Alexandria, VA – Today, National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) Vice President, Government & Regulatory Affairs Michele Stanley issued the following statement, urging legislators to address permitting. 

On behalf of the 400 members of the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association, we appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback and response to the EPA’s RFI to support new IRA programs to lower embodied greenhouse gas emissions with construction materials and products. NSSGA is the leading voice and advocate for the aggregates industry and the businesses that supply them, with member companies representing more than 90 percent of the crushed stone and 70 percent of the sand and gravel consumed annually in the United States.

The undersigned associations (collectively, the “Coalition”) offer the following comments in response to the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ’s) Interim National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Guidance on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change (“Interim Guidance”). Our organizations represent a diverse set of economic sectors that form the backbone of the American economy—agriculture, energy, construction, mining, forestry, manufacturing, transportation, and other sectors.

The 33 national associations and construction trade unions of the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) applaud Congress for including improvements to the federal infrastructure permitting process as part of H.R. 1, the “Lower Energy Costs” Act.  TCC members are on the front line of rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure. To accomplish this, significant changes need to be made to the current project review and approval process. H.R. 1 accomplishes this goal.

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 National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reconsideration proposal for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Particulate Matter (PM).  NSSGA is a member of both the Coarse Particulate Matter Coalition (CMPC) and the NAAQS Regulatory Review & Rulemaking (NR3) Coalition, and incorporates their comments by reference.  NSSGA supports the proposal for retention of the current standard for PM10, but opposes the reduction of the PM2.5 standard. 

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 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.

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.