The campaign kicked off with television ads running during the Sunday talk shows and will continue running for three weeks with cable, radio, and online components. Ads can be viewed at www.fasterbettersafer.org/home/ad-campaigns.html.

The ads were timed to run before the March 31 expiration of the latest extension of the current surface transportation bill — Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).

“While there are significant differences between the packages, there is strong bipartisan momentum driving these efforts,” the NSSGA says in its legislative update, noting that the organization and its coalition partners will continue pushing the Senate and House to pass reauthorization bills and send it to a conference committee that will reconcile the differences.

The first official stop of “The Road Connection” kicked off in Washington, D.C., during the 2012 Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) Summit as part of a year-long national tour designed to bring about positive change in America’s transportation system.

The Road Connection is a campaign driven by KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens and supported by industry organizations designed to spotlight the need for infrastructure funding and increase pressure on government to fund road construction.

Throughout 2012, KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens plan to travel the highways and interstates to all corners of the nation and host and attend dealer stops, demo days, open houses, and industry tradeshows. The Road Connection truck was slated to first be on display at the AGG1 Aggregates Forum & Expo which was held in mid-March in Charlotte, N.C.

U.S. Supreme Court refused to widen the scope of the Federal Clean Water Act

All nine justices on the U.S. Supreme Court have refused to widen the scope of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA).

In PPL Montana, LLC v. Montana, the Court unanimously declined to expand the definition of what is considered “navigable” under federal law, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). The ruling removes a roadblock that could-have needlessly delayed transportation improvements.

ARTBA joined with eight other industry associations in filing a brief, urging the Court to overturn a lower-court holding that the entire span of three rivers in Montana was “navigable” because certain remote sections are used for recreational purposes.

For purposes of transportation development, once something is considered “navigable,” it is under federal control and subject to the permitting authority of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps).

An expanded definition of “navigability” could have resulted in a scenario where the EPA and Corps would have the option of exerting jurisdiction over roadside ditches, potentially adding years to an already expansive review and approval process for transportation infrastructure projects that are needed for increased mobility and improved safety.

The full text of the association’s brief can be found in the “current advocacy efforts” section of www.artba.org.

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