The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cites major performance improvement in among Clean Water Act (CWA) permit holders over the past five-year period. In FY 2018, the agency and 47 states agreed to collaborate on a goal to reduce “significant non-compliance” among facilities permitted under CWA by 50 percent over five years. The effort has met the goal, as the national…
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U.S. DOT announces $7 million in grants to promote LCA, EPD adoption
The Federal Highway Administration has awarded $204,000-$312,000 grants to support sustainable pavement, materials emissions tracking and related initiatives at more than 20 state departments of transportation. Many of the initiatives are centered on developing, adopting or advancing the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) methods and environmental product declarations (EPD). The latter encompass LCA data and are the most widely…
Read MoreWall system contours Inflation Reduction Act energy rating incentives
Sustainable practice is increasingly weighing on housing project developers as the incentives to respond to market and government signals have never been stronger, according to Arizona-based concrete building system specialist HercuTech. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, passed in August, promotes energy efficient construction. HercuTech has worked with energy modeling partners to show how its HercuWall system can help developers…
Read MoreApples-to-apples carbon metrics anchor steel interests’ Buy Clean position
The American Institute of Steel Construction’s new “Buy Clean Guidance for Structural Steel Products” informs federal, state and local policymakers of the load-bearing solutions that mills, fabricators and contractors bring to sustainable design. By navigating steel industry intricacies, it helps users take full advantage of the structural product supply chain, accurately determine embodied carbon factors, and make informed decisions based…
Read MoreDOE funds cement pre-calcining heat demonstration
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Pasadena, Calif.-based Heliogen $4.1 million to demonstrate a concentrated solar power (CSP) process for heating limestone to 950°C, applicable to the calcining phase in portland cement production. CSP technologies deploy mirrors to beam sunlight onto a receiver, and can be used to deliver heat for energy-intensive industrial processes or generate electricity using…
Read MoreNational Science Foundation funds concrete strength sensor start up
WaveLogix, a Purdue University-incubated company commercializing an Internet of Things sensing system to monitor cast-in-place or precast concrete infrastructure, has earned a six-month, $256,000 SBIR Phase I grant from the National Science Foundation to develop its technology. WaveLogix’s Rebel brand of sensors improves upon the industry standard to measure concrete strength: Breaking multiple field-cured concrete samples. Destructive concrete strength testing…
Read MoreFalse stormwater discharge reports bring lab three-year prison term
A judge in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Memphis, sentenced the chief executive officer of Environmental Compliance and Testing (ECT), Memphis, to 36 months in prison in connection with fabricating Clean Water Act-mandated storm water discharge monitoring reports for concrete and other industrial sites, and submission of those documents to the Tennessee Department of Environment and…
Read MoreEPA officials reviews 50 years of Clean Water Act deliverables
Environmental Protection Agency and White House Council on Environmental Quality officials joined other water pollution control stakeholders last month on the banks of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act of 1972. “When the Cuyahoga River burned 50 years ago, people from all backgrounds came together with one voice to demand action,”…
Read MoreCalPortland appeals to Supreme Court in Teamsters case decision
Sources: CP Staff; U.S. Supreme Court; Coalition for a Democratic Workplace CalPortland Co. has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the Washington State Supreme Court’s dismissal of a suit in which the cement, aggregate and concrete producer seeks restitution for property damage that International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 174 officers and members caused during commencement of a strike. Court…
Read MoreHaulHub Agency Portal application advances at U.S. Patent Office
HaulHub Technologies, Haverhill, Mass. developer of digital tools assisting state transportation agency e-Ticketing and e-Construction program management, cites a United States Patent and Trademark Office notice of allowance for a patent application directed to use of a system to reconcile and reformat delivered construction material data with project data between various contract stakeholders. “In the Covid-era of e-Ticketing, sharing a…
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