Legislation protecting fly ash market, thwarting EPA reaches Senate

Sources: Citizens for Recycling First, Denver; Office of Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND); CP staff

Five Democrat and five Republican Senators have filed The Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act (S.1751), creating state-enforced, national disposal standards for coal ash while protecting the material from a “hazardous waste” designation.

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People-focused sustainable designs at heart of Holcim Award winners

Source: Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, Switzerland

Ten winning entries of the 3rd International Holcim Awards competition for sustainable construction projects and visions from North America shared a total of $300,000 at a recent ceremony in Washington, D.C. The Holcim Foundation conducts the competition in five regions across the world. More than 6,000 submissions for projects located in 146 countries entered the Holcim Awards, which aims to promote sustainable responses to contemporary technological, environmental, socioeconomic and cultural issues from the building and construction industry.

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AFL-CIO Building Trades director heads OSHA Construction committee

Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Erich Stafford has been appointed chairman of the 15-member OSHA Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH), which advises the Secretary of Labor and Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health on construction standards and policy matters. It consists of five employer and five employee, two state government and two public representatives, plus a Secretary of Health and Human Services-designated member.

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Essroc, Lehigh Hanson-backed team tests photocatalytic cement-bound, MoDOT pavement

Sources: Iowa State University’s Institute for Transportation, Ames; Lehigh Hanson, Inc., Irving, Texas; CP Staff

The Missouri Department of Transportation, in collaboration with the Federal Highway Administration, the National Concrete Pavement Technology Center at Iowa State University’s Institute for Transportation, the Essroc Italcementi Group, and Lehigh Hanson, began earlier this week extensive research on the environmental benefits of using concrete made with a new cement product in the construction of highways. The cement used in the concrete is blended with photo-chemically-active titanium dioxide (TiO2) and is marketed under the trade names TX Active (Essroc, East) and TioCem (Lehigh Hanson, West); TiO2 is capable of reducing the environmental pollutants from vehicle exhausts.

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