Pit and Quarry

Rally for Roads

It’s rally time. The second annual Rally for Roads will take place at 11 a.m. March 20 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Members of 15 transportation construction industry associations, including NSSGA, will join together to show their support of a fully-funded, multi-year transportation bill. The rally will showcase the role transportation plays on stimulating the economy, maintaining the nation’s global competitiveness and creating American jobs. The rally will feature employees from all facets of the road construction industry, including materials providers, road pavers and equipment manufacturers and dealers. – Brian Richesson

Industry gathering place

The economy, MSHA, the highway bill and frac sand were among the topics at the forefront of the Pit & Quarry Roundtable, held Sept. 30 in the Chicago area. About 40 attendees, making up aggregate producers, manufacturers and service providers, participated in the annual event. As always, members of our industry offered valuable insight into the factors impacting aggregate operations across the nation. In upcoming issues, we will print a portion of that dialogue from your peers and equipment suppliers. Will you agree with them? You won't want to miss what they had to say. – Brian Richesson

Three days in September

The nation's capital has been a hot spot of activity in recent days, but does that mean change is truly on the way?

President Barack Obama made his much-anticipated address to the nation on Sept. 8, focusing on jobs. The American Jobs Act is designed to put more people back to work – with an emphasis on the construction sector - while putting more money in the pockets of working Americans. Obama's plan includes $50 billion in immediate investments for highways, transit, rail and aviation, helping to modernize an infrastructure that now receives a poor grade from the American Society of Civil Engineers.

"As the president made clear, too many Americans are out of work or underemployed," said Stephen E. Sandherr, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of America. "Nowhere do we see that problem more severely than within the construction industry. Although construction represents only 4.5 percent of the U.S. workforce, construction workers have accounted for over 20 percent of the jobs lost. Today the industry's unemployment rate is 13.5 percent – significantly higher than the national average."

One night after Obama made his speech, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., released a bill that would extend surface transportation legislation for six more months – the eighth extension since SAFETEA-LU expired on Sept 30, 2009. It also would extend aviation programs for four months. Congress is supposed to vote on and pass the legislation this week.

"Deteriorating infrastructure isn't a campaign-year slogan; it's a roadblock to commerce that hurts America's farmers and manufacturers," Association of Equipment Manufacturers President Dennis Slater said. "Over the past two years, political leaders have settled for no fewer than seven short-term extensions of the highway bill. However, roads and bridges aren't funded or built a few months at a time. These critical projects require long-term investment."

Two days later, the country recognized the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Memories of that chilling day remain strong in my mind. I think about those Americans directly affected by the tragic events. May the victims who perished rest in peace and the wounds of survivors continue to heal. – Brian Richesson

Victory in Michigan

There's good news in Michigan, where the aggregates industry recently celebrated a legislative victory in an ongoing permitting issue.

First, some background, courtesy of the Michigan Aggregates Association (MAA): A Michigan Supreme Court decision last year eliminated a function called the "very serious consequences" test. Because natural resources can only be produced where they are located, courts have historically applied this unique standard to aggregates facility cases. A permit could not be denied if the applicant could prove that “very serious consequences” would not result from the operation of the facility.

According to MAA, this test for decades has struck a reasonable balance between the public’s need for aggregates, private property rights and local zoning interest. But last year, the court reasoned that if the “very serious consequences” standard is to be law in Michigan, the legislature, and not the courts, should establish that standard. This decision gave local municipalities more power to deny permits and close operations. In fact, MAA noted, an aggregates production facility in the Upper Peninsula already had been forced to close.

MAA rallied the industry against this damaging decision and worked to reverse the outcome. Rep. Matt Huuki and Sen. Tom Casperson teamed to amend the law by codifying the “very serious consequences” test in the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act. MAA members were asked to contact their legislators to support this corrective action. And in the end, the legislation passed the House and Senate. View the final bill (HB4746) here.

MAA will hold an environmental meeting on July 16 as part of its summer meeting to further explain the issue. To register for the free meeting, contact the MAA office at 517-381-1732. The summer meeting will be held from July 14-17 at The Inn at Bay Harbor in Bay Harbor, Mich.

According to the MAA, more than 80 million tons of mineral aggregates were sold from Michigan sources last year. About 300 surface facilities produce this aggregate, and the industry employs more than 8,000 people statewide. – Brian Richesson

Keeping the pressure on

NSSGA’s “100 Day Action Plan for Reauthorization” takes its next steps this week, designated as the program’s “Op-Ed/Letter to the Editor Week.” The 100-day initiative seeks to keep and expand the pressure on legislators to act responsibly for America and pass a surface transportation reauthorization bill by Sept. 30. NSSGA says the aggregates industry must build media and public awareness to help gain broad support for reauthorization. The association is urging industry members to write letters to the editors of their local newspapers (NSSGA can provide templates for these letters). It is also asking industry members to request a meeting with their members of Congress in their district offices during the July 4 recess (June 27-July 5 for the House and July 4-8 for the Senate) to discuss reauthorization. More information is available on NSSGA’s Aggregates in Action (A2) Legislative Action Center webpage. – Brian Richesson