Pit & Quarry, February 2019

NSSGA ANNUAL CONVENTION PURSUING FAVORABLE POLICIES With infrastructure and other key industry issues on the line in Washington plus a divided Congress settling in for year three of the Trump administration NSSGAs next chairman sees tremendous opportunities ahead eldon Materials president Bob Weldon becomes chairman of the National Stone Sand Gravel Association NSSGA at the organizations annual W convention Feb 10 13 in Indianapolis succeeding Oldcastle Materials CEO Randy Lake Weldons company based in Westfield New Jersey has two quarries nine hot mix asphalt plants and three ready mixed concrete plants as well as two contractor supply yards Weldon Materials is a family business with roots tracing back to 1898 With Weldon to be seated as the head of NSSGAs board of directors Pit Quarry connected with him ahead of the national convention to learn about his plans for the association and which legislative and regulatory issues hell have a keen eye on in 2019 Describe your outlook for the aggregate industry in 2019 I think 2018 was a strong year for the aggregates industry Production numbers increased from 2017 overall as the U S Geological Survey reports that the estimated production for the first three quarters of 2018 was 105 billion metric tons Thats a 3 percent increase over the same three quarters in 2017 I would hope positive trends from last year continue into 2019 and beyond Do you think Republicans and Democrats will get along enough to pass any significant legislation this year Do you expect any major piece of transportation infrastructure legislation to be passed in 2019 NSSGA has heard discussions on an infrastructure bill are taking place between Democrats and Republicans in both the House and Senate Lawmakers were quoted throughout 2018 as being in favor of a long term infrastructure bill as well so it appears theres interest in tackling the issue House Transportation Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio D Oregon has been a long time advocate of fixing the revenues for the Highway Trust Fund and making it solvent And in fact the new ranking member Sam Graves R Missouri was the former chair of the Subcommittee on Highways Transit and has his own interests in fixing the trust fund So the time is right for aggregates companies to continue to push for a substantial and long term infrastructure bill in 2019 One tool NSSGA uses to build relationships with members of Congress is ROCKPAC Our industrys political action committee works to support candidates who understand and appreciate the value of aggregates operations and are committed to promoting sensible scientifically based safety and environmental laws and regulations Id encourage people to visit nssga org rockpac to learn more As an aggregate producer what would you like to see the federal government focus on in 2019 A focus on common sense regulations from agencies and lawmakers with oversight would benefit the industry greatly Were already seeing signs of this as the Environmental Protection Agency is currently accepting comments on a NSSGA Bob Weldon president of New Jerseybased Weldon Materials is hearing rumblings of Democrats and Republicans finally coming together to fix the Highway Trust Fund 26 PIT QUARRY February 2019 pitandquarry com