TRAM URGES IMMEDIATE ACTION ON APO TRUCK SAFETY

AUSTIN, TEXAS – In light of the recent fatal Hays CISD bus accident in Bastrop County involving a cement pump truck, Texans for Responsible Aggregate Mining (TRAM) is urging immediate adoption of new local and state policies. The impacts of truck traffic and driver safety remains a poorly regulated aspect of the APO (Aggregate Production Operations) industry.

“The safety implications of increased APO truck traffic cannot be overstated,” said Don Everingham, board member of Preserve Our Hill Country Environment. “We encourage Texans to talk to their elected officials about TRAM’s common-sense solutions.”

The tragic incident in Bastrop County underscores the need for the APO industry to take action to improve safety measures and regulations, especially given the exponential growth in rock-crushing permits, quarries, and aggregate processing plants. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that Texas employed 195,850 heavy and tractor trailer drivers in 2022. California ranked a distant second at 143,155 truckers.

TRAM’s trucking concerns include:

• ●  Third-party drivers, paid by the load. APOs often outsource materials transportation to third-party contract companies. These companies operate on commission-based payments, which can lead to drivers’ focusing on maximizing loads and potentially compromising safety and adherence to traffic laws.

• ●  APOs do not pay their fair-share for road damage. The Center of Transportation Research estimates that a fully loaded 80,000-pound commercial vehicle damages road pavement at a rate of 26 cents per mile driven (not including impact on bridges and overpasses). However, the current Texas fuel tax from 1991 only collects 3 cents per mile. This leaves a 23 cent per mile deficit that taxpayers must cover.

• ●  Truck inspections are not keeping up with increased traffic. Local enforcement groups need to be trained and certified in truck inspections.

• ●  Need for comprehensive drug testing programs and background checks for truck drivers. The recent Bastrop County tragedy underscores the importance of this. Transport trucks are the public’s main interaction with the APO industry. Industry should ensure truck drivers are properly licensed with no prior criminal, drug, and/or driving offenses.

  TRAM members have documented increased accidents in counties where APOs have proliferated, often faster than road safety improvements are made. Similar to State Highway 21, where the fatal crash happened, FM 969 is a state road in Bastrop County that has seen steady increases in commercial truck traffic and related accidents. TXDOT statistics gathered by

Friends of the Land show that commercial truck accidents in the county’s portion of FM 969 doubled in 2022 and 2023, compared to 2021. For the four-year period of 2018 to 2021, a total of 13 truck-related accidents were reported, compared to 19 in the past two years (see attached chart).

In January, the City of Bastrop approved a speed-reduction study recommendation to reduce the speed limit on FM 969 from 65 to 60. Friends of the Land requested the study after FM 969 accidents from all vehicles jumped from 34 in 2020 to 65 in 2023, which included three fatalities.

“FM 969 is an old farm-to-market road with only two lanes and numerous dangerous curves,” says Friends co-founder Skip Connett. “Yet only three of the seven APOs accessing it have put in turning lanes.”

TXDOT acknowledged that FM 969 is inadequate for accommodating the rapid increase in heavy traffic yet says it lacks funding and resources to make necessary safety improvements, even in areas already designated as hazardous, he added.

In light of these concerns, TRAM recommendations to address APO truck traffic include:

1. Implementstate-mandatedrequirementsforTransportationStudiesaspartoftheAPO permit application process, including comprehensive transportation plans, involvement of TXDOT and local counties, assessment of road infrastructure, and plans for managing trucking companies.

2. CollectAPOseverancetaxesattheCountyand/orStateleveltoprovidefundsforroad upgrades, maintenance, and repairs necessitated by the increased truck traffic.

3. IncludespecificlanguageinAPOcontractswiththird-partytruckerstoensurecompliance with state, county, and local regulations. This should include mandatory notification of citations received by truckers and the ability for APOs to terminate contracts for non-compliance.

The rapid growth of the APO industry has resulted in major stakeholder conflicts and concerns across the state, particularly in the Hill Country and metropolitan areas. The impacts of this excessive truck traffic are far-reaching. Quarry Row, an expanding industrial complex in Comal County, has become a focal point for conflicts between APOs, nearby residents, and landowners. Additionally, the extensive mining of sand, gravel, and limestone in the Balcones Escarpment has raised concerns about air particulate emissions, water use and contamination, and surface and groundwater flooding. The lack of regulatory oversight exacerbates these issues.

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About Texans for Responsible Aggregate Mining (TRAM):TRAM is a coalition composed of member groups across the state that seeks to work with lawmakers, state agencies, and good-faith industry operators to create state standards for Best Management Practices in the APO industry and to adopt those standards into law. Its member organizations represent 47 counties, roughly 40% of the Texas population, where APOs have dramatically expanded to meet the region’s rapid growth. Stay informed by visiting www.TRAMTexas.org and following our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages for news updates.

CONTACT: Cliff Kaplan, TRAM Secretary, 512-387-3097, info@TRAMTexas.org

Earth Month Opportunities To Get Involved with BEST, Bastrop Environmental Stewardship Team

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
Skip Connett, Friends of the Land

April 2, 2024 512-949-9830

EARTH MONTH OPPORTUNITIES: SUPPORT THE BEST, BASTROP’S ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP TEAM

Rallying Support For Local Organizations Protecting the County's Air, Water, and Prime Farmland

BASTROP, TEXAS, APRIL 2, 2024 – Earth Month is the perfect time to take action to protect the natural beauty and resources of where you live, especially as Central Texas continues its rank as one of the fastest growing regions in the country.

Several local organizations have been working together and independently to ensure that Bastrop retains the clean air, water and land it depends upon for health, recreation, and economic vitality. This month these organizations are uniting to seek volunteers and donations for Environmental Stewardship, whose mission has been protecting the Lower Colorado River, the aquifers below it, and prime farmland around it for more than 25 years.

In February, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) granted Bastrop resident Richard Martin, a member of Environmental Stewardship, a contested case hearing in the Corix/McKinney Roughs Wastewater Treatment Plant Application pending before the commission. If approved, the permit would increase by 10-fold the amount of wastewater Corix can discharge into the river from its at-capacity plant in the middle of LCRA’s McKinney Roughs Park.

“I feel like I have lost my river,” lamented Martin, adding how it’s rare to catch large fish like he did in years past when the water was much less turbid, silty, and choked with algae.

Lawyers for Environmental Stewardship have cited TCEQ's lack of adequate and timely monitoring on this segment of the river. Wastewater discharges into the river upstream of McKinney Roughs have increased dramatically over the years. They contend that TCEQ has failed to provide data supporting the agency’s determination that the river does not qualify as impaired, which would place restrictions on how new wastewater permitting is approved, including a new wastewater permit request from SpaceX.

Mark your calendars: State of the River Report Next Month -- Join a BEST virtual panel discussion in May (date to be announced) for updates on the latest river water quality assessments and findings. Calsl to Action may include: increased water and air monitoring, updated aquatic life surveys, and county adoption of increased river setbacks for development similar to Travis County. Currently, there are no state-required setbacks or permits required for sand and gravel operations mining in the river's floodplain downstream of the Highland Lakes. A Citizen Advisory Committee on Aggregate Production Operations (APOs) is also being formed so sand and gravel mines moving into the county and impacted landowners can share concerns.

To learn more about how you can get involved with BEST organizations and supporting Environmental Stewardship and its work, see below:

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Environmental-Stewardship, Steve Box

This nonprofit educates and encourages public stewardship by gathering and using scientific information to restore and sustain ecological services provided by environmental systems. Recent accomplishments include: Seeking a contested case hearing to protect the county's section of the Colorado River from excessive pollutants. Contact: https://www.environmental-stewardship.org/author/stevebox/, 512-300-6609, info@envstwardship.org.

Friends of the Land, Skip Connett

Friends of the Land (FOL) is an all-volunteer organization addressing local food security and farmland preservation through innovative land use reform. FOL’s Save Wilbarger Bend campaign seeks to protect this critical organic farming and ecologically sensitive area from sand and gravel mining through conservation easements and agricultural zones like Vermont’s Intervale. Recent accomplishments include: Organizing a community meeting to address dangerous conditions created by sand and gravel mines, including: destruction of prime farmland, dangerous roads, air pollution. Reducing speed limit on FM 969 to 60mph. See:www.friendsoftheland.com, 512-949-9830.

Keep Bastrop Boring, Chap Ambrose

Created by a concerned resident after discovering multiple environmental violations in and around the Colorado River. Keep Bastrop Boring is an environmental watchdog for Space X and the Boring Company and overall advocate for Bastrop County. Recent accomplishments include: a contested case hearing request to protect the river from excessive wastewater impacts on recreation and county aquifers: Contact: www.KeepBastropBoring.com

League of Independent Voters, Linda Curtis

LIV is a 501c4 nonprofit, nonpartisan membership association dedicated to bringing about competitive elections and a multi-party system. livtx.org: contact@livtx.org • 512.213.4511 (no texts)

Simsboro Aquifer Defense Fund, Andy Wier

The mission of the Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund (SAWDF) is to take action to protect and conserve the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in central Texas, as well as the rivers, streams and springs that are nurtured by it, and to defend the rights of those who live over the aquifer and who seek to leave a legacy of sustainable water resources for future Texans. https://www.simsborowaterdefensefund.org/about-us; awier.tx@gmail.com.

Bastrop Interfaith, Warinda Harris

Bastrop Interfaith works with a network of institutions to address issues affecting families. Recent accomplishments include: Leading the fight to prevent a solar farm from destroying 2,000+ acres of trees along Little Sandy Creek. Contact: https://www.centraltexasinterfaith.org/tags/bastrop_interfaith, (512) 916-0100

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County Road Becomes a Deathtrap

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Skip Connett March 14, 2023, 512-949-9830 friendsoland@gmail.com COUNTRY ROAD BECOMES DEATHTRAP Residents Warn Tourists,

Call for Mining Moratorium until Public Safety Assured BASTROP, TEXAS, MARCH 14, 2023 —As bluebonnet season and SXSW begin, neighbors, living along the winding country roads between Austin and Bastrop (FMs 969 and 1209) are warning visitors about extremely dangerous driving conditions caused by a massive influx of 18- wheelers servicing the tunneling, mining, and manufacturing operations that have moved here in the past year. “I agree. F.M. 969 is a deathtrap,” said Bastrop County Judge Gregory Klaus at a recent Commissioners Court meeting. A dramatic rise in accidents, especially those involving commercial trucks in recent years has prompted Friends of the Land, a local all-volunteer farmland protection initiative, to seek a moratorium on all new state permits for Aggregate Production Operations (APOs) until major improvements are completed. Concerns and needed improvements include:

• Exponential increase in traffic for the past two years. TXDOT data show four separate accidents involving a total of four fatalities in December 2022 and January 2023 alone, more fatalities in two months than in the previous 10 years.

• FM 969 has been in constant disrepair as cement trucks and 18-wheelers hauling sand and gravel have damaged 969’s 18-mile stretch of dangerous curves. Four new APOs have opened up on 969 in the past three years.

• Travis County reduced the speed limit of 969 to 55 mph. The speed limit in Bastrop County is 65mph.

• Install warning signs, turning lanes, and yellow warning lights. Most of these high volume operations don’t have acceleration and turning lanes, including Space X and the Boring Company (See www.KeepBastropBoring.com)

Country Road Becomes Deathtrap/page 2 Brenda Jones, whose family has lived in the village of Utley a few miles west of Bastrop for more than 100 years, had just unbuckled her seatbelt to reach into her mailbox when she was hit head-on. “I was parked completely off the road when I heard his brakes screeching,” she recalls of the incident three years ago that threw her out of her car, 10 feet into the air. She landed hard, breaking her arm and spraining her ankle. Her vehicle was totaled as were her mailboxes. Over the next few years these mailboxes would be shattered time and again, including as part of a fatal accident in December and then a multi-car crash a month later. Around the corner on FM 1209, Maura Ambrose, owner of Folk Fibers, has had her mailboxes crushed multiple times too. Then in December, her car was rear-ended as she approached her mailboxes, sited near the new entrance to Elon Musk’s Boring Company. “I was coming home from school with our two children when we were sideswiped,” she says, explaining that the impact deployed her airbags and crushed the length of her car. “As a Mom, this is the most traumatizing thing ever to happen to me.” “Beautiful Wilbarger Bend, an ecological paradise where bald eagles are nesting and where farmers grow food for Austin and Bastrop, needs to be protected,” says Skip Connett, co-founder of Friends. “Our neighbors, who have lived here for generations, deserve to be heard and to be safe. Action taken now will save lives in the future.” Under current state regulations, no public notices or hearings are required for new sand and gravel operations. See Texans for Responsible Aggregate Mining for more info. To insist on a public meeting, please sign this petition. Friends of the Land is an all-volunteer organization addressing local food security and farmland preservation through innovative land-use reform. FOL’s Save Wilbarger Bend campaign seeks to protect this critical organic farming and ecologically sensitive area from sand and gravel mining through conservation easements and agricultural zones like Vermont’s Intervale.