Maine Aggregate Association

LD 891 "An Act To Amend the Site Location of Development Laws To
Include Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions"
Maine Aggregate Association supports efforts to encourage Energy Efficient Development, but is opposed to LD 891.
Two amended versions have been offered: one from Natural Resource Committee Senate Chair Seth Goodall and one from the DEP. MAA opposes both amendments.
As an alternative, MAA is proposing a different approach and instead require the DEP to:
• Monitor existing program effectiveness. Maine has recently adopted several new programs aimed at reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the new Maine Uniform Building and Energy Standards go into effect in July 2010. The DEP should establish a registry of these programs, including any federal or regional initiatives, create a baseline and monitoring the effectiveness of these programs.

All members are encouraged to come to the annual meeting. We will review legislative bills that effect our industry, hear about DEP's thoughts and concerns as well as have some fun with colleagues.

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.