National Clothesline

With recent regulatory actions squeezing the industry on both coasts, the International Fabricare Institute believes a concerted effort from all cleaners is needed more than ever.

On August 21, the IFI called for the first “solvent summit” meeting in Long Beach, CA, on the heels of California Cleaners Association’s annual convention.

In all, about 30 attendees met in hopes of generating strategies to combat the threat of legislative landslides against drycleaners.

“There is an unprecedented level of attacks by government on virtually every solvent used by our industry, and we need to be unified as never before,” IFI CEO Bill Fisher said.

At the meeting, manufacturer, supplier and drycleaner representatives alike agreed to put personal agendas on the back burner for the benefit of every cleaner, regardless of what solvent they prefer to use in their plant.

By the end of the day, two committees were formed. The first was a legislative and regulatory committee created to investigate methods for improving the industry’s standing with government agencies, and, ultimately, to preserve the livelihood of all cleaners.

Michael Tatch, president of Tatch Technical Services, agreed to serve as chair.

He was joined by Fisher, Jon Meijer and Mary Scalco from IFI; Steve Risotto of Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance, Inc.; Dave Dawson of R.R. Street & Co.; Sandra Giarde of CCA; Nora Nealis of National Cleaners Association; Steve Langiulli of Columbia/ILSA Machines Corp.; Dennis Whang of The Drycleaners Times; and Jim Schreiner of Adco, Inc.

The committee will face an uphill battle as regulatory actions in New Jersey and California are currently calling for a complete phase-out of perc from all drycleaning operations within the next 16 years.

The New Jersey DEP has proposed a phased tightening up of the types of perc machines allowed, with a total phase-out planned by the year 2020.

The legislative and regulatory committee plans to maintain a dialog with NJ DEP in hopes the government agency will reconsider imposing the perc ban.

The committee also discussed the possibility of legal action in the future, as well as trying a political approach, such as hiring a lobbyist to exert political pressure.

Meanwhile, on the opposite coast, the governing board for the California Air Resources Board recently rejected an evaluation from its own staff stating that an outright ban on perc drycleaning was unfeasible and impractical.

Instead, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) is moving forward with a phase-out of perc cleaning operations. Under the current plan, all perc systems will be gone by 2022.

Another looming roadblock facing the industry is the Federal EPA’s proposed changes to the perc NESHAP, which seek to prohibit new co-residential perc locations and eventually ban all existing locations.

Some believe such a ruling is the first step down a slippery slope for cleaners that could result in more abundant and stringent regulations down the road.

At the summit solvent meeting, participants discussed how an improvement of the drycleaning industry’s image is paramount if cleaners want to receive any kind of regulatory relief.

The consensus was that regulation problems are not limited to perc cleaners alone as any bad public perception aimed toward the industry affects all cleaners.

Several individuals present agreed to serve on a second committee which will seek to improve the industry’s public perception.

Jack Belluscio of Caled Chemical will be chairman. Also serving will be: Gary Dawson of Belleair Cleaners, Trudy Adams of Cleaner’s Supply, Lynnette Watterson of Crystal Cleaning Center, Barry Gershenson of Sterling Westwood, Insun Yun from the Federation of Korean Drycleaning Associations, Jim Douglas of GreenEarth, Jan Stevenson-Johnson from the Southwest Drycleaners Association, Tami Bradley of Clean Inc., Andy Tirpok of Tirpok Cleaners, and Jay Calleja from the International Fabricare Institute.

One particular point of concern was the industry’s own promotional in-fighting methods that seek to praise one solvent technology at the expense of another. The committee believes that any advertising that disparages a competitor will contribute to damaging the reputation of all cleaners collectively.

In an effort to improve public perception, attendees at the solvent summit proposed consideration of a type of state by state licensing program for drycleaners that establishes a minimum level of competency. The idea is to eliminate bad operators who continually give a black eye to the industry.

Another idea proposed was for some industry companies to develop an effort to encourage drycleaners to use their products more responsibly, similar to the Chemical Manufacturers Association’s Responsible Care program, or the alcohol beverage industry’s efforts to encourage its customer base to exercise good judgement towards alcohol consumption.