Proponents of two separate legislative proposals designed to cure the industry's Superfund-related ills have agreed to support each other in future attempts to resolve clean-up liability issues.
The two plans, known formally as the Small Business Fabricare Coalition Proposal and the Small Business Remediation Act, take different approaches to the same problem, namely that of how drycleaners can handle the cost of cleaning up soil and groundwater that has been contaminated with perc.
An agreement to work together on a unified position was announced in Houston during the Texas Laundry and Drycleaning Association show Feb. 9-11. The International Fabricare Institute board of directors, meeting in Houston during that time, decided to support the Small Business Remediation Act, also known as the Barton Bill.
Supporters of the Barton Bill, many of whom opposed the Fabricare Coalition proposal, have in turn agreed to now support a modified version of the Fabricare Coalition proposal that calls for a moratorium on private party claims to give states a chance to develop cleanup programs.
Since it was introduced last fall by Congressman Joe Barton, the Small Business Remediation Act has gained support in the industry, particularly in Barton's home state of Texas, but there has been some confusion in the industry over whether the two proposals are complimentary or competitive.
The Fabricare Coalition proposal relies primarily on a surcharge on solvent purchases and a per-plant assessment to build a fund that would be used to pay for cleanups. In exchange for paying into the fund, plant owners would be freed from liability under Superfund or third-party lawsuits.
Barton's Small Business Remediation Act addresses the problem by revising the cleanup standards, tying them to OSHA's maximum exposure level for drycleaning plant workers rather than the levels set out by the Safe Drinking Water Act. Proponents believe such a change would protect most drycleaners from costly cleanups.
Congressman Barton spoke on behalf of his legislation at the TLDA convention, urging cleaners to make personal contacts with their representatives if they want to see the legislation succeed.
Letters, phone calls, faxes and e-mail are helpful, he said, but the most effective way to support legislation is to meet directly with representatives in their home district, either during personal appointments or at town meetings.
"If we can get a hearing and have bi-partisan support, the bill has a good possibility to get attached to a larger bill or go as a stand alone," Barton said.
HR2522 would make EPA use "good science" in setting cleanup standards, he said.
"In Washington, a light is beginning to dawn that it is OK to do common sense things," Barton noted.
His bill would have EPA set cleanup levels based on 1/10th of the workplace exposure standards set by OSHA. Based on OSHA's current workplace exposure standard, that would be 10 parts per million. That compares to EPA's current cleanup level of 5 parts per billion which is based on standards sets out in the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Barton Bill supporters say this would take 90 percent of cleaners out of the need for any cleanup and make cleanup for the other 10 percent much less costly.
At best, the 90-percent figure is only an estimate since no one has actually surveyed the extent of contamination from perc used in drycleaning plants. That number could be further affected if OSHA lowers the permissible exposure level for perc, which it has indicated that it may do soon.
Barton said the drycleaning industry's cleanup liability problems center on a "rigid EPA bureaucratic insistence on standards for soil contamination that are based on the standard for drinking water."
The congressman said he could not support the Fabricare Coalition proposal that calls for a solvent surcharge because, as far as he's concerned, it is a tax.
"I have a perfect record of not voting for tax increases," he said.
That opinion is shared widely enough in the current Congress that no tax increase can be passed, he believes.
Barton also said that it is a mistake to try to attach industry-sponsored legislation to the Superfund bill.
"If I owned a drycleaning plant, I wouldn't want to be associated with Superfund," he said. "It is bad public relations. People will think it is unhealthy or dangerous."
Since it was introduced in October, HR2522 has been referred to several subcommittees. Barton said the key now lies with the Subcommittee on Health and Environment, chaired by Rep. Michael Bilirakis of Florida.
Barton said Bilirakis is interested in meeting with drycleaner consituents to get their views on the legislation and he is also interested in holding a hearing on the bill.
Companion legislation has not been iintroduced in the Senate. He said getting the legislation through the Senate shouldn't be hard if strong, bipartisan support is developed in the House.
"We also need to get President Clinton and EPA to agree to at least not oppose the bill," he added.
Date created: 2/15/96 Last modified: 2/15/96 Copyright © 1995, Blind Squirrel Hal Horning hhorning@pond.com