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Association & Industry News
CONCRETEPAC is NRMCA's bipartisan, multi-candidate federal Political Action Committee (PAC) with a stated goal of electing pro-business, pro-ready mixed concrete industry candidates to Congress. Candidates who support the ready mixed concrete industry have never been more critical and, with mid-term elections just around the corner, the ready mixed concrete industry must be prepared to support the races that matter most. Federal law requires trade associations like NRMCA to obtain permission from its member companies before sharing important information regarding CONCRETEPAC. Authorized executives from member companies are permitted to grant this permission so CONCRETEPAC may share information. Having this approval on file allows NRMCA to inform you of upcoming CONCRETEPAC events but in no way obligates you or your employees to contribute. Click here to grant CONCRETEPAC prior authorization online today so we can keep you updated on the activities and events hosted by CONCRETEPAC, including the Ready to Pour Event and Corn Hole Tournament planned for this fall in conjunction with NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks. Federal law permits a company to grant prior authorization to only one trade association's federal PAC each calendar year. Federal law permits a company to give its prior authorization to a trade association PAC for up to five years at a time. FEC rules prevent CONCRETEPAC from accepting corporate contributions, money from foreign nationals or NRMCA members without prior authorization. Participation is voluntary. For more information, contact Heather Houck or Andrew Tyrrell. 
Buildings
The Concrete Innovations Session 7, Carbon Sequestration in Concrete, is scheduled for Wednesday, October 12, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern time. Participants will learn how to permanently sequester carbon dioxide in concrete along with other strategies to lower the carbon footprint of concrete. Presentations include: • Carbon Uptake in the Environmental Footprint of the US Concrete Industry - Hessam AzariJafari, deputy director, MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub Concrete Innovations Learning Sessions are designed to bring practitioners, researchers and policy makers together to exchange the latest innovations for sustainable concrete design, construction and manufacturing. Click here to register for the above session. Register for free for the entire conference at www.concreteinnovations.com. For more information, contact Lionel Lemay at llemay@nrmca.org. Build With Strength exhibited at the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) Building System Housing Summit in Atlanta earlier this week. Michael Wymant and Lionel Lemay of NRMCA were on hand to speak with homebuilders about the benefits of building homes with insulating concrete forms (ICFs). NRMCA was a Gold Level sponsor for the event and arranged for Dallas-based homebuilder Alan Hoffmann to discuss the business case for ICFs while Randy White of Nudura was on hand to present how to implement ICFs in the field. NRMCA is a member of the NAHB Building Systems Council, the leading resource for alternatives to stick frame construction, including concrete, log and timber, modular and panelized home building. For more information, contact Lionel Lemay at llemay@nrmca.org or 847-922-7995. NRMCA has testified on proposed code changes to the International Building Code (IBC) and International Residential Code (IRC) at the International Code Council (ICC) Group B Public Comment Hearings which took place last week in Louisville, KY. Shamim Rashid-Sumar joined concrete and allied industry advocates to provide technical information on public comments to proposed code provisions. NRMCA and industry allies testified on issues impacting the ready mixed concrete industry, including but not limited to, building risk category, storm shelters, embodied carbon, 3-D printing, attachment of exterior finishes and field-applied surface coatings for fire resistance of wood-based floor framing members. NRMCA and industry allies were successful overall in advocating for committee actions to support favorable code changes and overturning previous committee disapprovals unfavorable to the industry. The final stage for decisions on code change proposals for the 2024 I-codes will be the Online Governmental Consensus Vote (OGCV) in early October. For more information on codes and standards advocacy efforts, contact Shamim Rashid-Sumar at ssumar@nrmca.org.
NRMCA presented an education session titled Responsible Sourcing of Concrete and CO2 Reduction Certification at the 2022 Net Zero Conference held last week in Los Angeles. The annual conference, which NRMCA was a sponsor, focused on creating a net zero carbon future in the face of climate change. NRMCA's Katie Poss and Matthew Lemay of the Association's Codes and Sustainability Department introduced the topic of responsible sourcing, which takes into account the environmental, social and economic impacts of products, including their “upstream” components and material suppliers. The Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC) Certification System for Concrete is the first responsible sourcing certification for concrete, cement and aggregate plants. It is recognized and rewarded by multiple green building standards, including BREEAM, LEED and the Envision standard for sustainable infrastructure. NRMCA is a regional system operator (RSO) of the CSC certification system in the United States and Canada, supporting producers and overseeing the awarding of certificates. The system originated in Europe in 2016 and has seen limited adoption elsewhere. Through industry education efforts and support of the CSC certification, NRMCA hopes to bring CSC-certified, responsibly-sourced concrete, cement and aggregates to the North American market. To learn more about the CSC system and NRMCA’s program, visit us.csc.eco or contact Matthew Lemay at mlemay@nrmca.org or 847-323-0413. 
Build With Strength recently sponsored a booth, exhibiting alongside the Concrete Sustainability Council at the Net Zero Conference in Los Angeles. In addition to exhibiting, Brandon Wray (seen here) of NRMCA and Juan Gonzalez of NRMCA Producer member Central Concrete jointly presented The Top 10 Ways to Reduce Concrete’s Carbon Footprint with fresh case studies on sustainable projects from the Bay Area. With a large showing of architects, engineers and consultants, the event was well received; climate, carbon, equity and resiliency were topics of high interest. In a continual effort to represent the ready mixed concrete industry, Build With Strength maintains its position as a consulting resource for designers when integrating sustainable concrete strategies into their projects nationwide. For more information, contact Brandon Wray at bwray@nrmca.org.
SEO
Last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it was expanding the Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP). Under the Obama Administration starting in 2010, the program would focus on industries and/or employers that consistently violated only certain safety and health standards. When those industries or employers were identified the SVEP would then concentrate “resources on inspecting [those] employers that have demonstrated indifference to their OSH Act obligations by committing willful, repeated, or failure-to-abate violations.” With this latest development, the program will now cover “violations of all hazards and OSHA standards and will continue to focus on repeat offenders in all industries.”
Earlier this week at the National Safety Council (NSC) Congress & Expo held in San Diego, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced its preliminary Top 10 Violations for FY 2022 across both Construction and General Industry. (OSHA annually releases this list at the NSC event.)
This fiscal year's violations are:
Calendar
Please note that e-mail and direct registration links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's website. September 29 - October 3, Aurora, CO October 14 - 15, Chicago October 18 - 20, Charlotte, NC *Sold Out October 18 - 21, Dallas *Sold Out November 1 - 3, Bowling Green, KY November 7-11, Baltimore-Washington Area November 8 - 10, Louisville, KY *Sold Out November 15 - 17, Phoenix November 29 - December 1, Orlando, FL December 6 - 8, Dallas December 13 - 16, Kansas City, MO December 14, Nashville, TN 
Engineering
NRMCA is offering its information packed, one-day course Handling Concrete Specifications, Low Strength Problems and Mixture Submittals, intended for concrete producers, contractors, engineers and testing labs on Wednesday, December 14, in Nashville, TN, in association with the Tennessee Ready Mixed Concrete Association. This one-day course will discuss the latest changes to the code and specification requirements (ACI 318, 301, ASTM C94) governing ready mixed concrete. This course will address many topics, including:
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