Registration is open for the 2024 CalAPA Spring Asphalt Pavement Conference & Equipment Expo, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, March 7-8 in Ontario. The comprehensive program is the most diverse in the history of the conference, now in its 10th year. Details an on-line registration can be found HERE.

Some of the hottest topics in the world of asphalt pavements today will be on the program, including sustainability, recycling, Environmental Product Declarations, the use of rubber, fibers and plastic in asphalt mixes, eTicketing, and an eye-opening presentation by a national expert on how Artificial Intelligence technology is already impacting the industry.

Back this year is the tradeshow floor, outdoor equipment displays and a gala reception. There are ample sponsor opportunities. Special group discount pricing is available, as well as an early-bird rate exclusively for agency personnel who register before Feb. 23.

The national perspective will be provided by Buzz Powell, Ph.D., P.E., Technical Director of the Asphalt Pavement Alliance, which he recently joined after a long career at the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) at Auburn. He'll provide an update on how new knowledge is informing changes to pavement specifications, test methods and construction best-practices.

Noted national EPD expert Amlan Mukherjee, a highly rated presenter from last year's CalAPA EPD Symposium in Sacramento, will back with more insight and practical information about EPDs as they continue to grow in prominence.

Caltrans District 8 Director Catalino A. Pining III is a scheduled speaker, as well as Cathrina Barros, chief of the statewide Caltrans Office of Asphalt Pavements. Dr. John Harvey with the University of California Pavement Research Center will provide the latest practical on research into the use or rubber in asphalt mixes, and Erik Updyke with the SB1-supported City & County Pavement Improvement Center, will provide essential tools and resources critical to any local agency trying to stretch their pavement maintenance dollars. The timed agenda of topics and presenters is HERE.

A legislative leader who played a key role in the passage of SB1, the $50 billion Road Repair & Accountability Act of 2017, announced she is running for governor last week.

Toni Atkins, who served as Assembly Speaker and later in the top leadership position in the state Senate, made the announcement Friday and joins a growing field for the 2026 election to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom when he is forced to leave office by term limits. (She is pictured last year in Sacramento with CalAPA Executive Director Russell Snyder, left, and CalAPA Legislative Committee Chairman Steve Ward with Pavement Recycling Systems).

The former member of the San Diego City Council was first elected to the Assembly in 2010. She rose to Majority Leader in 2012 and in 2014 was elected by the Democratic caucus to be Speaker of the Assembly, serving through March of 2016. She introduced a package of bills in 2015 intended to address the declining state of the state's transportation network.

"California cannot have a strong middle class or a thriving economy if our roadways are congested and people and goods cannot move efficiently," Atkins famously told the California Transportation Foundation policy forum Feb. 4, 2015 as reported at the time in the California Asphalt Insider newsletter. "We now need to look ahead to fix the future."

Although her measures ultimately did not make it through the Legislature that year, they were widely credited with moving the issue to the front burner of the Capitol policy debate. Then-Gov. Jerry Brown called a special session of the Legislature focusing on transportation infrastructure in 2016, and although it also did not bear fruit the momentum carried into 2017, when the Legislature passed Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair & Accountability Act that raised fuel taxes to raise more than $50 billion to fix roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure.

Atkins ran for and won a seat in the state Senate in 2016, and became State Senate President pro tempore in 2018, the highest leadership position in the Senate. She is the first legislator since 1871 to hold the top posts in both the Assembly and the Senate, and is the first female and first LGBTQ Senate president pro tem in state history. In her time in the Legislature she has interacted numerous times with CalAPA members on infrastructure issues, and earned a reputation as a champion for infrastructure investments.

Although the election to replace Gavin Newsom as governor will not be held until 2026, Atkins joins a growing field of candidates that includes Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, and California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. Former state Controller Betty Yee has also said she plans to run, and state Attorney General Rob Bonta has expressed an interest in seeking the post.

The CalAPA Environmental Committee reminds members that new requirements by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) covering off-road diesel vehicles took effect Jan. 1.

The new rules ban adding vehicles to fleets with Tier 3 engines, and a ban on adding vehicles with Tier 4 Interim Engines. Large fleets (with total horsepower exceeding 5,000) and medium fleets (with total horsepower between 2,500 and 5,000) are banned from adding vehicles with Tier 4 Interim engines as of Jan. 1. To be added to those fleets the engines must be classified as Tier 4 Final.

A renewable diesel mandate also took effect on Jan. 1. Under the new rule, fleets are required to use only renewable diesel in their off-road fleet or submit to arduous recordkeeping requirements showing the fuel is not available. The fleet's responsible official is required to sign an affirmation that the fleet complies with this requirement annually.

Large fleets are now banned from operating vehicles with Tier 0 engines unless those vehicles are reported as low-use and meeting the hour limitations of the low-use provision.

For more information on the CARB off-road diesel regulations, click HERE.

Longtime Asphalt Institute Senior Regional Engineer Bob Humer was inducted into the CalAPA "Hall of Fame" on Jan. 12 as an "Honorary Member" at the CalAPA Annual Dinner and Awards Program. A story about that event appeared in last week's Asphalt Insider HERE. After the event, the following note was received from Humer to the CalAPA offices addressed to CalAPA Executive Director Russell Snyder:

"It was a great honor for Sari and I to attend and be recognized at the CalAPA 2024 Annual Dinner. I have always taken pride in working with you, with Brandon (CalAPA Technical Director Brandon Milar), the CalAPA Members and the other five States I served in the Western Region. It must be said here that nothing in our field gets done without significant Industry and Agency teamwork. All that was achieved was thanks to the dedicated professionals I had the opportunity to work with. Led by CalAPA we are respected for our engineering professionalism. I am thanking all who came from far and near to celebrate with me our achievements, and especially those on the podium who bestowed this honor upon me. Thank you for a memorable evening."

Humer is pictured on stage accepting the award and joined by, from left to right: Jim St. Martin, Don Goss, Roger Smith, Len Nawrocki and Bob McGennis with HF Sinclair of Arizona. Additional photos from the event have been posted to the CalAPA Facebook page HERE.

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

SPECIFIC GRAVITY: The ratio of the weight of any volume of a substance to the weight of an equal volume of water at 4 degrees Centigrade taken as a standard.

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.

RECORD RETENTION AFTER PROJECT COMPLETION: Take a final photograph of the site for your records and retain all records from the project including: copies of all truck delivery tickets and record of all the temperature recordings and compaction readings you took during the project.

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.

SLAG: Stony ore waste, a byproduct of smelting. 

"The level of our success is limited only by our imagination and no act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted."

– Aesop

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, 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

California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA)®