Maine Aggregate Association

The 2010 Transportation Appropriations bill has passed in Congress and has been signed into law by President Obama, increasing the interstate truck weight limits from 80,000 lbs. to 100,000 lbs., north of Augusta. This is a one year pilot project, and will be reviewed by a congressional committee in 2011 to review its merits and effectiveness.

Similar changes have been made in Vermont.

To eliminate any legal barriers in Maine, Governor Baldacci has also issued and emergency proclamation that immediately allows for 100,000 lbs. on Maine’s interstate system for 6-axle combination vehicles. For this one year pilot project, all 6-axle combination vehicles, registered for 100,000 lbs., consisting of a 3 axle truck tractor and a tri-axle semi trailer are afforded all of the same limits as they would normally receive on regular Maine roads. This pilot project does not apply to any other trucking configurations. You can view the Governor’s emergency proclamation by clicking here.

EPA TELLS NSSGA COMMITTEE TO EXPECT 14 MONTHS OF SCRUTINY ON STORM WATER ENFORCEMENT

During NSSGA's Environmental Committee meeting on Aug. 4 at NSSGA's offices in Alexandria, Va., personnel from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance talked about EPA's continued storm water enforcement initiative in the ready mixed concrete and aggregates industry sectors.

Officially, EPA is in the second year of a three-year industry enforcement initiative. However, there is no guarantee that EPA will stop after three years if they continue to see problems and there is no improvement in compliance within the industry sectors. EPA will put added focus on the ready mix and aggregate sectors in the next 14 months. During this time, the agency is focusing on co-located ready mixed concrete and aggregate facilities as presenting the highest environmental risk. However, stand-alone operations may also be inspected.

News Release
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
New England Regional Office
U.S. Department of Justice

For Release: August 6, 2009

Contacts: EPA (617) 918-1017
DOJ (202) 514-2007

Ready-Mix Concrete Producer Agrees To Resolve Clean Water Act Violations

(Boston, Mass. – August 6, 2009) – Aggregate Industries - Northeast Region Inc., will pay a $2.75 million civil penalty and implement a regional evaluation and compliance program to resolve numerous violations of the Clean Water Act at 23 facilities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

The penalty is the largest ever assessed to a nationwide ready-mix concrete company for storm water violations under the Clean Water Act. The settlement is the latest in a series of federal enforcement actions to address storm water violations from industrial facilities and construction sites around the country.

To download the entire Application Package as a PDF, click here.

The gravel pit workshop held on March 10th in Calais at Washington County Community College was a HUGE success!!

There were over 30 people in attendance to learn about what it takes to succesfully operate a pit or quarry in the state of Maine.

Topics covered:

- Maine Department of Environmental Protection's performance standards including the the Notice of Intent to Comply (NOITC) and the variance process, storm water permitting, vernal pools and wildlife habitats.

- Permitting issues on the federal level included Air Emission for rock crushers (Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] ) and safety training (Mine Safety & Health Administration [MSHA] ).

Thanks to all the Maine Aggregate members who presented and thanks to Mark Stebbins and Jim Beyer who presented from Maine DEP.