Dylla briefs senators on asphalt pavement’s role in decarbonization
On March 12, Heather Dylla from Construction Partners, Inc. made a return trek to Washington, D.C. to participate in a closed-door briefing with members of the Senate Climate Solutions Caucus regarding policies and programs geared toward decarbonization efforts in the construction materials space.
Heather was invited back after she took part in a similar, public panel discussion of industrial decarbonization hosted by ClearPath last month on Capitol Hill.
Partners, Inc. with Sen. Chris
Coons of Delaware
Caucus co-chairs Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) led the briefing, and were also joined by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). The briefing included representatives on behalf of cement, concrete and asphalt – with Heather as the lone asphalt representative – along with Department of Energy (DOE) Under Secretary of Infrastructure David Crane. The briefing focused on what these industries are currently doing to improve their carbon footprint, as well as discussion of Sen. Coons’s bill, the Concrete and Asphalt and Innovation Act (CAIA), which was introduced by Sen. Coons and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) this past December.
During the briefing, Heather used her time to inform the various senators how asphalt has led efforts to improve environmental impacts, including through increased usage of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) across the country and supporting various asphalt mixes that mitigate emission outputs.
Heather referenced NAPA’s Road Forward program and industry goals to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and reiterated the tremendous scope of asphalt tonnage each year – roughly 400M tons and encompassing roughly 94% of the roadway and 80% of the airfield markets, respectively.
NAPA has worked closely on legislative efforts aiming to address carbon emissions in the construction material sector, while maintaining material equity, consistency of EPD definitions and regulations, and ensuring flexibility and performance-based standards are prioritized.
A house bill may be introduced focused just on research and development funding via various DOE programs this month, with a possible committee markup soon thereafter, which NAPA will follow closely.
Please reach out to Nile Elam for more information.