A Seat at the Table

While the U.S. is in the process of choosing our next President, there is plenty of work to be done in Congress. NPMA Legislative Day 2016, scheduled for March 13-15 in Washington, D.C., presents NPMA and its members with an important opportunity to be heard on issues that impact them before the next administration takes over.

This year’s Legislative Day is particularly important because in a Presidential election year hot-button political issues often come to the forefront in Congress. For example, NPMA and its members have been paying particular attention to proposed new overtime regulations and the business implications that come with them (detailed below). The Department of Labor (DOL) proposed rule would raise the minimum threshold to approximately $50,440 annually ($970 per week) in 2016. The final rule is anticipated to be released in summer 2016. With that timing occurring just before President Obama leaves office, Andrew Bray, NPMA director of public policy, said this issue has the potential to become highly politicized. “You will have one side saying this is about ‘closing the income inequality gap’ and the other side saying this isn’t about income inequality — it’s about executive overreach and the bottom line for businesses throughout the nation.”

Against this background of change, and potential change, NPMA Legislative Day 2016 attendees will be visiting their congressional representatives to make the pest control industry’s collective voice heard on important issues, most notably the proposed Overtime Rule and Clean Water Act.

OVERTIME RULE. NPMA has been encouraging congressional representatives to oppose new overtime regulations proposed by the DOL in summer 2015. The regulations are in response to a 2014 directive by President Obama to update overtime rules under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). FLSA guarantees overtime pay at a rate of one and one-half the employee’s regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek. The current FLSA has a salary threshold of $23,660 annually ($455 per week), meaning ANY employee making less is eligible for overtime. Employees making more than the $23,660 annual threshold are eligible for overtime unless they fall under a specific industry exemption (teachers, doctors, lawyers) or the “white collar exemption.” These exemptions include executive, administrative, professional, outside sales and computer employees.

The DOL proposed rule would raise the minimum threshold to approximately $50,440 annually ($970 per week) in 2016. This new proposed level is equal to the 40th percentile of weekly earnings for full-time salaried workers. The threshold will be indexed to maintain the salary threshold at the 40th percentile. The DOL estimated that approximately 4.6 million employees that are currently exempt based on the $23,660 threshold, will become eligible for overtime under the $50,440 threshold. The rule does not propose changes to the current exemptions, including the “white collar exemption,” and the duties test used to determine the “white collar exemptions.” The rule does invite comment on these exemptions specifically, which raises concerns that the exemptions could be changed in the final rule. In September 2015 the public comment period for the DOL proposed rule closed, despite requests to extend the comment period.

NPMA opposes the proposed DOL Overtime Rule for a number of reasons, particularly unintended consequences it may have on the pest control industry’s labor force. Bray said it may cause PCOs to employ more part-time workers and fewer full-time employees. “We think that this rule will actually hurt those very same people that organized labor and some of the proponents of the regulation say it benefits,” he said.

CLEAN WATER ACT. Legislative Day attendees also will be encouraging members of Congress to revisit the newly finalized Clean Water Act (CWA). The original CWA, enacted in 1972, gives EPA the authority to regulate all of the waters of the U.S. (WOTUS), historically defined as “navigable” waters, including interstate waters and territorial seas. On May 27, EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finalized the Clean Water Rule, which expanded the definition “waters of the U.S.” to include “tributaries and waters that significantly affect the chemical, physical or biological integrity of the aforementioned traditional navigable waters.”

Bray said NPMA does not anticipate the expanded WOTUS definition to have a significant impact on those who do structural pest management; however, included in the final rule is language that would maintain the current status quo concerning the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). NPDES is a national permit program that regulates the point source discharge of pollutants and chemicals into waters of the U.S. EPA has delegated NPDES authority to the states; currently 46 of the 50 states regulate NPDES permits independent of EPA. NPMA’s position is that NPDES permits are unnecessary, redundant and a costly burden because pesticides are already reviewed and regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

In August, the Sensible Environmental Protection Act (S. 1500) — legislation clarifying that federal law does not require the redundant and unfairly burdensome NPDES permit for already regulated pesticide applications — was introduced in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Although S. 1500 never made it to the Senate floor last year, in January it was attached as a rider to the Sportsmen’s Act (S.659). Bray said he expects the entire Sportsmen’s Act will come up for vote in the Senate in the next couple months, possibly during Legislative Day. For more information visit http://legislativeday.npmapestworld.org.

Contact the author at bharbison@gie.net.