US: Congressmen Steve Chabot (Ohio) and Geoff Davis (Kentucky) have sent an open letter to US President Barack Obama regarding his visit to the Cincinnati area in northern Kentucky. Noting that the President chose a ready-mix concrete plant as the location for his remarks, Chabot and Davis have urged the President to support the Portland Cement Association (PCA)-backed Cement Sector Relief Act of 2011 (H.R. 2681) that is currently moving through the House of Representatives.

If enacted, H.R. 2681 would stop the federal government from imposing what the industry and the PCA see as excessive regulations, previously described as 'avalanche' of legislation, on cement manufacturers, threatening thousands of American jobs.

The EPA estimates that just one of the three proposed rules could threaten 12 of the US's 100 cement plants, which represent 11% of the nation's cement production capacity. According to experts at the Southern Methodist University, "Should 10% of the domestic industry disappear the direct, indirect and induced job losses would exceed 15,000. This figure does not include possible job losses in the huge construction sector that might occur in the face of higher concrete prices."