The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provides you with a unique opportunity to directly confront the supply-chain challenges that are adversely impacting the U.S. economy and the daily lives of all Americans. We urge you to dedicate as much as allowable by law in discretionary grants for FY 2022 to support projects that will facilitate and ease the movement of goods. Over the past two years, the supply chain has endured extreme slowdowns due to pandemic-related pressures.

ALEXANDRIA, VA – The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) President and CEO Michael Johnson issued the following statement on the recent crisis facing freight rail shippers and its impact to the aggregates industry. NSSGA recently submitted comments to the Surface Transportation Board detailing these issues and urging action.

The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (“NSSGA”) submits these written comments to the Surface Transportation Board (“STB” or “Board”) pursuant to the April 7, 2022, Notice from the STB in the proceeding referenced above, which permits “written comments by any other interested person” concerning freight service. NSSGA members use freight rail to supply aggregates, particularly in fast growing metropolitan areas. The Association of American Railroads (“AAR”) estimates that freight rail moved 1.1 million rail cars of stone, sand, and gravel in 2020.

We, the undersigned associations, represent both public and private sector organizations that produce and use the materials, products, and equipment necessary to build America’s infrastructure and employ millions of hard-working Americans in well-paying jobs.

The diverse coalition of undersigned associations and organizations representing the interests of tens of thousands of companies and millions of skilled employees in the U.S. construction industry—building the foundation of America’s economy—strongly opposes your administration’s efforts to encourage and require controversial government-mandated project labor agreements on federal and federally assisted construction contracts funded by taxpayers.

National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (“NSSGA”) respectfully submits its comments in the above-captioned proceeding in accordance with the Surface Transportation Board (“STB” or “Board”) Notice of Public Hearing (“Notice”) served on December 28, 2021.

NSSGA applauds Congress and the Biden Administration for diligently working to draft and advance IIJA, which provides almost $1 trillion to rebuild our infrastructure. We are proud to have been a partner in the work to complete this historic bill, as it will directly improve the lives of all Americans. The aggregates industry now stands ready to deliver the billions of tons of construction materials needed to build the roads, bridges, tunnels, rail, transit, ports, energy, water, broadband and every public works funded through IIJA.

The 110 undersigned organizations, which represent a wide range of employers from private industry, states, municipalities, universities, colleges, k-12 schools and non-profits, write to request the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) hold stakeholder meetings prior to the development and issuance of its anticipated Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) on the “exemption of bona fide executive, administrative, and professional employees from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime requirements” (also known as the “white-collar” exemptions).

The Coalition for Workplace Safety (“CWS”) respectfully requests an extension to the comment period on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPRM”), Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings, which was published in the Federal Register on October 27, 2021. CWS and many of its member associations intend to comment on the ANPRM. OSHA’s current comment period, however, poses challenges for stakeholders seeking to provide thoughtful, accurate responses to the numerous questions posed in the ANPRM.

We, the undersigned associations, represent both public and private sector organizations that produce and use the materials, products, and equipment necessary to build America’s infrastructure and employ millions of hard-working Americans in well-paying jobs.