On July 16, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that the Portland Cement Association, which represents America’s cement manufacturers, will receive more than $2.4 million to lead a project that will improve both the quantity and quality of industry Environmental Product Declarations. EPDs are the most widely used tool by cement producers to measure the potential environmental impact of cement.

The project was developed by the PCA, in partnership with the American Coal Ash Association, the Natural Pozzolan Association and the Slag Cement Association. It will significantly boost the number of facility-specific EPDs for cementitious materials, which will upgrade the quality of information available for consumers.

“Getting the EPA’s approval to move forward with this project is representative of PCA’s environmental efforts coming full circle,” said Mike Ireland, the PCA’s president and CEO. “Two years ago, our association advocated strongly for the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which included the most provisions ever to combat global warming.

“The IRA did pass, and today, some of that funding is making this project possible,” Ireland added. “We’ll be communicating more environmental impact data in a more detailed fashion throughout the industry, which should help us to hasten our pace toward carbon neutrality.”

The PCA project is one of 38 grants the EPA announced on July 16 to support the development and verification of EPDs for construction materials and products. The project will entail the PCA distributing up to $1.5 million in grants to eligible manufacturers over the next five years. The association will also provide training and on-call technical assistance to guide manufacturers from EPD development to verification to the final publishing of the information. Additionally, the PCA will help initiate and regularly update industry-average EPDs for cementitious materials.