Coal ash recycling rate increases in 2020, reversing previous years’ declines

The American Coal Ash Association 2020 Production and Use Survey shows 59 percent, or 40.8 million tons, of the 69.2 million tons of coal ash produced during 2020 was recycled—up from 52 percent in 2019 and marking the sixth consecutive year that more than half of such material produced in the United States was beneficially used rather than disposed.  ACAA…

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Eco Material Technologies: A new fly ash brand rises in Boral’s wake

Eager to sunset its presence this side of the Pacific, Australia’s Boral Ltd. entered a late-2021 agreement to sell its North American fly ash business to Eco Material Technologies Inc., an entity backed by New York City-based One Equity Partners and Quadrant Management Inc. With a projected closing no later than 2022 Q3, the $755 million deal spans West Jordan,…

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GCP to join Chryso, CertainTeed under Saint-Gobain umbrella

A definitive agreement announced late last year will see Paris-based Saint-Gobain acquire GCP Applied Technologies, Alpharetta, Ga., in a deal valued at about $2.3 billion. The business combination was unanimously approved by GCP directors and their counterparts at Saint-Gobain, which in spring 2021 closed on the French parent company of Chryso Inc. and counts among its North American operations the…

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L&L Redi Mix deal brings Silvi Concrete deeper into the Garden State

Fairless Hills, Pa.-based Silvi Concrete has closed on the assets of New Jersey’s L&L Redi Mix Concrete, including plants in Southampton (headquarters), Woodbury, Voorhees, Cinnaminson, Kingston, and Clayton; a concrete recycling facility and masonry supply yard; and, approximately 100 mixer trucks plus 40 other rolling stock units. The deal will significantly strengthen Silvi Concrete’s position as one of top Mid-Atlantic…

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National Environmental Policy Act: Same old, same old?

The Associated Builders and Contractors joined a coalition of stakeholders in a response to the White House Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking revising implementation of new National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) provisions. ABC filed comments supporting a streamlined approach to the permitting process under NEPA to reduce delays hindering critical projects, resulting in better infrastructure, a…

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Public, private stakeholders pen global standard for embodied carbon

The World Resources Institute in Washington, D.C. has granted preliminary approval of the “Sector Supplement for Measuring and Accounting for Embodied Emissions in the Built Environment” as the document is in process of attaining the Built on GHG Protocol Mark. Once finalized, the Supplement will be available at https://ghgprotocol.org/Guidance-Built-on-GHG-Protocol. Concrete, steel, glass, wood and flooring materials have an impact that…

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Iron Workers case shapes New York precast erector’s bargaining unit

National Labor Relations Board Regional Director (RD) Kathy Drew-King has determined a craft unit within the site crew of Kingston, N.Y.-based NYC Crane Hoist Operations LLC, and directed an election for its 27 members to vote on representation by the United Derrickmen & Riggers Association, International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers Local 197. The Long Island…

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Labor no longer sees Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Program

The U.S. Department of Labor announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking public comment on a proposal to eliminate the Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Program (IRAP), allowing the agency to direct resources toward expanding access to the established Registered Apprenticeships programs. The proposed rule is the latest action responding to White House Executive Order 14016, including the suspension of review of applications…

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Road Gang calculates Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act impact

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is the most important piece of transportation legislation since the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs Michele Stanley noted upon the $1 trillion funding package’s late-2021 passage.  “At the core of the legislation is a five-year, $304 billion reauthorization of our…

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Producers approve Concrete Masonry Checkoff; Commerce opens Board nominations

Producers voting in a November-December Department of Commerce (DOC) referendum approved formation of a Concrete Masonry Products Board, empowered to fund a Concrete Masonry Checkoff Program through collection of 1 cent per block sold in the U.S. The referendum passed on the strength of two required majorities: 62 percent of voting producers who represent 53 percent of block machine cavities…

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