ACA Represents Cement Industry at Federal Transportation Roundtable

Cement manufacturers were proud to be represented by ACA Vice Chair and Region President—Ash Grove East Monica Manolas , who participated in a roundtable discussion hosted by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy today in Washington, where the topic was the reauthorization of the surface transportation program.

The meeting provided Manolas and leadership from several other industries the opportunity to tell Secretary Duffy about industry experiences with existing transportation-related policies, what should be considered when drafting new policies, and ideas stakeholders would like the Department of Transportation to consider as it moves into the next reauthorization process.

ACA believes the surface transportation reauthorization should:

• Provide incentives for federal-aid highway funding recipients to use lower-carbon cements and other market-ready sustainable construction materials, as well as make specification modifications to incorporate references to these materials.
• Coordinate with states to conduct research, testing, and evaluation of market-ready construction materials.
• Continue to invest in bridge projects as one in three bridges in the U.S. needs repair or should be replaced.
• Invest in resilient transportation infrastructure from when such infrastructure is first constructed, through its regular maintenance, and when it will possibly require repair.
• Continue to invest in research and deployment of innovative technologies to advance concrete and asphalt pavements and improve pavement performance through the Accelerated Implementation and Deployment of Pavement Technologies program.
• Address the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) to ensure federal-aid highway recipients can plan, engineer and design, and build surface transportation projects across the country. As it stands, by Fiscal Year 2028, it’s projected the highway and transit accounts of the HTF will be exhausted.

Many thanks to Secretary Duffy for inviting ACA to have a seat at the table for this important discussion.  We look forward to working more with the administration on issues like the surface transportation reauthorization to ensure that cement manufacturers can continue to provide the essential products to meet America’s demand.

Learn more information about surface transportation reauthorization and the cement industry’s position: https://lnkd.in/eunbz4aU