Crushed stone is being used in a road construction project.
Combating climate change through greener asphalt, steel and concrete for roads is the goal of a new federal highway grant program giving billions to states and a companion agency initiative to issue emissions’ labels for transportation materials.
The Federal Highway Administration recently awarded $1.19 billion in grants to nearly 40 state transportation departments to help them launch purchasing programs requiring state transportation projects to use low carbon transportation materials over traditional construction inputs.
The federal government defines low carbon transportation materials as those with minimal greenhouse gas emissions released throughout their entire life cycle—from extraction, processing, transportation and final manufacture.
“Materials with a lower carbon footprint are key to modernizing the transportation sector to fight against the impacts of climate change,” Acting Federal Highway Administrator Kristin White said Nov. 14 when the grants were awarded.
The federal investments in the Low Carbon Transportation Material Grants Program is a new FHWA initiative that is receiving money under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Sample emission life cycles for asphalt and concrete as transportation construction materials.
An FHWA fact sheet says that some 11% of the GHG emissions from the infrastructure industry “result from embodied carbon associated with construction materials such as asphalt mixture, concrete, glass, and steel. Traditionally, construction materials produce significant embodied carbon emissions due to the energy-intensive processes used to extract, process, transport between supply chain locations, and manufacture those products.”
States Awarded Green Transportation Material Grants
The states receiving the largest grants of $31.9 million each are California, Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
State departments of transportation that were awarded funds from the FHWA’s Low-Carbon … [+]
Varying distributions were granted to the following states: New Mexico ($29.8 million), Hawaii ($28.9 million), New Jersey ($27.8 million), Arizona ($27 million), Mississippi ($26.6 million) and Vermont ($14.5 million).
U.S. Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D) released a Nov. 15 statement supporting FHWA’s grant that will benefit his constituents in Arizona and others. “Funding like this is essential for reducing pollution and mitigating the effects of climate change,” he noted. “As the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, I will continue to advocate for programs like these that modernize our nation’s infrastructure in a safe and sustainable manner.”
To ensure Colorado buys greener state transportation materials its lawmakers enacted legislation requiring the state transportation department to create a new policy by Jan. 1, 2025. The legislation (HB21-1303) is called “Global Warming Potential For Public Project Materials.” It says: “A contractor that is awarded a contract for certain public projects is prohibited from installing any eligible material on the project until the contractor submits an environmental product declaration for that material. If an environmental product declaration is not available for an eligible material, the contractor shall notify the relevant agency of government and install an alternative eligible material with an environmental product declaration.”
Iowa intends to factor in low carbon transportation construction materials into the design of its transportation infrastructure, as outlined in its state department of transportation’s 2024 Carbon Reduction Strategy.
Welcoming the federal funding to Kansas was U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (D). “This grant is about creating good-paying jobs, strengthening our economy, and ensuring a healthier future for generations of Kansans,” Davids said in a Nov. 19 press statement. “By advancing cleaner manufacturing and modernizing construction practices, we’re not only improving our transportation networks but also opening new doors for workers and businesses across our state.”
Michigan will use the grant to create procedures for including and verifying low-carbon materials. It will also seek to “incentivize contractors who may face increased material and labor costs as best practices for these materials are established,” the Michigan Department of Transportation announced.
MDOT officials initially will focus on lowering emissions in concrete and asphalt materials. They also plan to create an emissions’ rating scale for state material sources by collaborating with the Michigan Concrete Association and the Asphalt Pavement Association of Michigan.
EPA’s New Labels for Highway Construction Materials
To assist federal and states buyers as well as other purchasers in making greener choices when procuring transportation construction materials, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in August unveiled a new label program. The goal is to create EPA labels that are similar to nutrition labels on food to identify green construction materials and products.
EPA’s sample (left) of its Environmental Product Declaration for transportation construction … [+]
On Nov. 12, EPA began to offer advisory support to manufacturers and other stakeholders about how to develop Environmental Product Declarations on construction materials.
An overview of steps transportation construction material manufacturers would have to follow to … [+]
Early Stages of Development
These federal and state government efforts targeting transportation construction materials for lifecycle emission reductions are in the early stages of development.
By using their fiscal and regulatory powers, various government agencies are seeking to make changes in the marketplace for the manufacture and sale of transportation materials. Time will tell about the impact of these efforts on climate change and the financial outcome for the businesses that must shift their typical construction products for state roads, highways and bridges to new greener ones.
