National Stone Sand And Gravel Association

Government and regulatory affairs:in 2024, nssga advanced aggregates industry priorities and secured policy wins in various areas. Some of the most noteworthy accomplishments were achieved through the legislative and regulatory process in which nssga successfully advocated for continued infrastructure investment, the defeat of harmful provisions, and the promotion material neutrality.industry's views were heard as nssga provided industry stances before members of congress on various industry-related topics, including the federal highway administration's greenhouse gas performance measures, the enforcement of project labor agreements, and the amendments to particulate matter standards in the national ambient air quality standards, intended to underline nssga's commitment to environmental stewardship balanced with practical regulation. Nssga sounded the alarm about the proposed federal highway administration greenhouse gas performance measure regulation, which lacked congressional authority in the bipartisan infrastructure law. Nssga successfully advocated for the repeal of this regulation by fhwa. Nssga and its partners successfully advocated for the reauthorization of the federal aviation administration (faa), which included an increase in funding for the airport improvement program to $4 billion annually through fy28. Through various strategies, including filing comments and engaging with lawmakers, nssga played a crucial role in securing this favorable outcome. Nssga also supported authorization of infrastructure projects through passage of the water resources development act, a bill that also included a key provision that ensures that idle federal funds are put to use, increasing the pool of financing available for infrastructure.following the biden administration's finalization of the msha silica exposure rule, nssga, along with other mining industry associations, filed an opening brief in november 2024, asking the court to vacate the rule. While litigation is ongoing, nssga maintains that the rule's restrictions on exposure controls make compliance infeasible and does not incorporate provisions of the recently adopted osha silica standard.further cementing our advocacy, further nssga accomplishments include defeating harmful bills targeting aggregates operations; provided comments on expected legislation related to the reauthorization of key business tax provisions; opposed harmful amendments in defense bills; supported permitting reform efforts; and addressed rail service challenges.on the technical side, nssga was awarded a $9.65 million grant from the epa, funded through the inflation reduction act (ira), to provide support for environmental product declarations (epds). Also, nssga released its aggregate life cycle assessment (lca) report. This important document is now available on the nssga website and will be referenced in the concrete product category rules (pcr) until industry averages for aggregates become available. Nssga also applied for two nchrp synthesis projects focused on low-volume roads and skid resistance through aftre (aggregates foundation for technology, research, and education). These applications were submitted in collaboration with iowa state university and mississippi state university.nssga also pushed back on the proposed epa air emissions reporting rule (aerr). Nssga met with white house staff on the undue burdens the aggregates industry would have faced from this new requirement. Also, nssga led a multi-industry effort in commenting on the white house groundwater initiative underscoring the need for industry to be involved in groundwater issues.in 2024, nssga made an impact for the aggregates industry by improving the regulatory environment; providing a platform for industry members to share their views and concerns; contributing to the development of industry standards; and enhancing the industry's reputation and visibility.

Communications:nssga communications works continuously in conjunction with our meetings and government & regulatory affairs departments to represent our issues and organization to the public and to our members. We develop relationships with news media covering our issues to ensure our positions are represented, and we continually deliver value to our members by informing them of the latest activity and arming them with the messages they need to engage. Infrastructurethroughout the legislative process, nssga communications kept our members continually informed of the state of play. When actions happened, we kept our members informed in real-time through washington alerts. We continued to keep open communication with reporters covering the issues to ensure nssga's position was reflected in the d.c. News coverage. Membership communicationsin 2024, nssga's communications department sent out 312 e-mailings to nssga members. These communications were branded and segmented by type, event and subject matter, which are grouped into five categories: advocacy/news, association news & information, webinars, events, and safety. With our annual improvement and attention to detail, this has led to our average open rate, to exceed 30 percent for the second year in a row, at 32.14 percent for 2024. Digital communications- nssga.org continues to show positive results and indicate a quality user experience with an increase in page visits, average session time, engagement and click-through rates. In 2024, there were 64,517 users on nssga.org, logged on for 91,320 sessions/page visits. Users visited for an average of 19 minutes per session.- our social media following continues to grow. In 2024, we exceeded 5,800 followers on x; 5,200 followers on facebook; and 9,500 followers on linkedin. Targeted webinarsnssga continued to provide a robust webinar series, under the banner of "delivering value." this provides a digital forum to update and inform our members on a host of priority issues. The communications team sends regular email reminders to engage in updates on regulatory and legislative policy which are combined with guest speakers through our "policy briefings." additionally targeted programming is offered in the areas of environmental, legal, engineering & technical and health & safety to provide detailed updates and information in each category. Awards of excellence the association also continued to recognize excellence among operations with its own awards program. These awards highlight facilities throughout the u.s. For their commitment and performance in community relations, safety and environmental stewardship. In addition to the awards of excellence, nssga also awarded company safety awards and several other types of individual awards during the virtual legislative and policy forum held in september.stone, sand & gravel review magazinethe stone, sand & gravel review magazine is published bi-monthly and sent to a circulation of more than 4,000, with even more viewing and downloading the digital edition. The association's flagship publication provides members an in-depth look at the advocacy and events happening through nssga. The review magazine is annually recognized by our members as among the most trusted communications they receive.