The U.S. stone, sand, and gravel sector is experiencing considerable uncertainty. As the new White House administration and Congress continue to settle into public office, the NSSGA (National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association) is championing its crucial industries on Capitol Hill and with other key regulators. Michele Stanley, the NSSGA’s interim CEO, gives Guy Woodford the inside track on the ongoing work to secure greater clarity for its members and positive progress for stone, sand and gravel business operators in 2025 and beyond.
Michele Stanley and her NSSGA leadership team’s inbox is full. Among pressing priorities for the longstanding and successful stone, sand, and gravel sector advocates is protecting the industry’s position during the reauthorisation of the Surface Transportation Bill (how money gets out to States for roads, bridges, and transit projects) as part of the US$2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), signed into law in November 2021 by then-President Joe Biden. Another big issue is securing vital stone, sand and gravel sector tax reform.
“The Surface Transportation Bill is up for reauthorisation at the end of 2026, and we are already laying the groundwork on Capitol Hill with the committees of jurisdiction and with our members on what we and our members want to see in the next Bill. We want certainty [over the supply of stone, sand and gravel]. There is a lot of uncertainty right now in Washington. For our members to plan and buy equipment and for States to plan projects out, they need certainty over five years. Our number one priority in that Bill is the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund, the pot of money guaranteed for projects. The way it’s set up right now with the Gas Tax, receipts have been going down over the years. It was also never indexed for inflation. We want to see the fund reformed so that the money going into it is sustainable for the long term.”
Stanley notes that Janet Kavinoky, vice president of external affairs and corporate communications at Vulcan Materials Company and an NSSGA member, testified in January this year at the House Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, emphasising in the America Builds: Highways to Move People and Freight hearing the importance of a long-term, predictable funding plan for surface transportation infrastructure, as enabled by the IIJA. Kavinoky also stressed other industry priorities, such as maintaining the Build America, Buy America Act (BABAA) exclusion for aggregates and the need to support core highway programs and the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) authority to administer Federal-aid highway programs.
“Talking to members of Congress, there is uncertainty over whether or not the Trump administration will introduce [trade] tariffs for our materials,” continues Stanley. “We also wonder if funding for some of our [industry-relevant] grant programs will be pulled. On the discretionary spending side of things, there are a lot of questions to be answered. Some of BIL has already been pulled back, including around half of the low-carbon transportation grants going out to States. Programs are being cut without any rhyme or reason. NSSGA plans to continue staying front and centre with members of Congress on these important industry issues and potential effects.”
The NSSGA is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2025. Created by the mutual agreement and merger of the boards of the National Stone Association (NSA) and the National Aggregates Association (NAA), the association’s over 500 company members, including industrial sand businesses, operate 9,500 quarries, employ over 100,000 people, and source more than 2.6 billion tons of aggregates yearly to sustain Americans’ modern way of life and build the nation’s communities.
Focusing on the tax reform the NSSGA seeks, Stanley says: “A lot of the provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act [TCJA of December 2017] are going to expire this year. Many are important to our members, so we have been up on Capitol Hill vocalising their concerns with our champions. We are ensuring that as they put together the next Bill, it will have important provisions for our industry. We want to see an extension of bonus depreciation, the restoration of the R&D tax credit, and the maintenance of the percentage depletion deduction. That is something unique to our industry. We also want the estate tax exemption to be kept at $10 million rather than reverting to $5 million.”
Aggregates Business was speaking to Stanley in early March, shortly before the popular AGG-1 Aggregates Academy & Expo (AGG-1) and World of Asphalt co-located exhibitions (25-27 March) and the NSSGA 2025 annual convention (23-26 March) in St Louis, Missouri. Thousands of visitors are expected to attend the exhibitions, which showcase new equipment and linked technology from 430 exhibitors. Attendees can also take in 120 education sessions staged across three days.
“One of the most important things about AGG-1 is the education sessions our members help put together,” says Stanley. “They focus on all the relevant issues of the day. There are a few sessions on sustainability, and one main focus is optimising efficiency in your operations, along with the digitalisation of the industry and the AI [artificial intelligence] components within that. It is great that our members can get all this education in one place. Exhibitions like AGG-1 are also great for our members to see the best equipment to help their businesses work efficiently.
“The NSSGA annual convention is a really good opportunity for our members to network in a smaller group and to find out what the association is doing and what is happening in the [industry] regulation space. It also helps us learn how best to help our members.”
Are U.S. stone, sand and gravel businesses having difficulties getting permits to extend existing production sites? “Permits are administered at the individual state or local authority level, depending on where you are. We use our state associations to support members on that side of their operations to ensure they have all the right collateral. In the IIJA that passed in 2021, we worked to insert some language that resulted in the creation of the ‘Working Group on Covered Resources’ that would help the Department of Transportation put together some guidelines for procuring and locating aggregate to build new federal highways. It took a few years to get this going, but the list of people who will be on the working group was released in December 2024. We hope this group can meet and start its work after the [U.S. federal administration changeover] pause in stakeholder agency engagement. We hope the resulting guidelines show that the closer aggregate resources are to a federal highway project, the better. That will help with getting permits at a local level.”
Commenting on the industry’s sustainability agenda and the commercial opportunities available to NSSGA members from the greater recycling of construction and demolition (C&D) and other extractive waste, Stanley says: “I think this is driven here by the industry rather than by government, as is the case in some other countries. The state you are in can also largely influence what recycling you are doing and your interest in the topic.
“We are starting a partnership with the Construction and Demolition Recycling Association (CDRA) to try and find more ways to collaborate on this issue. We know that some of our members are recycling and that it will be needed in the future to help preserve reserves. We are also supporting our manufacturing and service (M&S) members on this and trying to develop best practice guidelines around recycled concrete aggregates and other recycling. We have a couple of M&S members, like CDE, that are out front on this, and we want to give them opportunities, like at AGG-1, to talk about what they can offer.
“I think eventually we will need to be having those [recycling extractive waste] conversations with state DOTs and the Federal Highway Administration. The [product] specification will have to change if we use more recycled products.”
Stanley highlights the good work the association and others are involved in in training the stone, sand, and gravel sector professionals of the future. “We partner with other associations representing original equipment manufacturers, like the Associated Equipment Distributors [AED] and its workforce foundation. We also work with the AEM [Association of Equipment Manufacturers] to encourage more young people to enter the industry. Our workforce working group is putting together some ‘Day in the life’ videos for the workforce development page on our website. This will show what the industry is all about and help those applying for, say, a haul truck driver post or a technician role to see how your working day will look. The videos will also give the regular public more understanding that our industry is not dirty and scary. It offers good wages and safe places to go and work each day.
“We are also working to ensure that some federal money going to community colleges is a little more flexible and covers programs for people who want to go into diesel mechanic, electrician or similar work in our industry. We have state associations that work closely with certain colleges and high schools.”
Stanley cites the important work of the MACC Tech (Mining, Asphalt, Concrete and Construction Technology) program in states such as Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. A 12-point industry credential approved by the Ohio Department of Education in 2019, MACC Tech introduces juniors and seniors in high school to the many exciting and great-paying career opportunities in the construction industry. Upon completion of this curriculum, high school graduates are awarded the MACC Tech Industry Credential, signalling that they have completed the necessary courses and applied lessons to be considered for immediate employment in associated career paths, including Aggregates, Asphalt, Concrete, Construction, Transportation, Engineering, and Manufacturing.
How does Stanley think the stone, sand and gravel industry’s increased use of digitalised/AI (artificial intelligence) software-based solutions will change NSSGA member operations? “It helps on the workforce front, automating certain kinds of jobs. These solutions are a necessity for some of our members as they cannot fill all their vacancies. This space has so much innovation, with some of our members doing very interesting things. We are trying to get better collaborations between some of our producers and M&S members. Our engineering and technical committee has created a task force to explore this and ensure everyone gets what they need.”
Before joining the NSSGA a decade ago and her extensive work in the association’s Government and Regulatory Affairs team, Stanley worked for two years in the Government Affairs team at the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA). She also spent a decade working on Capitol Hill for two different members of the U.S. Congress. “Transportation was one of the issues I worked on while on Capitol Hill. I found it very interesting, and it was an area I wanted to work in after leaving The Hill. As they say on The Hill, I wanted to go to the other side!”
Expanding on what she likes about working in the U.S. stone, sand, and gravel sector, Stanley says, “I like that it’s a tangible industry: You can see that our members are building things. You can see where the money is going. I like that you are helping the industry and the public by fixing the infrastructure of the United States. I also like the diversity of the industry. You have people who make the widgets that go into crushers, and then you have big multinational companies quarrying worldwide. The exposure to lots of different kinds of businesses is fascinating.”
When asked about her biggest work frustrations, Stanley replies: “The lack of understanding among the everyday citizen about how important we are and what our members do. We are key to more than roads – all of our buildings, bridges, ports, and other infrastructure needs aggregates and industrial sand. I take it as an opportunity to educate people on the true value of our industry.”
Looking at other opportunities for the NSSGA to progress its vital work in the next few years, Stanley says: “I would like to see more regulatory relief for our members and for the Trump administration to understand our concerns better, especially around the MSHA [Mine Safety and Health Administration] Respirable Crystaline Silica rule. Wayne Palmer is now heading up MSHA and is a metal/non-metal person, which is a positive thing as we will have someone with experience in this area working with us. I hope the Surface Transportation Bill is reauthorised for five years, giving our members certainty. I also hope there will be some certainty on the [trade] tariffs side and for more movement on getting more people to work in our industry.”
