The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Pennsylvania Aggregates and Concrete Association (PACA) signed a four-year, first-of-its-kind Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to expand joint activities supporting the agencies’ shared goal of environmental stewardship.
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and PACA Chairman of the Board of Directors Rod Martin, Martin Stone Quarries Inc., signed the agreement on the third anniversary of the establishment of EPA’s Smart Sectors Program.
“Smart Sectors is all about increasing communication between EPA and industry,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “This MOU will help make sensible environmental policies for the cement industry in Pennsylvania a reality.”
Instituted by the EPA in 2017, the Smart Sectors Program provides a platform to collaborate with regulated sectors and develop sensible approaches that better protect the environment and public health.
“This agreement builds on the actions our agencies are taking together and with the broader concrete and aggregate community to promote a vibrant economy, clean air, clean water and unprecedented environmental stewardship,” said Cosmo Servidio, EPA Mid-Atlantic regional administrator. “This MOU formalizes our work together in the pursuit of solutions that are good for both the industry and the environment.”
Specifically, the MOU formalizes a partnership between the two agencies and expands activities to prioritize funding, coordinate on regulatory programs, recognize concrete and aggregate industry members for environmental stewardship, and enhance opportunities for open dialogue.
“We are pleased to formalize the engagement with EPA by signing today the Memorandum of Understanding,” said Martin. “Our products are essential and critical to building and connecting our communities in Pennsylvania. The MOU is our commitment to open dialogue and partnership with EPA to deliver environmental stewardship through common sense solutions.”
EPA’s Mid-Atlantic Region began its Smart Sectors Program in 2019 and is currently the only EPA region in the nation with a Concrete or Cement Smart Sector. All of EPA’s 10 regions have launched Smart Sectors programs.
The MOU is the first among a series of events around the country to celebrate the third anniversary of the Smart Sectors Program. Among the program’s signature accomplishments is the development of data driven performance snapshots for each industrial sector. The sector snapshots are web-based tools that show historical environmental and economic performance on a sector basis.