Pursuing Barton bill sponsors
30 are signed on. More are needed.
As Congress takes its summer break, it's prime time for meeting with representatives in home districts
The pursuit of cosponsors for the Barton bill (HR 1711) got a boost just before Congress began its summer break in August as eight more members of Congress signed on, bringing the total number of sponsors to 30.
The pursuit of cosponsors for the Barton bill (HR 1711) got a boost just before Congress began its summer break in August as eight more members of Congress signed on, bringing the total number of sponsors to 30.
With many members of Congress in their home districts during the month of August, cleaners were being urged to contact their representatives and seek their support for the bill. The results of that effort won't be known until Congress gets back to work, but Rep. Joe Barton, who introduced the legislation in May, has said that 100 co-sponsors would be needed by the end of summer to convince House leaders there is enough backing for the bill to proceed with hearings.
Barton reiterated the importance of cleaners taking grassroots action to build congressional support for the bill at a press conference in Washington, DC, on July 25.
"I need the help of drycleaners around America," he said. "Local drycleaners should contact their member of Congress during the August Congressional recess and ask him or her to co-sponsor my legislation."
"With the support of local representatives from around the country, we can get the legislation passed quickly," he continued. "No one is a more effective advocate for this legislation than the local small business people who are being hurt by the current law."
Barton's legislation, officially called the Small Business Remediation Act but commonly referred to in the drycleaning industry as "the Barton bill," would tie cleanup standards for drycleaning solvents in soil and groundwater to the OSHA standard for workplace exposure to the same solvents.
That would alleviate the problem now facing the industry which results when EPA's cleanup standards for drinking water are applied to soil and non-drinking water cleanup. Since EPA has no standards for those types of contamination, the drinking water standards are often adopted making cleanups extremely costly.
"We cannot continue to force small businesses to pay to make dirt as clean as drinking water," Barton said. "The current federal standard has created this problem and now the federal government must correct this problem. That is what my legislation will do."
Barton's proposal, formally named The Small Business Remediation Act, would set the cleanup standard for drycleaning solvents in soil and groundwater at one-tenth the amount allowed by OSHA in the workplace.
Currently, the OSHA standard for perchloroethylene, the most commonly used drycleaning solvent, is 100 parts per million which would lead to a cleanup standard of 10 parts per million. OSHA is likely to revise its workplace exposure standard downward in the next year, possibly in the range of 10 parts per million. That would produce a cleanup standard of 1 part per million, still more readily achievable than the 5 parts per billion level.
To build nationwide support for the Barton bill among Korean drycleaners, the Korean American Cleaners Association of New Jersey sent letters calling for Barton bill support to Korean cleaners around the country.
Cleaners were asked to sign the letters and return them to the association, which in turn would forward them to Congress. Some 200 letters were returned and Tae Hee Han, president of the New Jersey association, presented them to Marshall Miller of the Baise & Miller law firm.
At the July 25 press conference, President Han and Rep. Barton exchanged plaques of mutual appreciation. The association recognized Barton for his service to the community and made him an honorary member of the Korean American Cleaners Association of New Jersey. Rep. Barton presented a Congressional Certification of Recognition to Han.
The New Jersey association sponsored the press conference and 18 members of the association attended.
Also attending as co-sponsors of the campaign were representatives from the International Fabricare Institute, the Baise & Miller law firm, the Federation of Korean Drycleaners Association's the Mid-Atlantic Cleaners and Launderers Association, and the Korean Drycleaners Association of Greater Washington.
Commenting on the Barton bill at the press conference, KACANJ President Han said the "drycleaning industry is facing environmental problems caused by clean-up standards that go beyond what is reasonable and necessary to protect the public and the environment. The Barton bill will reduce the cleanup cost considerably and protect he drycleaning business as well as the environment."
Press conference attendees included Bill Fisher Mary Scalco, and Sam Choi of IFI, Barbara Harvey and Earl Knight from MACLA; Marshall Miller and Charlotte Giddings of Baise & Miller; Back Kyu Choi, president of the Korean Drycleaners Association of Washington, Chun S. Shin, chairman of the board of the FKDA and Max Oh, an advisor to FKDA.
After the press conference, IFI hosted a luncheon at its Silver Spring, MD, headquarters for the participants where Fisher and Han exchanged plaques of appreciation and underscored the importance of unified industry action to move the Barton bill in Congress. Fisher said the work of KACANJ in organizing Korean cleaners for the campaign is vital to the success of the effort.
Grassroots action
Meanwhile, efforts to mobilize the industry on the grassroots level were continuing outside of Washington. The Fabricare Legislative and Regulatory Education group has activated its grassroots network of volunteers in on behalf of the Barton bill with the goal of contact every drycleaner in the United States by Sept. 30 to explain the need for the Barton bill and encourage cleaners to write or call their representatives in Congress.
Last month FLARE's volunteer state directors received a package of material that included a copy of the legislation, a summary of the bill and how it would protect cleaners from excessive cleanup costs, arguments in favor of the bill and responses to arguments in opposition to the bill.
In a cover letter sent with the material, FLARE said: "We need to show Congress our importance and our unity. Unified members can make for a convincing argument, or to look at the flip side, congress will not waste its time on us if we lack unity and commitment."
The Michigan Institute of Laundering and Drycleaning (MILD) has been conducting a series of local meetings around the state, inviting cleaners come and learn about the Barton bill and encouraging to participate in efforts to get it passed.
Part of the MILD campaign includes raising money for the campaign. MILD is asking Michigan cleaners to pledge financial support and by late August had received $40,000 in commitments from cleaners.
MILD executive director Merry Bering said that cleaners who are unable to donate money can still do important work. "I have a list of things they can do," she said. That includes to writing letters representatives. MILD has letters that cleaners can use and will help any cleaners find the name and address of the representative.
Personal contacts are the key, Bering said. Two Michigan representatives have signed on as co-sponsors of the Barton bill -- Fred Upton and David Camp -- and Bering said that personal contacts "made the difference in both cases."
She is hopeful that several more members of the Michigan congressional delegation will add their names to the list.
Of the 29 cosponsors signed on as of Aug. 21, eight are Barton's fellow Texans: Democrats Martin Frost, Silvestre Reyes, Ralph Hall and Gene Green, and Republicans Pete Sessions, Kevin Brady, Lamar Smith and Henry Bonilla.
Three Virginians, all Democrats, have added their names to the list since the bill was introduced. They include Owen Pickett, Norm Sisisky and Virgil Goode.
Also among the Republican cosponsors are Michael Crapo and Helen Chenoweth of Idaho; Ron Lewis and Jim Bunning of Kentucky; J. D. Hayworth, Bob Stump and John Shadegg of Arizona; Jon Christensen and Bill Barrett of Nebraska; George Radanovich and John Doolittle of California; Doc Hastings of Washington; Frank Lucas of Oklahoma; Todd Tiahrt of Kansas; and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
