Geosynthetics April/May 2020 - 53

paper rather than a specification. In July
1998, GMA presented AASHTO with the
white paper "Geosynthetics in Pavement
Systems Applications." A further attempt
to move away from technical issues was
unsuccessful when the same AASHTO
committee requested the industry make
another attempt to develop a specification for geogrids. Again, the result
was a report known as GMA White
Paper 11: "Geosynthetic Reinforcement
of Aggregate Base/Subbase Course
of Pavement Structures," published in
June 2000.
In 2000, GFR magazine became
t he of f ici a l public at ion of GMA
and remains so today under the new
name Geosynthetics.
Giovanni Capra was elected chair in
2001 and served two two-year terms ending in 2005. Under Capra's guidance,
GMA continued to build on the membership growth enjoyed under Luna. The
membership was now at 45 and included
the majority of manufacturers and large
distributors of geosynthetics. The executive council grew to eight members
by adding GSE, represented by Ernie
English, and LINQ Industrial Fabric,
represented by Sean Kiniry. GMA continued to focus on market promotion and
education. GMA contracted with TRI to
develop a Geosynthetics Handbook.
There remained a need for a technical
presence within GMA. In 2003, discussions with Dr. Robert Koerner began
regarding becoming the "technical arm"
of GMA, and the GMA Techline was
launched, monitored by Koerner.
By 2004, GMA had gained significant
membership and an aggressive agenda.
Chair Capra began an initiative to develop
a long-term strategic plan for GMA. The
plan identified the need to compete with

traditional construction materials at a
policy level within the U.S. government. It
also recognized the need for more education regarding the proper use of geosynthetics. During that year, Ernie English of
GSE replaced Capra as chair. After a short
time as chair, English resigned due to
work commitments, and John Henderson
from TenCate Geosynthetics was elected
chairman. Henderson's tenure began a
major shift in the activities of GMA away
from specifications and promotions to
an aggressive government-relations program. The new era of lobbying and government relations will be reviewed in
subsequent issues of this column.

GMA happenings
By Fred C. Chuck

U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency coal
combustion residuals
proposed revisions
A proposal addresses the deadline to
cease receipt of waste for unlined surface
impoundments managing coal ash. It
includes the following:
A court-mandated change in the
classification of compacted-soil-lined
or "clay-lined" surface impoundments
from "lined" to "unlined," which means
that formerly defined clay-lined surface
impoundments would no longer be considered lined units and will need to be
retrofitted or closed. In addition, pursuant to the court's decision, the revisions will specify that all unlined units
are required to retrofit or close, not just
those that have detected groundwater
contamination above regulatory levels.

Save the date: GMA
spring Lobby Day
GMA continues to make significant
strides toward increasing the industry's
exposure in Washington, D.C. Many
members of Congress are now advocating for our industry, in large part,
due to GMA's lobbying efforts along
with the support and involvement of
GMA members. It is critical that GMA
members continue to inform members
of Congress about national issues affecting companies within their districts
and states. Topics at this year's Lobby
Day will include the Water Resources
Development Act and transportation/
infrastructure funding legislation.
Join your colleagues May 12-13 in
Washington, D.C.

Save the date: New York
State Department of
Environmental Conservation
waste containment seminar
This is the fourth installment of a successful series of technical seminars
regarding landfill design seminars that
has been developed to provide attendees with an enhanced working knowledge of the current state of practice and
standard of care relating to the proper
design, construction and construction
quality assurance (CQA) of doublelined landfills. The seminar will be held
Sept. 15-16, at the Crowne Plaza in
Syracuse, N.Y. G

>> For more, search GMA at
www.GeosyntheticsMagazine.com.

www.GeosyntheticsMagazine.com

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Geosynthetics April/May 2020

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