March 13, 2007 Volume # 8 Issue # 6

A bi-weekly source for Association news and regulatory and legislative developments affecting the chemical distribution industry.

NACD News - Table of Contents  Rail Security is Hot Issue on Capitol Hill House Passes Pro-Union Bill Cargo Screening Amendment Defeated Legislation Would Require Employers to Pay for PPE RDPVs Being Scheduled Through Third Quarter RDP Workshop - May 1-2 - Baltimore Mandatory NACD Questionnaires Due on Friday NACD Washington Fly-In - May 15-16 NACD OPSEM2007, Nashville, TN, September 19-21 Chemical Educational Foundation    Welcome New NACD Non-Chemical Handler Affiliate, Yukon, Richmond, VA          Calendar of Events          Annual Meeting Updates  Rail Security is Hot Issue on Capitol Hill The issue of rail security has continued to receive significant attention on Capitol Hill over the past two weeks with multiple hearings and mark-up sessions. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and James Oberstar (D-MN), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committtee have introduced two separate versions of the "Rail and Public Transportation Security Act," H.R. 1401 and H.R. 1269, respectively. Both bills are similar to the Senate's S. 184, the Surface Transportation and Rail Security Act, which, in the area of hazardous materials, would establish a rail security research and development program, encourage the use of equipment to track rail shipments of HazMat, require railroads shipping HazMat to develop threat mitigation plans, and require motor carriers of highly hazardous material shipments to have routing plans and wireless tracking and communications abilities. To date, none of the proposals contained onerous provisions such as mandatory re-routing of certain HazMat shipments. However, this may change today when the full House Homeland Security Committee marks-up H.R. 1401. Representative Ed Markey (D-MA) may offer a re-routing amendment during the mark-up. Before the legislation goes to the House floor, the Homeland Security and T&I Committees will need to reconcile their two bills. The T&I Committee has not yet scheduled a mark-up of H.R. 1269. In a related development, the Senate is scheduled to complete consideration today of S. 4, a bill to adopt the 9-11 Commission recommendations. One of the final issues to be resolved in this bill is an amendment to be offered by Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) to require mandatory re-routing of extremely hazardous materials around high-threat and urban areas. The amendment has drawn intense opposition from the chemical industry, the railroads, and even the International Association of Fire Chiefs, who argue that re-routing will add hundreds of extra miles to HazMat shipments, increasing the chances for incidents. NACD is actively opposing this amendment. For more information, contact Jennifer Gibson at jgibson@nacd.com or 703/527-6223, ext. 103. Back to top House Passes Pro-Union Bill As expected, on March 1, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 800, the so-called "Employee Free Choice Act," to allow a simple card check procedure rather than a secret ballot of employees to organize a union in a workplace. The bill passed by a vote of 241-145. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee is expected to introduce the legislation in the Senate in the near future. The business community, including NACD, is prepared to fight the bill in the Senate, where opponents will have the tool of the filibuster to slow or stop its consideration. For more information on this issue, visit the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace Web site at http://www.myprivateballot.com.  Back to top Cargo Screening Amendment Defeated Earlier this month, during consideration of S. 4 to implement recommendations of the 9-11 commission, the Senate, by a vote of 58-38, defeated an amendment from Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) to require all shipping containers bound for the U.S. to be screened at their ports of origin within five years. The House version of the 9-11 legislation, passed in January, contains the cargo screening provision. The Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME), led the opposition to the amendment, stating that technology is not yet available to support such a requirement. The business community, including NACD, is strongly opposed to a mandatory cargo screening requirement because it could cause massive delays in the global supply chain. Back to top Legislation Would Require Employers to Pay for PPE Last week, Representatives Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and George Miller (D-CA), Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee introduced H.R. 1327, to require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to finalize a rule within 30 days of enactment to require employers to pay for personal protective equipment (PPE) for their employees. OSHA began the PPE rulemaking in 1999, but it has been delayed. In January, the AFL-CIO and the United Food and Commercial Workers filed a lawsuit to force OSHA to finalize the rule. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the American Trucking Associations have filed a motion to join as a friend of the court in opposition to the unions' suit. OSHA has until March 19 to respond to the union's lawsuit. Back to top RDPVs Being Scheduled Through Third Quarter NACD's third three-year cycle of RDP Verifications is fully underway. To date, the two verifying firms, Compliance Solutions Group and the Eagle Group have conducted 12 verifications, and they are working with RDPV Administrator Chuck McHugh to schedule additional RDPVs through the third quarter. If your company has been contacted to schedule a verification and does not yet have access to the Web-based RDPV Profile and Protocol, please contact Jennifer Gibson at jgibson@nacd.com or 703/527-6223, so she can grant special access. Also, you can find a wealth of information to help you to prepare for your on-site verification at www.ResponsibleDistribution.com. Back to top RDP Workshop - May 1-2 - Baltimore If your company's on-site verification is coming up within the next few months, one of the best ways to prepare is to participate in the next RDP Workshop, to be held May 1-2 at the Tremont Plaza Hotel in downtown Baltimore, MD. Highlights of the workshop will include small group discussions led by peers with many years of RDP experience on how to implement RDP Policies and Procedures and practical insights into how to prepare for your on-site verification. The registration deadline for the workshop and hotel is April 9. For complete information and a registration form, go to /dist_process/workshops.aspx. Back to top Mandatory NACD Questionnaires Due on Friday The 2006 NACD Membership and Performance Data Questionnaires are due this Friday, March 16. Thanks to the 149 NACD members who have submitted the questionnaire before the deadline. If your company is one of the 88 Regular NACD members that has not already submitted the questionnaire, please make sure this is done by the end of this week. Annual completion of this important questionnaire is a mandatory condition of membership in NACD. The questionnaires can be mailed to the NACD office, faxed to 703/527-7747, or e-mailed to Jennifer Gibson at jgibson@nacd.com. Contact Jennifer Gibson at 703/527-6223, or by e-mail if you have questions or need another copy of the questionnaire. Back to top NACD Washington Fly-In - May 15-16 Invest in the future of your business and the chemical distribution industry by participating in the 2007 Washington Fly-In. The Government Affairs Committee has set a goal of having at least one attendee to represent every state in which NACD member companies operate. This is more important than ever this year with 10 new Senators, 55 new Representatives, and all new committee chairs, some of whom have a history of opposing the chemical industry on important issues such as chemical security and mandatory re-routing of hazardous materials. Register today, so that NACD staff can begin to schedule your appointments on Capitol Hill! For a registration form and program updates, go to /advocacy/washingtonFlyin.aspx. Back to top NACD OPSEM2007, Nashville, TN, September 19-21 Keynote Speaker: Dave Caperton: "Customer Dis-Service". Visit:http://www.goldstars.com/speakers/caperton_dave.html The Exhibitor & Sponsor Prospectus will be mailed next week. Look out for your copy. The Early Bird Booth Deadline: April 16. Sign up at: /events/opsem/exhibit.aspx. Thanks to those who have already signed up: AIG Environmental* Banjo Corporation Brenner Tank C.L. Smith Company –Hazplus Division Custom Metalcraft* Datacor, Inc.* Eagle Group USA, Inc.* ELT Enviro-Sciences (Of Delaware), Inc. J.J. Keller & Associates Inc.* Liftomatic, Inc.* Logisco NSF International Planning & Construction Associates* Precision IBC, Inc.* SCO Logistics, Inc. Snyder Industries Inc. Stewart R. Browne Mfg. Co.* XL Insurance*           *Affiliate Program Participants           Back to top Chemical Educational Foundation Two Illinois YBTC Challenge Sites Announce Regional Winners Winners of the Schaumburg YBTC Challenge: Winner: Parth Shah, 7th grade, Keller Junior High School, Schaumburg, IL 1st runner-up: Chris Pallay, 7th grade, Mead Junior High School, Elk Grove, IL 2nd runner-up: Navdeep Singh, 7th grade, Mead Junior High School, Elk Grove, IL Winners of the Illinois Valley Challenge: Winner: Jack Fillenworth, 8th grade, Mazon-Verona Kinsman Middle School, Mazon, IL 1st runner-up: William Fillenworth, 8th grade, Mazon-Verona Kinsman Middle School, Mazon, IL 2nd runner-up: Kaitlin Maierfhofer, 8th grade, Seneca Middle School, Seneca, IL CEF Names 2006 Lesson Plan Competition Winners Eight outstanding educators were recently named the 2006 YBTC Lesson Plan Competition winners. The winners will be awarded $1000, $500, and $250 in cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, respectively. The school of each 1st place winner will also receive $250 to be spent on educational materials. You will soon be able to view each winning lesson plan on the CEF Web site at www.chemed.org. Scientific Inquiry Winners: 1st place: Karen Skophammer, Manson Northwest Webster School, Fort Dodge, IA, Lesson plan: Pigment Plucking 2nd place: Nancy Fischer, Valle Catholic High School, Ste Genevieve, MO Lesson plan: Family Values: The Periodic Table 3rd place: Gail and Max Feldkamp, Appleton Christian School, Appleton, WI Lesson plan: Pumpkin Properties are a Smash! Structure of Matter Winners: 1st place: Mickie Flores, Canton Central School, Canton, NY Lesson plan: What's the Matter - A Scientific Saga 2nd place: Brendan Casey, Joan MacQueen Middle School, Alpine, CA Lesson plan: Simple as Beans and Rice 3rd place: Dana Ball, Jefferson City, TN It's a Mixed Up world! Safety and Recycling Winners: 1st place: Chan Kam Yuen, Wu York Yu Memorial College, Kwai Chung, Hong Kong Lesson plan: Preparation and Testing on Biodegradable Plastics 2nd place: Julie Warr, Potter Street Elementary School, Bainbridge, GA Lesson plan: Recycling Bottles For more information on CEF programs and publications, please visit the CEF Web site at www.chemed.org or contact the CEF staff by phone at 703/527-6223 or by E-mail at comments@chemed.org. Back to top