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OCMA and Casting Industry
Federal Industry Issues |
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According to OSHA estimates, the average foundry would have incurred over $25,000 in costs to comply with the standard. The American Foundry Society (AFS) estimated it would have cost in excess of $40,000 just to set up an ergonomics program. Either of these estimates would have represented a severe financial burden for Ohio's small and medium-sized foundries.
Fortunately for manufacturing businesses throughout the U.S., on March 6 & 7, 2001 Congress under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) voted to repeal the Ergonomics Standard. President George W. Bush signed the measure on March 20, 2001 and this particular standard is now history.
Tightening of Air Pollution Standards without Congressional Action
OCMA was actively opposed to the proposals to significantly tighten the standards for ozone and particulate matter (PM). OCMA recruited the Chairman of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) George Wolff to address the OCMA membership in January 1997. Mr. Wolff's committee was responsible for providing recommendations to the USEPA concerning changes in the ozone/PM standards. The USEPA virtually ignored their recommendations. OCMA arranged to have Mr. Wolff meet with members of the Voinovich Administration including the director of Ohio EPA, the head of the Departments of Health and Economic Development, and representatives of the Governor's office. The information gleaned from that meeting assisted the administration in their efforts to oppose the proposed standards.
New interpretations of the Clean Air Act by Administrator Browner's staff have led the USEPA to develop additional regulations that will have a tremendous impact upon manufacturers in Ohio, specifically metal casters. The Any Credible Evidence (ACE) rule changed years of interpretation of the CAA and threatens to subject metal casters to frivolous, resource consuming lawsuits by environmental bounty hunters. The Compliance Assurance Monitoring (CAM) rule relegates environmental engineers to paper pushing versus serious efforts to reduce air emissions.
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The metal casting process is a highly energy-intensive process. Efforts to reduce carbon emissions especially by levying a tax on carbon would have a devastating impact on our industry. Major international competitors Brazil, China, and India are excluded from the Kyoto Treaty.
Under the Bush Administration and new head of OSHA, it is too early to determine whether the proposed tightening of the silica standard will move forward. Efforts are under way to convene a conference to discuss the technical difficulties of measuring silica exposure at reduced levels. Importantly, Ohio metal casters should not let down their guard. This issue is not going away so we must remain prepared.
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Two Working Groups were established; Economic & Technical Feasibility (ETF) and Communications. The ETF Working Group focused upon the need for reliable industry data to formulate a defense against enactment of the more restrictive OSHA standard. The ETF will be reviewing data from AFS lab tests in an effort to demonstrate that industry efforts to improve working conditions have been successful. The Communications Working Group is responsible for alerting metal casters to the devastating impact a reduced standard could have upon our industry. Craig Schmeisser is Co-chair of the ETF Working Group with Joy Cole, EBBA Iron. Russ Murray is Chairman of the Communications Working Group and Mike Lenahan is Secretary.
On December 7th, the AFS Government Affairs Committee approved a motion requesting that the AFS Executive Committee provide $50,000 for activities of the Silica Alliance. OCMA members participating on the Government Affairs Committee include, Bill Tordoff, AMSI, Inc., C. Frank DeMeo, General Casting Company, Mike Hamilton, and Jeet Radia, RMT, Inc. Although tight finances prevented full funding of the request, $10,000 in "seed" money was approved.
On January 19, 2000, Marthe Kent, Director of Health Standards, OSHA, announced that the silica standard had been moved from a 2000 priority to a 2001 priority. In September 2000, OSHA postponed indefinitely the stakeholders meetings and put on hold a small business review or SEBREFA panel.
In December 2001, OSHA removed crystalline silica from their regulatory priority list and indicated it would not proceed on the formal rulemaking track. Marthe Kent is no longer employed at OSHA. A consensus standard is now a possibility.
SIC Code Composition of OCMA Foundries
| Gray and Ductile Iron Foundries | 3321 |
| Steel Foundries | 3325 |
| Malleable Iron Foundries | 3322 |
| Aluminum Foundries | 3365 |
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