NACD News - Table of Contents
Legislative and Regulatory Updates Responsible Distribution Networking and Education
Legislative Update – NACD Releases 2010 Advocacy Roadmap With the first session of the 111th Congress coming to an end, NACD has released an updated version of its Advocacy Roadmap for 2010. The amount of legislative and regulatory activity in 2009 on issues like chemical security and climate change that could negatively impact the chemical distribution industry was unprecedented. Unfortunately, the year 2010 promises to be just as bad, if not worse, with a major effort to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) added to the list. If you have not done so already, please check out the 2010 Advocacy Roadmap today to see descriptions of the issues that Congress will consider in the coming months and how these actions could impact your businesses. The Roadmap also lists ways that you can get involved in order to protect your company from these legislative threats. You can find a copy of the Advocacy Roadmap at www.nacd.com/advocacy. Back to Top Regulatory Update – EPA Report Finds NACD Members Continue to Reduce Emissions Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that chemical distribution companies as an industry had one of the lowest average releases of toxic emissions per facility. This information is part of the just-published U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2008 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Public Data Release Report. According to the EPA’s report, chemical distribution companies reported an average release of toxic emissions per facility approximately 75% less than the textiles industry, and 90% less than the plastics and rubber industry. Also, NACD member companies, through their participation in the Responsible Distribution Process (RDP), had a per facility disposal average that was 18 % less than non-NACD member companies. The TRI report, in addition to NACD’s 2008 Membership Performance and Data Report, demonstrate that member companies, through RDP, are leaders in workplace safety and environmental protection. To view more information on EPA’s TRI report, click here www.epa.gov/tri/tridata/tri08/national_analysis/index.htm. Back to Top Legislative Update – Senate Committee Approves Rail Competition Bill Last Thursday, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee approved S. 2889, the Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act, by voice vote. This legislation, introduced by Senator John Rockefeller (D-WV) and several other members of the Commerce Committee on December 16, would improve rail competition by requiring major railroads to quote “bottleneck rates,” set standards for “reciprocal switching” and “terminal access” rates, and create a process for parties to challenge “paper barriers.” It would also increase Surface Transportation Board (STB) scrutiny of future railroad mergers for competitive, service, and environmental effects and would strengthen STB oversight of the railroad industry by updating rail transportation policy, giving the STB independent investigative authority, and creating a rail customer advocate to help resolve shippers’ concerns. In addition, S. 2889 would improve shippers’ access to regulatory relief by reforming the processes by which rate complaints are resolved, requiring railroads to provide service standards to shippers, requiring the STB to review current class exemptions for unregulated railroad traffic, and by setting lower fees for filing complaints at the STB. NACD supports S. 2889 as well as legislation that has been approved by the Senate and House Judiciary Committees to eliminate the railroads’ antitrust exemption. It is likely that the STB reform and railroad antitrust measures will be combined and brought to the Senate floor together in 2010. For a detailed summary of S. 2889, go to http://commerce.senate.gov/public/_files/STBREAUTHSUMMARYDOC121709.pdf. Back to Top Legislative Update – Senate Leaves Town Before Extending Tax Provisions On December 9, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 4213, the Tax Extenders Act of 2009. This bill includes a one-year extension of the research and development (R&D) tax credit, other limited tax measures for businesses, several provisions to encourage the use of renewable energy, and several measures for individuals. The R&D tax credit and several other measures are scheduled to expire on December 31. Although the Senate will stay in session through Christmas Eve to vote on the health care bill, the tax extenders bill is not on the agenda for this week, so if the R&D tax credit is to be renewed, it will have to be done retroactively in 2010. Back to Top Regulatory Update – ITA Issues Updated Results on Chlorinated Isocyanurates Antidumping Investigation On December 14, the International Trade Administration (ITA) published a notice in the Federal Register regarding its administrative review of the antidumping duty order on chlorinated isocyanurates from China. This order covers all chlorinated isocyanurates. In response to comments from interested parties on the preliminary results, the ITA has made changes to the margin calculations, so the final results differ from the preliminary results. The ITA intends to issue assessment instructions to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) next week regarding the importer-specific assessment rates for merchandise subject to the review. The ITA also states that the December 14 notice also serves as a final reminder to importers of their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation of the relevant entries during this review period. For a copy of the Federal Register notice, go to http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-29731.pdf.
Back to Top Regulatory Update – U.S. Patent Office to Expedite Review of Green Technology Patents Earlier this month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office of the U.S. Department of Commerce announced a pilot program to accelerate the examination of certain “green” technology patent applications. According to the Commerce Department, the purpose of this initiative is to “accelerate the development and deployment of green technology, create green jobs, and promote U.S. competitiveness.” Patent applications are normally taken up for examination in the order that they are filed. The average pendency time for applications in green technology areas is approximately 30 months to a first office action and 40 months to a final decision. Under the pilot program, for the first 3,000 applications related to green technologies in which a proper petition is filed, U.S. PTO will examine the applications on an accelerated basis. The agency anticipates that this willl reduce the time it takes to patent these technologies by an average of one year. The U.S. PTO intends to publish a notice in the Federal Register shortly with more details. For more information on the initiative, visit www.uspto.gov/news/pr/2009/09_33.jsp. Back to Top RDP Webinar: Carrier Selection Plan to attend NACD's Carrier Selection Webinar on January 7, 2010 at 11AM (EST)!
Join RDP Director, Mike Lang, and National Tank Truck Carrier's President, John Conley, for a special webinar presentation on Carrier Selection. Issues such as carrier safety and fitness, security, regulatory compliance, and more will be reviewed. A question and answer session will follow the presentation. Online registration is now open at Carrier Selection.
Back to Top Regulatory Update – New Heads for DHS Infrastructure Protection and OSHA in Place Earlier this month, Todd Keil took over as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection (ASIP). In this position, Keil will oversee all programs to prevent, mitigate, and respond to threats to the nation’s critical infrastructure, including the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS). Before joining DHS, Keil was a senior consultant for the Welsh-Sullivan Group, where he managed risk, security, and vulnerability assessments in the aviation area. Prior to his private sector work, Keil spent over 22 years as a U.S. Foreign Service agent, where he specialized in diplomatic security services.
On December 3, the Senate confirmed the nomination of David Michaels to head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Prior to joining OSHA, Michaels was Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. He also served as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environment, Safety and Health during the Clinton Administratio and has strong support from the labor community. In 2008, his book, Doubt is Their Product: How Industry's War on Science Threatens Your Health, was published.
Back to Top Great Results About NACD Members! NACD member companies made 5.2 million chemical distribution shipments, were responsible for 81 billion pounds of delivered product, and drove more than 199 million miles in the distribution of these chemicals throughout 2008.
These increases are remarkable in a down economy. NACD members operated lean this past year and were consistent in delivering timely products safely. A continued commitment to safety was demonstrated again in 2008. While miles driven rose over 2007 numbers, NACD member companies reduced reportable vehicular accidents or spills by an astonishing 75.7%, and recordable injuries due to vehicular accidents or transportation spills decreased by 46.2% from 2007, according to the 2008. NACD member companies make a delivery every 6 seconds with a fatality rate twice as low as DOT’s target goal.
To review the report, click 2008 Membership & Performance Report and scroll down the page. Back to Top OPSEM2010 - August 18-20, 2010, Austin, TX Mark your calendars for the new OPSEM date - August 18-20, 2010 in Austin, Texas.
We realize this is vacation time and we want you to bring your familIes to OPSEM. Tour actvities for the entire family will be available as part of the program. Participants will stay at the Hilton Downtown Hotel, which is a 4-diamond hotel, located in the heart of downtown Austin - so no rental cars will be needed!
The OPSEM Committee will start developing the program on January 15. In the meanwhile, we welcome your suggestions regarding potential speakers or session topics. Also, if any local member or Affilate companies would like to offer tours of their facilities to OPSEM participants, please let us know.
Contact Roselle Foley with any suggestions by January 4 at rfoley@nacd.com.
Back to Top The Annual Meeting Survey Winner Is... Congratulations to Jay Brown from G.S. Robins and Company. Jay will receive a complimentary golf registration for the 2010 Annual Meeting at La Quinta Resort & Club, La Quinta, California, November 29 – December 3, 2010.
Thank you all for giving us feedback so that we can plan another excellent program for you next year.
Back to Top Security Exercise Opportunity – DHS Seeks Industry Participants for National Level Exercise During the week of May 17-22, the Department of Homeland Security will conduct National Level Exercise (NLE) 2010. The purpose of this event is to test and validate incident management capabilities, particularly information sharing processes, of the private sector and government agencies during an improvised nuclear device event. DHS is seeking participants from the chemical industry for the event. The exercise will allow facilities to test how they would handle a significant terrorist incident, even though it may not have a direct impact on them initially. For instance, should "dirty bombs" be detonated anywhere in the US, it is certain that DHS would require chemical facilities to take measures in case there were multiple events or other coordinated attacks. Consequently, companies and facilities can use the exercise to test their crisis management and security response plans, using the information provided by DHS during the actual exercise as real-time inputs for their internal drills. In addition to testing their own procedures, participating facilities would receive all e-mails generated during the incident and would be asked to participate in daily conference calls during the week-long NLE event.
If your company would be interested in participating, please contact NACD Vice President of Government Affairs, Jennifer Gibson, at jgibson@nacd.com or 703/527-6223, ext. 3047. Back to Top |
