Archives for November 2024

Quarry operators no longer need to submit metals sampling under a recent settlement WTBA and the Aggregate Producers of Wisconsin (APW) negotiated with the Wisconsin DNR.

Instead, a specific set of agreed-upon quarries will submit samples from wastewater discharges.

Quarries that are not participating in the study should not submit sampling data for metals to DNR.

The requirement to do so by January 21, 2025 was removed from the permit as part of the settlement.

When the department renewed the Nonmetallic Mining General Permit in 2022, it added a requirement to sample wastewater discharges for certain metals. WTBA and APW opposed the change and, as an alternative, proposed a study to evaluate the concentration of metals at a representative group of quarries.

Further details on the process and settlement are available in this document provided by APW’s legal team.

The Nonmetallic Mining General Permit expires every five years, meaning this updated version will need to be revisited before Dec. 31, 2027.

If you have questions, feel free to email WTBA General Counsel Jodi Jensen.

State DOTs and contractors should prepare to see Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) goals on some projects fall to 0%, at least for now.

That’s based on new guidance the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued this week related to an ongoing federal lawsuit.

If either of the suit’s two plaintiffs formally file interest in bidding on a project with a DBE goal, FHWA expects the state to lower that specific goal to 0%.

The plaintiffs (Mid-America Milling Company and Bagshaw Trucking) currently work in 25 states, including Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota, however FHWA’s guidance says all 50 states should prepare for this possibility.  While the number varies from project to project, Wisconsin has an overall DBE program goal of 12.42% between 2023 and 2026.

Mid-America and Bagshaw must file their interest in a project within five business days of its advertisement, then the USDOT will notify states within another five days if the goal needs to be removed after the Department of Justice reviews it.

Represented by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), the two companies say the DBE program and goals violate the Constitution by making business decisions based on race.  The program dates back to the Reagan administration in the early 1980s.

In September, a federal judge in Kentucky temporarily blocked DBE goals in any state where Mid-America or Bagshaw do business.

The judge still needs to hear arguments from both sides and make a formal ruling on the case.

The American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) is offering further guidance and can connect contractors with specific states where the injunction has already been in effect.

Email ARTBA General Counsel Rich Juliano with questions HERE.

COLOMA, Wis. — The alarm clocks went off well before sunrise Tuesday morning in Peshtigo.

Yawning, a group of high schoolers was out the door and on the road by 6:30 a.m.

Not a bad way to get a taste of life as a laborer.

“The bus ride was the worst thing, it was two-and-a-half hours,” teacher Dan Vanidestine said.

The 150-mile journey led Dan and his Vocational Studies students to the Operating Engineers Local 139 Training Center in Coloma for the semi-annual Externship Day.

More than 400 students, counselors, teachers, and parents from all over the state joined the boys from Peshtigo that day, the second of three “Externship Days” this week.

There was the chance to climb into a mini excavator, try out heavy equipment simulators, pick up some great insights from an industry panel, and tour the 400-acre facility.

“Really great experience… It’s hands on,” Vanidestine said.  “Kids don’t know what they don’t know, so for them to come and actually get their hands on and get to try it out, it’s very beneficial.”

The Operating Engineers have hosted the program for the better part of a decade, expanding it from two days to three to give the 1,200 attendees more time and space at each station.

The OE139 hosts Externship Day events every spring and fall.

“The smiles on the simulators, the smiles on their faces when they get in the arena and get on the excavator and try it for the first time is pretty rewarding, too,” trainer Kip Gutke said.

The reward reciprocates with many of the students who attend.  Gutke has seen plenty of high school “externs” return for OE139’s growing apprenticeship program and land great paying jobs working for contractors in Wisconsin.

Just this week, Gov. Tony Evers announced Wisconsin reached a new record-high for people working in apprenticeship programs with 17,089 enrolled across more than 200 programs. This year’s total surpassed previous records set in 2023 and 2022.

Wisconsin was the first state in the nation to form a registered apprenticeship program back in 1911.

“It’s exciting.  They’re learning about how to become an operating engineer in a day, in a nutshell,” Gutke said.  “It’s a lot, but it’s well organized, we have a great team here, great staff and we all work together.”

Together, the boys from Peshtigo trudged back to their ride Tuesday afternoon.  After a long but rewarding day, Vanidestine believes their journey is just beginning.

“We got on the bus at 6:30 a.m. and we won’t be back until probably 4:30.  And most of these kids are working in the afternoon, so they’re giving up work time and have to make up schoolwork and they still wanted to come,” Vanidestine said.  “This is top-notch.”