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SMG I Charts SPI Public Policy Course . . . SPI's Strategic Management Group for Public Policy (SMG I) held its first quarterly meeting of 2005 last week, to begin creation of strategy to further the association's government affairs agenda. Among issues to be addressed aggressively by SPI this year are legislation to insure reliable and affordable supplies of natural gas, measures to ease healthcare costs and attainment of tort reform. Among guests at the meeting was Sean King, special assistant on China policy for the U.S. Department of Commerce Foreign Commercial Service. Also during the meeting, the Group named as its vice chair Gene Steadman of Celanese/Ticona. Steadman, who chairs the Group's Energy Task Force, will work with SMG I Chair Peter Jones of Wexco to help direct the Group's activities. SMG I is one of three SPI member groups that establish the association's program and budget priorities and make recommendations for actions in their respective mission areas to the SPI Executive Board. SMG I currently is working with the association's three Industry Segment Councils to grow its ranks in this critical legislative year. "We encourage SPI member companies to provide representation on SMG I," said Chairman Jones. "We need additional experts in legislative and regulatory matters from all segments of the industry -- material suppliers, processors and equipment manufacturers -- to provide input and direction on public policy efforts on behalf of the U.S. plastics industry." The Group also will reach out to the broad membership in 2005, Jones said, as it builds on last year's "Get Out The Vote" campaign by rallying individual SPI members to encourage their employees to learn more about issues and make their industry's needs known to their elected representatives. "We have a powerful nationwide network of plastics companies," Jones said, "and we plan to provide them with the tools and information they need to make the industry's voice heard in Congress, the White House and statehouses." The next meeting of SMG I will be held March 8, 2005, in conjunction with the SPI Board of Director's meeting in Orlando. SMG I's four-hour session will be an open meeting, and all SPI members are invited to attend. SPI Speaks Out on Energy . . . In an article in "Leadership for Manufacturers" magazine, Gene Steadman of Celanese/Ticona, vice chair of the SPI Strategic Management Group for Public Policy and Chair of its Energy Task Force, joined other manufacturing leaders in calling for solutions to natural gas prices that are wreaking havoc for American industry. In a highlighted comment in the National Association of Manufacturers' publication, Steadman asserted that "[The United States is the] only developed nation that's not developing its natural gas resources for energy" and said the "real answer" is to get gas from known fields "currently off limits and get those hooked up to existing pipelines." Interviewees also agreed that a selection of additional solutions would be needed to fix the fundamental supply/demand gap, including diversification of energy sources and energy conservation. For information on SPI's energy policy and the plastics industry's unique energy challenges, link to the Web at http://www.plasticsindustry.org/public/energy.htm. Journal Relates Coalition's Stance on Natural Gas . . . A recent story in the Oil & Gas Journal outlines the policy goals of the Consumers Alliance for Affordable Natural Gas (CAANG), a coalition of U.S. industrial consumers of natural gas that will submit to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on January 24 a long list of incentives to both reduce demand and expand supplies of gas in order to drive down prices. According to the report, CAANG members, including SPI, say U.S. natural gas prices are two or three times their historical levels-"the highest in the industrial world"-primarily because of government policies that have encouraged use of the clean-burning fuel while restricting producers' access to domestic reserves. "No single policy path can, by itself, close the current [natural gas] demand-supply gap," according to CAANG, thus "to resolve this growing crisis, we need both to reduce demand for natural gas and expand supply." Read the full story on the coalition's policy objectives online at http://ogj.pennnet.com/articles/article_display.cfm?
SPI Member Companies Garner Workforce Grants . . . Three SPI members -- Autegra, Precise Technology, and United Southern Industries -- have received training grants from their respective local Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) that collectively total $118,000. The monies, provided by the Pendleton District WIB of Pendleton, SC, and Region C Job Training Consortium of Rutherfordton, NC, are designated for the training and certification of 90 production workers using SPI's injection molding training and NCP certification. In addition, the monies will be used to administer assessment testing of basic math and reading comprehension skills and to train workers in scientific injection molding, safety, problem-solving and plant maintenance. The training projects will begin in February 2005 and be conducted by several training consultants and in-house trainers coupled with computer-based training. As a Sector Partner of the National Association of Workforce Boards, SPI's workforce department assists companies in identifying and accessing funding for incumbent worker training. Grant monies are allocated to states via the Department of Labor under the Workforce Investment Act and administered by local WIBs. For more information, contact Barbara Darby, (864) 239-2939, ext. 4; e-mail bdarby@socplas.org.
EPA to Modify Toxics Release Inventory Reporting Requirements . . . The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week announced the first of two proposed rules intended to reduce the time and resources needed to submit annual reports to EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). TRI data and information currently are provided to federal officials by nearly 23,000 industrial and federal facility owners and operators nationwide. The first proposed rule, the "Toxics Release Inventory Forms Modification Rule," contains several options that potentially could reduce the amount of time that facility representatives spend each year submitting data and information. EPA predicts the recommended changes to the TRI Reporting Forms will not impact human health or environmental quality, but should enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the TRI program, while continuing to provide the public with the same high level of information about chemical releases and waste management in their communities. The Agency will accept comments on the first proposed revision until March 11, 2005. For more information on the rule or to submit feedback, link to the TRI Web site at: http://epa.gov/tri/tridata/tier3/formsmodrule.html. Spaces Remain for OHEIC Winter Meeting . . . There is still time to register to attend the winter meeting of SPI's Occupational Health and Environmental Issues Committee (OHEIC), to be held January 26-27, 2005, at SPI's Washington, DC, headquarters. In addition to creating strategy around its initiatives for the rest of this year, OHEIC also will be reviewing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Semiannual Regulatory Agenda. Released late last month, the comprehensive report describes the regulations EPA is working on or has recently finished. OHEIC works to promote and protect the interests of the plastics industry in occupational health, safety and environmental matters of industry-wide significance at the international, federal, state and local levels. Membership in the group is open to all members of SPI and to representatives of operating units within SPI. For more information on OHEIC, link to the Web at www.plasticsindustry.org/public/oheic/oheic.htm. To register for the January meeting, contact Marie Martinko, (202) 974-5330; e-mail mmartink@socplas.org. For more information about SPI Link, mailing list additions/deletions, or to receive the publication by e-mail, contact Paula Weis, (202) 974-5282; e-mail pweis@socplas.org. More About SPI: Vision and Mission . Membership . Business Units . Regional Offices . News and Publications . Calendar of Events . Terms and Conditions of Use |
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 © Copyright 2005 The Society of the Plastics Industry.
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Views Sought on Intellectual Property Rights in China . . . The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is seeking input from U.S. industry to help it evaluate China's progress on providing adequate protection of U.S. intellectual property rights (IPRs). In April 2004, after a series of high-level bilateral talks under the auspices of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, China made a series of commitments aimed at strengthening intellectual property protection in its market. In assessing progress made, the USTR now is asking U.S. industry to "provide data on the prevalence of IP rights infringement in China and provide examples of specific individual cases where IPRs in China have or have not been respected." Submissions must be received by the USTR no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, January 31, 2005. Any SPI member that has experienced a violation of its IPRs or is aware of potential violations, is asked to immediately contact Karen Toliver, SPI director of international trade and industry statistics, (202) 974-5333; e-mail 
PFOA Assessment Goes On to Review . . . On January 12, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a draft risk assessment on perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), an important chemical essential to the manufacture of fluoropolymers. The draft report, industry believes, provides added assurance to the public regarding the safety of the polymerization aid, which has been under Agency scrutiny. EPA's draft risk assessment used a margin of exposure (MOE) approach, sometimes referred to as a margin of safety. Under this methodology, higher MOE values represent lower levels of risk. The values in EPA's report -- ranging from 398 to greater than 10,000 -- represent substantial protection of the general population. Thus, the draft risk assessment supports EPA's previously stated position that the Agency "does not believe there is any reason for consumers to stop using any consumer or industrial-related products" made with PFOA. Member companies of SPI have conducted extensive research on the safety of PFOA, much of which is cited in the EPA draft risk assessment, which now will be submitted to a Science Advisory Board (SAB). SPI member companies will provide input to the SAB process, after which the EPA will finalize the risk assessment based on public and SAB comments. Speaking to the Washington Post this week, Charles M. Auer, director of the EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, stressed that the draft report offered no determination of risks. "We are asking the advice of science advisory board to assist in making those kind of scientific judgments," he said. For more information, contact Bonnie Limbach (202) 974-5210, e-mail