The U.S. House of Representatives has passed H.R. 203, which establishes a pilot program to assist small business with burdensome federal regulations. The bill authorizes the use of $5 million annually for the program.
Administration Committee Chairman Bob Ney, R-Ohio, said the bill would help small business owners focus on their customers and not unnecessary paperwork.
The funds will go to the Small Business Development Center programs in 20 states. The money will allow the centers to provide technical assistance and information to small business owners who may be unaware of federal regulations they must follow.
In a related area, the House also passed H.R. 2666, which will provide grants to the Small Business Development Centers for technical assistance to secondary and vocational schools.
A bill to clean up contaminated industrial sites will include language exempting small businesses from financial liability. In April, the U.S. Senate passed S. 350, a bill approving the cleanup of contaminated industrial sites. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a similar measure - H.R. 1831, Superfund liability - exempting small businesses from cleanup costs. Now the two houses are considering environmental legislation that would incorporate both bills.
The Oxygenated Fuels Association filed suit against California after Gov. Gray Davis banned the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). A federal court ruled California did not violate the Clean Air Act by banning MTBE. Gasoline refiners have been using MTBE to make cleaner burning fuels required by the Clean Air Act. MTBE has been found to contaminate drinking water supplies. Twelve states are planning to phase out MTBE.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may have to scrap its national model to track regional haze. There are problems with the model tracking system between the regional planning organizations (RPO) and the EPA. The RPO and EPA cannot agree on whether or not the method being used to track haze is sufficient enough for some of the regions. The EPA's regional haze rule requires states to submit plans for dealing with haze by 2008. At a meeting with the RPO, the EPA released its model that includes meteorological and emissions data to project how local and transported emissions affect the area. The regional planning organizations were dissatisfied because the model isn't sufficient for each region. The EPA and RPO will have another meeting to try to reach a compromise.
A federal appeals court has rejected a property owner's claim that the former property owner was liable for cleanup costs under the Superfund law. The present property owner sued the former property owner for cost recovery due to cleanup of contaminated waste that had seeped into the groundwater. The court found the former owner took no active role in contributing to the contaminated waste. The court case is good for property owners because it helps protect them from future liability claims.
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AutoInc. Magazine ® Vol.XLIX, November 2001
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Copyright © 2001 Automotive Service Association (ASA). All rights reserved.