... CONGRESSIONAL DOCKET

Congressional Recess Continues

The Senate and House of Representatives are in recess until after the November 7 elections. Notwithstanding the recess, NACA government affairs team members continue to work with Congressional staffers as well as key government agencies to address issues of importance to members and the industries at large.

EPA Finalizes Regional Haze Trading Plan

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week announced a final rule that established an emission trading program by which regional haze regulations will be implemented.

The primary regional haze-regulation, finalized in 1999, is designed to improve visibility in national parks and other protected areas by reducing emissions of several compounds, including nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide.

A series of follow-up rules have established five regional planning organizations (RPOs) to implement the visibility goals contained in the 1999 rulemaking and have identified sources subject to best available retrofit technology (BART) requirements.

EPA has always envisioned using an emission trading plan to achieve the reductions necessary to reduce haze in the nation's protected areas, but the final plan has taken many years to put together.

The final rule allows states to use the trading program rather than require BART controls at affected sources. Cement plants are potentially affected by the rule and should investigate whether their states will allow them to participate in the trading program as an alternative to installing BART.

Contact: Tom Carter.

Environmental Groups Settle Suit Over Utility Emission Controls

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has settled a suit with Environmental Defense Fund and other groups challenging the agency's position on pollution control requirements for power plants.

In a 2005 letter, an EPA official told an industry consultant that builders of new power plants need not consider utilizing integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology. The IGCC process is designed to convert coal to a gas that then fuel power turbines while producing less particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, mercury, and carbon dioxide than burning coal directly.

In the settlement EPA agreed that the letter was not an accurate representation of Agency policy.

Contact: Tom Carter.

President Vows Support for Border Security Fence

The President said Wednesday that his Administration is committed to building more than 700 miles of fencing along the Southwest border, dispelling questions about whether the barrier will actually be constructed.

Last week—after a report in The Washington Post indicated that the Department of Homeland Security would not commit to building all 700 miles of fence—Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. Chairman Hunter's letter told the Secretary that building a fence is not optional.

President Bush expressed strong support for the multi-state fence approved by Congress late last month as well as an accompanying ''virtual wall'' of high-tech gadgetry, such as sensors, cameras, radar and unmanned surveillance aircraft.

''We're going to do both,'' the President said at the White House. ''You can't fence the entire border, but what you can do is you can use a combination of fencing and technology to make it easier for the Border Patrol to enforce our border.''

The fence has ignited diplomatic protests from Mexico, as well as vigorous opposition from some U.S. border communities, escalating speculation that it may never be built.

Still, the President has left little doubt that his administration intends to carry out the congressional mandate to build double-layered fencing—two parallel rows of fencing—and adjacent patrol roads in sections of the border with heavy concentrations of smuggling and illegal immigrant traffic.

Contact: Robert Sullivan.

USDA Proposes Bio-Based Products for Concrete Use

On Wednesday, October 4, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) designating 10 bio-based products that federal procurement agents must consider when purchasing designated items. Click here to see the NPRM in the Federal Register.

Of interest to the cement and concrete industry is USDA's designation of bio-based concrete release fluids and concrete sealers.

After USDA designates the item, procuring agencies will require these bio-based products be used when either the individual cost of the designated items to be purchased exceeds $10,000, or where the quantity of such items purchased over the preceding fiscal year equaled or exceeded $10,000.

USDA is seeking public comment on the NPRM. Comments are due by December 11.

Contact: John Sullivan.

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