The bill increases fines for safety violations by $30 million for the years 2008 to 2012, and $60 million in the years 2008 to 2017.

The bill also places the National Transportation Safety Board in charge of assisting families of rail accident passengers, as is the case with aviation accidents.

Real Men at Pennsy Wear Pink

Pennsy Supply employees on Oct. 15 paraded four pink cement mixer trucks from City Island, Pa. to downtown Harrisburg, Pa., to raise awareness and show support of breast cancer. October was National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The ceremonial parade ended with the presentation of a $5,000 pink check to the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition (PBCC), money that was raised by Pennsy Supply employees. The ceremonial parade was part of the first-ever “Paving PA Pink” campaign, which Pennsy created to benefit the PBCC. The campaign began with a grand kick-off on Sept. 1 before the Senators vs. Reading game at Commerce Bank Park. Since then, Pennsy featured the pink trucks at various company events to garner additional support from employees and clients.

The company created the campaign Web site, www.pavingPApink.com to provide information on the campaign, including stories of courage from Pennsy employees, as well as detailed instructions on how to make a donation to the cause.

News Briefs

EPA: Aggregate Stormwater a Priority

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) has issued its national enforcement priorities for 2008-10 and has identified stormwater problems from aggregates operations and ready mixed concrete plants as one of OECA’s three main focuses for storm water enforcement, according to a National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association Washington Watch & eDigest report.

The others include homebuilding construction and big box store construction. According to EPA, many construction and aggregate companies operate nationwide in multiple states, and EPA has the ability to take enforcement actions that address these companies on a national basis, according to the report. The government agency also says that it has the ability to provide consistent and widespread compliance assistance to these sectors.

Cemex Constructing $400 Million Facility

Monterrey, Mexico-based Cemex plans to begin the permitting process for the construction of a 1.9 million-short-ton cement manufacturing facility near Seligman, Ariz. The official public announcement came on Sept. 19.

Cemex says it will invest approximately $400 million throughout five years in the Seligman Crossing Plant, which is expected to become operational by 2012. The state-of-the-art facility will manufacture cement to serve the growing needs of Arizona, including the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Mergers & Acquisitions

The acquisition of Florida Rock Industries, Inc. by Vulcan Materials Co. was finally completed on Nov. 16, 2007. Total consideration for the acquired company approximated $4.2 billion, based on the closing price of Vulcan stock on Nov. 15, 2007. The acquisition further diversifies the geographic scope of Vulcan’s operations into higher-growth markets while also providing more than 2 billion tons of incremental reserves.

On Nov. 19, 2007, U.S. Concrete, Inc. announced the sale of its Knoxville, Tenn., and Wyoming, Del., operations to Oldcastle Materials, Inc. Total revenue for the sold assets approximated $34 million for the 12-month period that ended in September 2007. Oldcastle paid $16.5 million in consideration for the operations, and no other terms or conditions were provided.