Capitol Corner

Bush's budget proposal

On Feb. 4, the Bush administration formally released a proposal for the fiscal year 2003 federal budget. The administration is seeking $2.13 trillion in overall spending for the fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, and sent its budget request to Congress to begin the appropriations process by which federal agencies and programs are funded.

According to The Washington Post, Bush's budget would cut funds for some youth job-training programs but would increase funding for Job Corps by $73 million. NRCA is conducting a pilot program with Job Corps in Callicoon, N.Y. (For more information about the NRCA/Job Corps Roofing Training Program, see "Training for skills and success," June 2001 issue, page 32, or visit NRCA's Web site, www.nrca.net.)

Bush's budget would increase federal spending by 9 percent over fiscal year 2002, but when defense, homeland security and economic stimulus are removed from the budget formula, the growth figure drops to 2 percent. This means many agencies and programs would see their budgets cut, frozen or only grow slightly. For example, Bush is seeking a reduction in Environmental Protection Agency spending from $7.9 billion in 2002 to $7.6 billion in 2003. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's budget would be cut by 1.3 percent from the 2002 level to $437 million.

Superfund reform legislation

In a victory for NRCA, on Jan. 11, President Bush signed the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfield Revitalization Act (HR 2869) into law to reform the program administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) known as Superfund. Superfund is the common term for a 1980 law designed to clean the nation's toxic waste sites; small-business owners, including roofing contractors, claim it has caused undue litigation. For purposes of this law, a small business is classified as having no more than 100 employees.

Thousands of small-business owners who legally disposed of refuse and, in the case of roofing contractors, roofing debris as long as 20 years ago have been cited by EPA and bigger polluters for cleanup costs. This new law is an important first step toward protecting small businesses from unwarranted Superfund litigation. It states an entity is not responsible for costs associated with a cleanup at a Superfund site if the entity disposed or arranged for disposal of less than 110 gallons (418 L) of nonhazardous liquid or less than 200 pounds (90 kg) of nonhazardous solid material before April 1, 2001.

If a private party files a lawsuit against a small business despite the small-business exemption under this law, the plaintiff must pay costs associated with the small business's defense.

Indoor Air Quality and blacklisting rules ended

NRCA tallied more victories when the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) formally withdrew its proposed Indoor Air Quality rule and the Bush administration formally revoked revisions to the Federal Acquisition Regulation, known as the blacklisting rule, which governs contractor responsibility. Both rules were created during the Clinton administration and vigorously opposed by the business community.

On Dec. 17, 2001, OSHA withdrew its Indoor Air Quality proposal and terminated its rulemaking on the matter. Citing progress by public and private employers in curtailing smoking in the workplace and a lack of evidence to support a rule to regulate contaminants unrelated to tobacco smoke, OSHA decided to forego issuing a rule and stated that it will devote its resources to other projects.

NRCA opposed the rule because of the issue of OSHA creating a list of contaminants that could have included roofing kettle fumes and dust from roof system tear-offs.

On Dec. 27, 2001, the Bush administration formally revoked the Clinton administration's blacklisting rule, which would have allowed federal contracting officers to disqualify contractors from participating in federal projects if a contractor had been accused of violating virtually any federal agency or law. The rule was intended to clarify the existing requirement that contractors must have satisfactory integrity and business ethics records before taking on government projects. But the rule contained no due-process provisions and would have allowed the suspension of a contract based merely on allegations of wrongdoing.

Craig S. Brightup is NRCA's vice president of government relations.