Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson approved a Senate bill earlier this month that amends Kansas city and county zoning laws to require a simple majority – as opposed to a supermajority – for the approval of surface mining operations. The bill passed 119-6 in the House and 31-7 in the Senate.

“Senate Bill 253 will really allow for sustainability and provides for rational extraction of our natural resources. It is a good step in the right direction for producers to ensure access to the aggregate sources and sites that have been denied in the past,” said Ramon Gonzalez, sales manager for N.R. Hamm Quarry in Perry, Kan., and current Kansas Aggregate Producers’ Association (KAPA) president.

Members of the Kansas Aggregate Producers’ Association as well as Woody Moses, managing director, and Wendy Harms, associate director, worked diligently on getting the bill passed this session, the association said.

The bill was needed as surface sources of quality aggregate have been used up over the last 80 years and access to natural resources is diminishing at an alarming rate, KAPA added.