SGIA Attends SBA Environmental Roundtable Meeting

On April 7, 2017 SGIA attended an environmental roundtable meeting hosted by the Small Business Administration in Washington, D.C. The roundtable focused on pertinent environmental regulations and how they might affect small businesses. First, Niva Kramek from the EPA presented on proposed regulations under TSCA for Methylene Chloride and N-Methylpyrrolidone (NMP). Both of these chemicals are used in paint and coating removal and will be limited for these purposes. Next, the SBA led a discussion on the Trump Administration’s actions to reduce regulations. Executive Order 13771 focuses on reducing and controlling regulatory costs (by removing two regulations before one can be proposed), but does not mention the impact on small business. The SBA stated that regulatory changes can be harmful for small businesses for several reasons. Larger businesses often have more resources to deal with regulatory changes, for instance. Another issue is that business who have already put in time and money to comply with a certain regulation will be at a disadvantage when the laws change – giving a competitive advantage to newer businesses or those who were not in compliance. Finally, it was announced that the EPA will be holding a stakeholder meeting on April 25, 2017. This meeting will provide interested parties with the opportunity to address which regulations they believe should be repealed, replaced, or modified. At the environmental roundtable, attendees did not have concerns about any specific regulations. SGIA will continue to monitor these important policy issues. Sign up to receive the most up-to-date regulatory and legislative information about specialty imaging.