United States Department of Transportation
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Challenges in Meeting Data Needs for Use of Environmental Product Declarations in Pavement Design and Construction: State of Practice and Future Scope
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2020-02-01
[PDF-785.68 KB]
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Abstract:The work presented in this report is part of Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) ongoing efforts to support the development of datasets that will provide convenient access to comprehensive, reliable, and transparent lifecycle inventories for highway construction materials. The FHWA Sustainable Pavements Program has been working toward applying a lifecycle-assessment (LCA) methods for evaluating environmental impacts associated with pavement design and construction and has produced a framework that addresses the fundamental goal and scope of conducting pavement LCAs. This framework has laid the foundation for the development of product category rules (PCRs) for pavement construction materials and use of environmental product declarations (EPDs) in communicating the impacts of cradle-to-gate LCAs. While this framework is a step in the right direction, it has exposed various challenges associated with producing consistent PCRs and using EPDs to reliably communicate environmental impacts of pavement construction materials. This report documents these challenges and classifies them within technical and organizational contexts. In addition, this report documents the requirements of the recently passed California Assembly Bill (AB) 262 and the experience of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) as it prepares to address the challenges of adopting EPDs in practice as an implementing agency for AB 262 and as it prepares to pilot requiring EPDs for a wide range of pavement materials. This report concludes with suggestions to best address identified challenges and to facilitate the smooth adoption of EPDs.
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