By Laura O’Neill Kaumo, Contributing Author
Launched alongside the announcement of the federal Low-Carbon Transportation Materials (LCTM) grant program in March, the collaborative body Reduced Carbon Concrete Consortium (RC3) has helped contractors and state highway agencies navigate federal funding opportunities with practical, step-by-step guidance.
Although 2025 will see a reorganization of federal priorities, partnerships and in-progress initiatives stemming from collaborations like RC3 will continue to support the integration of low carbon materials such as concrete into our infrastructure.
In November, Republicans won the White House and the U.S. Senate and regained control of the U.S. House of Representatives. With a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, this “red wave” means President-elect Donald Trump and his allies in Congress will have a lot of power for at least the next two years.
The concrete paving industry has been entrenched in the low-carbon discussions that were accelerated by the Biden Administrative agenda, and further incentivized by monumental pieces of legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
The IRA gave rise to certain grant programs like the LCTM, which offered more than $1.2 billion to State Highway Agencies (SHAs) for the purpose of making programmatic changes to materials selection, prioritizing LCTMs.
While the incoming administration likely will repeal some regulatory actions, sustainability and reduced carbon discussions are part of a broader national and international conversation, and as such, are likely to live on in various initiatives and programs.
Industry, philanthropy and other segments of the world will maintain efforts at reducing carbon, even if the new administration has different priorities.
Manufacturers will press on with roadmaps to carbon reduction, in part because consumers want to live in a world where industry takes into consideration a socially conscious agenda. Also, many products already in the pipeline were produced with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality.
Many programs could be disincentivized, but it is pragmatic to assume that low carbon will maintain relevancy and reemerge as a priority issue over the long term.
When the LCTM grants were announced, organizations like the American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA) launched collaborative efforts, such as RC3, to disseminate information on reducing carbon in the construction process as well as help SHAs and contractors navigate the opportunities connected to low carbon priorities.
ACPA and its partners at RC3* helped more than 35 states apply for LCTM grants.
Even with the influx of funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to support highways, roads, streets, and bridges, SHAs are still struggling because of the impacts of things like inflation, project backlog, labor shortages, supply shortages and department of transportation turnover.
So, funding that challenges SHAs to think differently to solve long-term challenges and maybe “color outside of the box” isn’t necessarily a bad thing, considering that surface transportation in the United States has suffered from a lack of innovative approaches for many years. Concrete paving as a sustainable and innovative solution makes sense in many markets.
Considering the momentum carbon reduction efforts have gained worldwide and culturally, it is reasonable to expect demand for sustainable solutions will remain.
Much of RC3’s early work focused on offering assistance that was specific to the federal application process. However, there were concurrent focuses that included helping contractors understand and develop Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).
EPDs will be important for concrete paving contractors to supply in order to remain competitive in the market, and some organizations in the cement/concrete industry have already secured funding to help them with the process.
Successes like this, and other examples of cross-organizational collaboration such as RC3 has demonstrated, show that there is every reason for optimism as 2025 begins. Industry partnerships will continue to thrive and provide pathways to a more sustainable future. RB
*RC3 leadership includes the American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA); National Concrete Pavement Technology Center (CP Tech Center); Concrete Advancement Foundation; National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA); MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub); Thomas J. Van Dam, PH.D., P.E., FACI, LEED AP, Principal at Wiss, Janney, Elstner (WJE); Lawrence L. Sutter, PH.D., P.E., FASTM, FACI, Principal at Sutter Engineering LLC; and Kevin Senn, PE, Principal at NCE.
Laura O’Neill Kaumo is the President/CEO of the American Concrete Pavement Association.
