizations representing the Rail Customer Coalition (RCC) urge the renomination of Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chairman Martin Oberman and Member Patrick Fuchs. The RCC is a collection of trade associations representing a broad cross-section of manufacturing, agricultural, energy and other industries that depend on the railroads to deliver reliable and affordable service so our members can remain competitive in the global market. Our members collectively provide more than 7 million jobs and produce more than $4.8 trillion in economic output.

On July 13, 2023, The Mine Safety Health Administration (MSHA) published a proposed rule, “Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica and Improving Respiratory Protection.” (Silica Standard). The Silica Standard provides for a public comment period of 45-days, which expires at midnight eastern time on August 28, 2023. The National Stone Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) requests an extension of the public comment period for an additional 60-days and proposes that the public comment period be extended until midnight eastern time on October 27, 2023.

The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) strongly urges the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) (the agencies) to immediately issue a public, post-Sackett memo on approved jurisdictional determinations (AJDs) for areas that are clearly excluded from jurisdiction under the Sackett v EPA (Sackett) opinion. While we agree that an updated rule is needed for more complex aspects of the Supreme Court of the U.S.

The undersigned organizations (“the Business Community”) offer these comments in response to Office of Management and Budget’s (“OMB”) April 7, 2023, “Request for Comments on Guidance Implementing Section 2(e) of the Executive Order of April 6, 2023.” The Business Community recommends to OMB that it withdraw the draft guidance and recommends to President Biden that he restore the original Executive Order 12866. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs’ (OIRA) open-door policy granting meetings to any party interested in a regulation under review has reinforced the rigor and legitima

The Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity (PPWO or Partnership) and the 104 undersigned organizations again urge the Department of Labor’s (DOL or Department) Wage and Hour Division to abandon or at least postpone issuance of its announced proposed rulemaking altering the overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Department's Fall 2022 Regulatory Agenda targeted this May for release of a proposed rule.