Environmental policies affect road construction through regulations on emissions, materials, and project approvals. Recently, there have been changes at the federal level, for example: EPA regulatory rollbacks or adjustments in areas like emissions or water (wetlands) protection, which may impact projects. At the same time, some states have adopted stricter environmental standards or sustainability goals for infrastructure.
We asked the National Asphalt Pavement Association's Audrey Copeland (PhD, PE, NAPA President & CEO) about the future of sustainability concerning the asphalt industry and the recent shifts in political focus for infrastructure over the past twelve months, and whether or not the future might look different because of it.
Have recent changes or rollbacks in federal environmental regulations had an impact on road building projects or initiatives (like EPD participation)?
Audrey Copeland, NAPA: Originally, IRA provided grants to incentivize decarbonization efforts by supporting the further development of NAPA’s Emerald Eco-Label program and offer rebates to reduce the cost of obtaining asphalt environmental product declarations (EPDs).
State DOTs expected to receive funds to promote the adoption of low carbon transportation materials and integrate EPDs into pavement design and construction. However, with the rollback of federal grants for industry – including $10 million allocated to NAPA – and the rescission of DOT funding in all but five states, there is now no federal support to expand EPD capacity in the asphalt sector.
As a result, the industry must absorb the costs of generating and maintaining EPDs independently, even as state-level Buy Clean requirements and private-sector decarbonization initiatives continue to drive demand in certain areas for low carbon materials and EPDs. This shift places the responsibility for developing EPDs on the industry, even as private (especially the data center construction sector) and select public markets (about 15 states and various cities) are asking for EPDs.
How important is sustainability for the industry now versus the time immediately following the passage of IIJA and IRA?
Copeland: The discontinuation of federal renewable energy and EPD-related incentives and tax credits has changed the role of sustainability from compliance to practices that provide producers and contractors a competitive advantage in the market. Activities during the prior administration spurred a strong market signal to pursue decarbonization in the construction materials sector, in turn leading to investments in private industry and legislation at the state level.
These private-industry and state-level efforts persist and are continuing to shape procurement practices in the public and private markets. In some states, an EPD is required at different stages of procurement, and in other markets life cycle thinking practices are shaping procurement policy even when EPDs are not being explicitly requested. LEED V5 has a strong emphasis on embodied carbon and having EPDs for construction materials aids in easier qualification. In the data center construction market, owners are strongly signaling the need for EPDs up and down the supply chain. Hence, producing EPDs (such as with Emerald Eco-Label) can provide asphalt producers a competitive advantage during project procurement.
Sustainability efforts emphasize practices such as increased use of recycled and secondary materials along with innovations in production efficiency and use of alternative materials and fuels. All of these efforts help to reduce the cost of project delivery and add to asphalt’s overall competitive advantage.
Which sustainability practices or regulations, if any, do you think will survive into the next highway spending bill or other infrastructure legislation effecting road builders?
Copeland: Two proven sustainability practices that should be incentivized are use of RAP and warm-mix asphalt. The benefits of these materials and technologies are not limited to sustainability alone; they also reduce the net cost of project delivery, directly translating to more efficient use of public infrastructure investment.
In the current market, innovation sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence and sustainability, which seek to create organizational and resource efficiencies. As neither of these spaces are regulated (or are getting deregulated), they are both turning into value drivers, providing competitive advantage to organizations and industries that embrace them.
Viewing sustainability as an innovation and a driver of efficiency, we’re empowered to move away from terms such as ‘low carbon/green’ materials to prevent seeking only the lowest global warming potential at the expense of performance. Instead, we should encourage an assessment of pavement design using a whole life cycle perspective including economic and performance considerations.
Similarly, quantifying the thermodynamic accounting of asphalt mix production creates synergies between production efficiency and reduced emissions with potential benefits for plant permitting. NAPA is actively funding research projects in both of these areas to deliver value for producers in making sustainability profitable.
