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Association & Industry News
NRMCA is thrilled to announce that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded it a $9.63 million grant aimed at Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Construction Materials and Products. The grant, which will fund a five-year project managed by NRMCA and is supported by its Build With Strength initiative, includes a team of concrete experts to educate the architectural and engineering communities on designing and specifying low carbon concrete. Through this five-year project, NRMCA proposes to increase the quantity and robustness of ready mixed concrete Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) by providing grants to producers to create EPDs from an additional 3,000 plants (up from 1,500 currently). NRMCA plans to provide data quality management oversight and training as well as education for producers through the training of additional EPD verifiers and certifying up to 500 EPD specialists through an online education system. NRMCA also plans to enhance its existing low-carbon concrete tool and host five low-carbon concrete training workshops per year for five years. NRMCA will also work to improve the Product Category Rules (PCRs) for concrete and data availability for critical inputs, including cementitious materials, aggregates and admixtures. Through this initiative, NRMCA will collaborate with various partners, including state ready mixed concrete associations, national material supplier organizations, state agencies and academic institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology through the Concrete Advancement Foundation. For more details, visit www.nrmca.org/EPAGrant. The NRMCA staff contact is Lionel Lemay, llemay@nrmca.org or 847-922-7995. The Portland Cement Association (PCA) will receive a more than $2.4 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to lead a project that will improve both the quantity and quality of industry Environmental Product Declarations (EPD). EPDs are the most widely used tool by cement producers to measure the potential environmental impact of cement. The project was developed by PCA in partnership with the American Coal Ash Association, the Natural Pozzolan Association and the Slag Cement Association. It will significantly boost the number of facility-specific EPDs for cementitious materials which will upgrade the quality of information available for consumers. “Getting the EPA’s approval to move forward with this project is representative of PCA’s environmental efforts coming full circle,” said Mike Ireland, PCA president and CEO. “Two years ago, our association advocated strongly for the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which included the most provisions ever to combat global warming. The IRA did pass, and today some of that funding is making this project possible. We’ll be communicating more environmental impact data in a more detailed fashion throughout the industry, which should help us to hasten our pace toward carbon neutrality.” The PCA project is one of 38 grants the EPA announced this week to support the development and verification of EPDs for construction materials and products. The project will entail PCA distributing up to $1.5 million in grants to eligible manufacturers over the next five years. The association will also provide training and on-call technical assistance to guide manufacturers from EPD development to verification to the final publishing of the information. Additionally, PCA will help initiate and regularly update industry-average EPDs for cementitious materials. For more information, contact PCA's Remi Braden at rbraden@cement.org. 
Buildings
Last week, NRMCA participated in technical committee meetings as part of the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) annual 2026 revision cycle for the 2027 editions of selected NFPA Codes and Standards. Shamim Rashid-Sumar, senior vice president, codes and standards, participated in first draft meetings of the Technical Committees on Structures, Construction and Materials (BLD-SCM) and Building Construction (BLD-BLC). As a Principal voting member, she advocated for code changes impacting the concrete industry, including reference of the new NRMCA 100 standard as well as new provisions for structural concrete with glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) reinforcement. NRMCA was successful in garnering support of the technical committees to create first revisions for these changes. NFPA technical committees and panels serve as the principal consensus bodies responsible for developing and updating all NFPA Codes and Standards. Note that the NFPA standards development process does encourage public participation. The deadline for submission of public comments to the first draft revisions for NFPA Codes and Standards included in the 2026 annual revision cycle is June 3, 2025. Interested parties may view more on how the NFPA standards development process works here. For more information on NRMCA codes and standards advocacy efforts, contact Shamim Rashid-Sumar at ssumar@nrmca.org. 
 Build With Strength Director, Sustainability Codes and Standards, Tiffany Reed-Villarreal, P.E., and NRMCA Senior Vice President Technical Services, Karthik Obla recently participated in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Low Carbon Cements and Concretes Consortium in Frederick, MD. As a voting member on the ACI 323 Committee, Reed-Villarreal, presented the latest updates on ACI 323 Low-carbon Concrete Code. The consortium featured presenters (many seen here) from prominent organizations such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, Federal Highway Administration, NEU: An ACI Center of Excellence for Carbon Neutral Concrete (NEU) and the National Concrete Pavement Technology Center. During this significant gathering, federal agency representatives, NEU, NRMCA and allied industry stakeholders engaged in discussions about industry requirements, ongoing projects and research, and collaborative efforts to achieve carbon neutrality across the cement-concrete value chain by 2050. Discussions focused on standards development, field demonstrations and education of industry stakeholders, including students, architects/engineers, owners, concrete producers, ingredient material suppliers and contractors. The Consortium concluded with four task group meetings directed toward Carbon Accounting, Implementation of Innovative Materials, Specifications and Quantifying Carbonates. The task groups discussed the development of guides, fact sheets and other resources. For more information on NRMCA sustainability codes activities contact Tiffany Reed-Villarreal or 817-771-3595. 
SEO
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently released a long-awaited proposal aimed at preventing worker heat injuries and illnesses in both indoor and outdoor environments. OSHA originally started promulgating the rulemaking in October 2021. NRMCA worked individually and with the Coalition for Workplace Safety to oppose the agency’s efforts.
NRMCA’s Commitment to Environmental Excellence Awards competition offers producers national recognition for outstanding contributions to protecting the environment and maintaining sound management practices in their operations. The program salutes companies that have not only met, but surpassed governmental compliance measures and demonstrated a commitment to environmental excellence through plant and staff investment. NRMCA member companies producing ready mixed concrete from a fixed plant location in the U.S., its territories or Canada are eligible to enter. Awards will be determined upon individual plant merits. Winning entrants will be honored at the Awards Ceremony at NRMCA‘s ConcreteWorks this October in Aurora, CO. Winners will also be featured in a 2024 edition of NRMCA’s Concrete InFocus magazine and the industry trade magazine Concrete Products. Entries and photos must be e-mailed to kwalgenbach@nrmca.org by Friday, July 19. Click here for more information and to download the entry form. The staff contact is Kevin Walgenbach. 
Engineering
The National Concrete Pavement Technology Center has published a guide that comments on the requirements for concrete mixtures addressed in AASHTO R 101, Developing Performance Engineered Concrete Pavement Mixtures. This manual presents the context and rationale for several key recommendations provided in the AASHTO R 101 document. The intent is to provide transportation agencies with tools for preparing a concrete pavement mixture specification that moves closer to measuring and basing acceptance on parameters critical to the long-term performance of the pavement system. Topics covered include Strength, Slab Warping and Cracking, Performance in Freeze-Thaw Environments, Transport Properties (permeability), Aggregate Stability related to D-Cracking and Alkali Reactivity, Workability and Mixture Qualification. The commentary on AASHTO R 101 can be obtained here. 
Calendar
Please note that e-mail and direct registration links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's website. September 9 - 13, Baltimore September 10 - 12, Sacramento, CA September 25, Metro Kansas City October 10 - 14, Denver October 15 - 18, Denver November 20 - 22, Oklahoma City December 3 - 5, Orlando, FL December 10 - 13, Charleston, SC *Sold Out December 10 - 12, Denver 2025 January 28 - 31, Albuquerque, NM February 11 - 13, Antioch, TN March 4 - 7, Tucson, AZ March 18 - 20, Denver March 18 - 21, Oklahoma City April 8 - 11, Orlando, FL October 10 - 14, Orlando, FL 
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