National Clothesline

Time is running out for Illinois drycleaners to submit a claim form for eligibility in the state ’s Drycleaner Environmental Response Trust Fund.

In order to qualify for remedial program benefits, all statewide cleaners must submit a claim form, as well as lab results documenting contamination to the Fund prior to June 30 of this year.

Those who fail to meet the submission deadline will be ineligible for future benefits and will lose their Fund insurance coverage, as well.

During a meeting in February, the Fund Council unanimously agreed to begin the prioritization of remedial claims as of April 1. There are over 550 eligible claims altogether; however, the Council plans to have them ranked in order of claim eligibility importance by July.

Also during that meeting, the Council estimated that the Fund would face a $21.5 million deficit based on a figure of 705 potential claims and assuming the current revenue stream remained in effect.

When the Council met again in April, it voted in favor of increasing all license fees in order to offset some of that deficit.

Proposed licensed fees ranged from $1,500 for a drycleaner using 0 to 50 gallons of chlorine-based solvents to $5,000 for any drycleaner using more than 250 gallons.

The Council additionally proposed to significantly increase the remedial program deductible for eligible remedial action costs to $30,000. The previous deductible was $10,000.

The only cost to drycleaners that the Council opted not to increase at the time was the amount of solvent taxes.

Drycleaners who need to obtain application forms for the program should visit the Fund ’s official web site located at www.cleanupfund.org. Just click on the “Applications” link on the lefthand menu on the homepage. Applications are accessible in downloadable PDF formats and are available in English and Korean.

Originally, the Illinois Drycleaner Environmental Response Trust Fund was established by the state ’s legislature in 1997 at the behest of operators of retail drycleaning facilities who were concerned with having enough financial resources available to pay for the cleanup of spills and/or leak from cleaning machines that utilized chlorinated solvents.

The Fund consists of three primary components: a licensing program, an insurance program and a remedial program.

Licensing is mandatory for all retail drycleaning facilities in Illinois and is based on how many gallons of chlorinated solvent is purchased by a plant annually. Initially, the fees ranged from $500 to $4,500.

The second aspect — the insurance program — was designed to provide up to half a million dollars in pollution liability insurance coverage (once a deductible is met) for the cleanup of soil and groundwater contamination caused by a future spill or leak of solvent at the insured ’s facilities.

The remedial program focuses on paying for the cleanup of existing soil or groundwater contaminations discovered after July 1, 1997 and prior to June 30, 2006.

Money for the Fund is raised through the annual licensing fees, insurance premiums for the pollution liability insurance coverage, and a solvent tax that is applied to the cost of each gallon of drycleaning solvent purchased by cleaners in the state.

According to a March 2006 Activity Report released by the Council, 1,755 licenses and 1,114 insurance policies have been issued through the program since its inception.

For more information, contact the Council for the Fund by calling (800) 765-4041 or visit the site at www.cleanupfund.org.

The Minnesota Cleaners Association has enlisted Carrie Armstrong of Ecolab to teach a Laundry 101 seminar at 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 22.

The event will be held at the Martinizing plant at 680 W. 92nd St. in Bloomington, MN.

Some of the topics to be covered include: chemistry; time; temperature; mechanical action; chemicals; loading; procedures; and products (brand neutral). There will also be a question-and-answer session following the seminar.

The cost is $25 for MCA members and $30 for non-members. Refreshments will be provided for attendees.

Registration forms are available in PDF format on MCA’s web site at www.minnesotadrycleaners.org. More information can also be acquired by contacting Amber Bullock at (952) 426-1670 or e-mail: amber@minnesotadrycleaners.org.