CalAPA members met with legislators and staff last week in Sacramento as part of the association's State Capitol "Fly-in" to educate lawmakers and others about issues of importance to the asphalt pavement industry in California.

The annual event, held March 19-20, is part of the association's longstanding strategy to reinforce its reputation at the Capitol as the voice of the asphalt pavement industry and a trusted source of credible information for policy-makers. Each year a special emphasis is made to connect with newly elected lawmakers as they find their footing at the Capitol.

The dire state of the state's General Fund finances was a topic of discussion in several of the meetings, as well as asphalt-specific issues, such as Environmental Product Declarations, air-quality rules that impact asphalt plant and fleet operations, and concerns about how funds are being utilized from Senate Bill 1, the $50 billion Road Repair & Accountability Act of 2017 that was intended to address years of neglect of pavement repairs across the state. Pavement rehabilitation or maintenance projects have been fewer than expected so far since SB1 raised fuel taxes ostensibly for that purpose.

The event began with a lunchtime briefing at the historic Sutter Club, a block from the Capitol, conducted by CalAPA's chief lobbyist, Jeff Sievers with Carpenter Garcia Sievers, LLC. Sievers gave an overview of the current climate in the Legislature, issues that are attracting the most attention in Sacramento, and insight into the various legislators that were on the appointment schedule for the two-day event.

Following a busy day of meetings, the delegation returned to the Sutter Club for an elegant dinner with special invited guest, Assemblyman Juan Alanis, R-Modesto (22nd Assembly District), a freshman legislator and rising star in Sacramento. After a successful career in law enforcement, Alanis has taken the same approach of professionalism and integrity to Sacramento. He's a member of the powerful Assembly Budget Committee and the bipartisan "Problem Solvers Caucus."

More meetings were held on March 20, including with new Assembly Transportation Committee Chair Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City (11th District), who peppered the delegation with asphalt-specific questions and appeared satisfied with the answers. A special post-event joint lunch was held with the CalAPA Board of Directors at the Sutter Club to brief board members on the lobbying effort and to review a lengthy list of follow-up actions.

As always is the case with these events, many impromptu encounters took place in the hallways during the Fly-in, including with California Transportation Commission Chairman Carl Guardino, and state Sen. Roger Niello, who was the keynote speaker in January at the CalAPA Annual Dinner held at another elegant venue, the Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles.

For more photos from the CalAPA Capitol Fly-in, visit the association's various social media feeds, including CalAPA's Facebook page HERE. To learn more about CalAPA's asphalt-focused legislative engagement, click HERE.

The Board of Directors of the California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA) took a final vote last week to create a non-profit charitable foundation to support people-centric activities, including workforce recruitment, retention and development. The organization is called the California Asphalt Research & Education Foundation, or CARE Foundation for short.

The entity already has incorporated with the California Secretary of State, and obtained an employer identification designation from the federal government. CalAPA attorneys are in the process of obtaining an official charitable designation from the Internal Revenue Service, a routine matter. The designation will allow donations made to the foundation to be tax-deductible for the donor.

The CalAPA Board of Directors included the establishment of a charitable foundation in its 2022 update of the association's Strategic Plan, seeking to formalize and amplify many activities that have been done over the years by CalAPA, including delivering educational programs, the granting of student scholarships and supporting the work of the Women of Asphalt California Branch.

The CARE Foundation will continue and expand on CalAPA's workforce recruitment and development activities, and its charitable designation will help facilitate fundraising and obtaining grants to support that work. The CalAPA Board of Directors at its Jan. 12 meeting in Los Angeles gave final approval to establishing the foundation, and the creation of the foundation was announced March 7 by CalAPA Chairman Scott Metcalf at the CalAPA Spring Asphalt Pavement Conference in Ontario. He called the foundation the culmination of many years of work to address one of the top challenges for the industry -- a steady supply of qualified workers to take advantage of the variety of high-paying jobs the asphalt pavement industry offers.

Meeting March 20 in Sacramento, the CalAPA Board of Directors gave final approval to the initial members of the CARE Foundation Board of Directors. Those directors include past CalAPA Chairman Scott Fraser with R.J. Noble. Other board members include: Gary Houston with Valero, an expert on helping young people enter the workforce and author of the book on the subject, "The Pie, the Penny, the Pyramid;" Mimi Le with MCK Services, co-chair of the Women of Asphalt California Branch; Crystal Howard with Crystal Waters Consulting, who through her "Project Cornerstone" initiative has developed high-school classroom curriculum about asphalt and other construction materials; and former CalAPA Vice Chair Toni Carroll, who now works for Lawrence Livermore Labs. The foundation board will hold its initial meeting next month.

For more information on the CARE Foundation, including on how to make a donation, contact CalAPA at (916) 791-5044. For information on the Women of Asphalt California Branch, one of the many worthy causes the CARE Foundation was established to support, click HERE.

Pete Grass, longtime president of the Asphalt Institute, a CalAPA partner, announced last week his plans to retire by year's end.

In an e-mail sent March 20 to the Asphalt Institute's stakeholders and partners, Grass said: "I’ve truly enjoyed working with each of you as professionals in our collaborative efforts to advance our industry and work through a myriad of challenges. The people who make up this industry, including our members, supporters, leaders, and staff continue to make this the most rewarding and fun position I’ve ever held."

The Asphalt Institute, a century-old national organization that represents liquid asphalt binder suppliers, has worked closely with CalAPA on a number of national and statewide initiatives, including research, policy formulation, specification and test-method development and revision, construction standards and promotion of best practices in asphalt pavement design, production and placement. Many Asphalt Institute members are also members of CalAPA, and CalAPA last January installed former Asphalt Institute Senior Regional Engineer Bob Humer into CalAPA's "Hall of Fame."

Grass became the Asphalt Institute's 11^th president when he joined the organization in 2001. The Asphalt Institute, based in Lexington, Ky., has more than 125 member companies that include international petroleum asphalt producers, manufacturers, and affiliated businesses. The Institute represents approximately 95 % of the annual North American asphalt production and a growing percentage in overseas markets, giving it the majority voice on binder related issues. Grass is a registered professional engineer in the state of Hawaii, and holds a Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from the American Society of Association Executives. He formerly worked as the District Engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District, among other assignments. He has served on The Road Information Program ITRIP) board of directors since 2003 and on the board of FP2 Inc. since 2004. He joined the Board of the American Highway Users Alliance in 2010.

The Asphalt Institute is one of the founding partners of the Asphalt Pavement Alliance, along with the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) and state asphalt pavement associations (SAPA Inc.), including CalAPA. The APA is the marketing deployment arm of the asphalt industry nationally, and one of its signature initiatives in California has been the promotion alongside CalAPA of the Long-Life (Perpetual) Asphalt Pavement strategy at Caltrans, which has resulted in several high-profile projects and is now included in the Caltrans Highway Design Manual.

Contacted shortly after announcing his planned retirement, Grass told Asphalt Insider: “I’ve truly enjoyed working with CalAPA and the industry’s other state asphalt paving associations as they really add value to our industry. These local associations are vital to the work our industry delivers every day for the traveling public and our nation’s economic vitality.”

Grass shared his insights about industry issues and trends with CalAPA members in a Q&A-style interview with CalAPA's association magazine, "California Asphalt," which appeared in the 2023 forecast issue. That issue can be viewed on-line HERE. His official biography is HERE.

In a photo caption last week of participants in a Women of Asphalt California Branch-sponsored tour of a Pavement Recycling Systems facility in Colton, the company of one participants was stated incorrectly. Mary Mills is with J. Rettenmaier USA. A video of the tour was recently updated and posted to the CalAPA YouTube Page to include additional participants. It can be viewed on-line HERE.

Each week we highlight a word, acronym or other term commonly used in the asphalt pavement industry in California.

PERVIOUS: A bed or stratum of material through which water will move under ordinary hydrostatic pressure. Also referred to as porous asphalt pavements.

Each week we highlight a key point or best practice of interest to asphalt paving crews, inspectors and others working in the field. We welcome suggestions. More tips can be found in our "Asphalt Parking Lot Construction Checklist" HERE. Information on the CalAPA "Quality Paving Certificate" program is HERE.

CALL BEFORE YOU DIG: Call 8-1-1 prior to construction when plans call for any type of excavation so that the location of underground utilities can be verified and marked. More information on the 8-1-1 program in California can be found HERE.

Each week we highlight a term that is specific to climate-change issues related to the asphalt pavement industry. This feature is intended to raise awareness of the asphalt industry's climate-change initiatives and the specialized terminology that goes with them. More information on "The Road Forward" asphalt industry climate initiative can be found HERE.

VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVE: A type of motor drive.

"We prevail, ultimately, by turning toward the light."

– Pete Townshend

We hope you enjoy CalAPA's Asphalt Insider newsletter. We are committed to providing you with the most up-to-date information on technical issues, regulation, news, analysis, people, events and trends in California that is of interest to the asphalt pavement industry and our various agency partners. To subscribe to the newsletter, click HERE. For comments, questions or to suggest a story idea, click HERE.

Sincerely,

Russell W. Snyder, CAE

Executive Director

The California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA)®