Legislative Day '98

Close to 600 attendees participated in the event, sponsored by the National Pest Control Association, which centers around the industry’s annual trip to Capitol Hill to meet elected officials, express gratitude for their past efforts, and communicate the issues of the day. “Legislative Day is a well organized way of getting the pest control industry’s ideas and thoughts communicated to the legislators who make important decisions,” said John Gedeon Jr., president of General Pest Control, Cleveland, Ohio. “By participating in events like this, we have a chance to impact rules and regulations that can affect our way of doing business, and our ability to conduct business.”

It was the largest turnout ever for the two-day event. In addition, 63 children participated in the first ever Kids Legislative Day. The entire program was described as an overwhelming success by the association’s executive vice president, Rob Lederer.

“I’ve been doing this for 20 years,” said Lederer, “but have never been part of an educational event that has received so much positive response and enthusiasm as this Legislative Day. We always try to plan an event like that,” he added. “This one just happened to be a home run.”

Highlights of the program included keynote addresses by Former Senate Majority Leader and presidential candidate Bob Dole; Former Director of the Office of National Drug Policy and Education Secretary William J. Bennett; and CNN talk show host, Robert Novak. The addresses were sponsored by FMC Corp., Dow AgroSciences, and Bayer Garden & Professional Care, respectively. Dole, who drew a standing ovation from the crowd, returned to the event to socialize with PCOs during the Legislative Day Reception.

During Kids Legislative Day, children of all ages toured a number of landmark sites, including the Smith-sonian Institute, the White House, the National Archives, the Capitol Building, and the Supreme Court. They also met with Dole and Bennett, and during a highlight of the program, were also asked to introduce themselves to the general membership during a lunch seminar.

THE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA. This year, the industry’s legislative objective was to communicate concerns surrounding the implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act. The Act, passed in 1996, amended the nation’s two main pesticide laws, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Under the provisions of FQPA, the EPA must, within the next 10 years, re-assess registrations for all pesticides based upon the health-based standards set under FQPA. In order for registrations to be approved, the EPA must determine there is a “reasonable certainty” that the product does not pose a harm.

To make this determination, the Agency will consider all “aggregate exposure” from dietary, drinking water, and non-dietary residential sources, as well as “cumulative exposure” from products with common modes of toxicity. In addition, an extra safety factor may be added for children. For implementation, the EPA must devise new risk assessment procedures, and must also consider new pesticide data that has not previously been necessary for registration. In turn, Congress granted the Agency permission, via “data call-in authority,” to compel industry to generate the necessary data for EPA.

According to the NPCA, early indications are the EPA does not plan to use its “data call-in authority,” but instead may elect to use very conservative default assumptions about pesticide exposure and usage information. But using these exaggerated assumptions may ultimately result in the unnecessary and unwarranted loss of pest control products, especially those used in structural pest control.

“All indications are that the EPA has no intention of looking for that data,” said Bob Rosenberg, NPCA director of government affairs. “We know they don’t have the data and we know they haven’t asked for it, and the longer they wait the more difficult it will be.”

Legislative Day attendees were charged with explaining this situation to lawmakers, as well as communicating the industry’s position. PCOs expressed their support of the law but also communicated the need for EPA to use sound science and real-world data in assessing risks posed by pesticides. The NPCA supports the implementation of FQPA, based on the best information available and real-world data.

“The issue was to get members of Congress to contact the White House and the EPA and urge them to exercise the data call-in authority which EPA has,” Rosenberg said, “and to use sound science in the registration decisions they make.” According to Rosenberg, while the necessary data doesn’t now exist, the EPA has the authority to compel manufacturers to produce it. Without this data, Rosenberg adds, the risks associated with pesticide use will be grossly overestimated, resulting in the “wholesale loss” of products used in this industry. The point is to prevent the EPA from arbitrarily eliminating classes of chemicals without scientific data, and from making decisions that are not based on valid, sound science.

“We’re confident that if EPA goes forward and fully implements FQPA using sound science and real data, we’ll be satisfied with that,” Rosenberg said. He pointed out that PCOs were effective in communicating the issue to Congress. “We’re expecting there will be dozens, even hundreds of letters sent to EPA and the White House,” he said.

INVESTIGATION DISCUSSION. This year’s program also offered an additional benefit along with the usual menu of legislative issues. Immediately prior to the official kickoff of the program, the association held a closed-door, industry-only “Good Business Practices Symposium” to discuss issues surrounding the current FTC/state investigation of the termite control market.

According to Lederer, the association held the meeting as a service to its members. “We are trying to be proactive, both as an association and as an industry,” he said, “and to provide valuable information to our members to not only upgrade the professionalism of individual companies, but also to be responsive to concerns expressed by the Federal Trade Commission.” Lederer also pointed out it is the association’s responsibility to make sure the industry is responsive to the concerns being raised by the investigation. The subject matter presented included discussions about pretreats, sales and advertising practices, and termite control contracts, Lederer said. Due to the sensitive nature of the information provided, the NPCA has asked the media to refrain from publishing specifics from the meeting until the information is finalized.

Although the NPCA had some concerns as to how the symposium would be received, feedback from attendees was positive, Lederer said. “We were extremely nervous about the industry’s response to the depth of information we were providing,” said Lederer. “We were thrilled with the evaluations we received back.” Lederer explained the information provided was designed to help member companies change their practices to keep up with changing times.

“The industry over the last 10 years has changed tremendously since the loss of chlor-dane,” Lederer explained. “Our members need to change their business practices as a result.” Lederer added that he felt it was important that PCOs were exposed to this information in a way that would keep their best interests at heart. “We have tried to control the process very carefully,” he said, adding that the association’s main concern was trying to balance providing this information while also minimizing the risks of providing that information.

Meanwhile, the overall success of the meeting, along with the importance of the information presented, has convinced the association to team up with state associations in sponsoring a live satellite broadcast in which the information would be shared with PCOs in close to 30 cities across the United States. As of press time, the broadcast was being planned for early April.

PCOs who attended the Good Business Practices Symposium were very positive about the outcome and the information provided. “I thought the meeting was particularly timely and very helpful,” said Judy Dold of Rose Exterminator Co., Northbrook, Ill. Dold is currently serving as secretary of the association. “I was pleased to see that there was such a representation from all areas of the country,” she added, “and also that there was representation from a variety of sizes of businesses.”