Concrete and Asphalt Innovation Act of 2025
The Concrete and Asphalt Innovation Act of 2025 is a broad, technology- and market-focused bill to lower greenhouse gas and copollutant emissions from cement, concrete, asphalt binder, and asphalt mixture production while boosting U.S. competitiveness and domestic resilience. It creates a dedicated research and development program led by the Department of Energy, launches two Manufacturing USA institutes focused on low-emissions cement/concrete and asphalt binder/mixtures, and uses federal highway funding and procurement tools to accelerate adoption of low-emissions materials in infrastructure. The bill also calls for strategic planning, interagency coordination, technical assistance, and standardized measurement and disclosure (such as environmental product declarations and lifecycle assessments) to guide markets and track progress. If enacted, the act would increase federal investment in R&D for cleaner cement and asphalt production, promote pilot demonstrations, and provide incentives and support for states to adopt and buy low-emissions materials for highway projects. The overarching aim is to reduce the lifecycle emissions associated with construction materials while maintaining or improving performance, durability, and cost-effectiveness, ultimately strengthening domestic production and job growth in a cleaner, more sustainable supply chain.
Key Points
- 1Establishes a Federal Low-Emissions Production Research Program under the Department of Energy to develop, demonstrate, and commercially deploy technologies that cut greenhouse gas and copollutant emissions in cement, concrete, asphalt binder, and asphalt mixtures. Focus areas include carbon capture, alternative materials and processes, energy efficiency, waste minimization, copollutant reduction, high-performance computing for design and optimization, and retrofitting existing plants.
- 2Creates two Manufacturing USA Institutes (one for low-emissions cement/concrete and one for low-emissions asphalt binder/mixtures) to standardize testing, centralize data, train the workforce, quantify embodied emissions, and coordinate with the DOE research program. These institutes must collaborate with the broader R&D program and be able to assist states with testing and data dissemination.
- 3Federal Highway Administration grants to states to advance low-emissions highway materials, including reimbursements for incremental cost, incentives for procurement, and technical assistance to adopt performance-based specifications and to benchmark embodied emissions. A publicly accessible directory of eligible low-emissions materials is required, along with a process for states to submit and gain approval for inclusion.
- 4Advanced Purchase Commitment program allowing states to purchase or guarantee the price for innovative, domestically produced low-emissions cement, concrete, asphalt binder, or asphalt mixtures, including multiyear contracts with producers. This is intended to stimulate innovation and longer-term emissions reductions.
- 5Requires a broad interagency Task Force for Concrete and Asphalt Innovation to coordinate across DOE, DOT, EPA, DOD, GSA, NIST, and other agencies. The act emphasizes lifecycle analyses, environmental product declarations, codes and standards updates, and stakeholder engagement to align federal actions with market adoption and international standards development.