ADVOCACY
ASA Codes and Standards Director Jim Kendzel (left) and ASA Government Affairs Director Steve Rossi power ASA’s Advocacy team, working closely with ASA volunteer leaders on critical initiatives in the legislative and codes and standards areas. Photo by Bob Levy/ASA.
Speaking with one voice
ASA’s Advocacy team works to protect our members’ ability to build successful and profitable businesses. By Jim Kendzel, MPH, and Steve Rossi One critical membership benefit that sometimes flies under the radar is the work the American Supply Association Advocacy team does in the government affairs and codes and standards arenas. ASA Director of Government Affairs Steve Rossi and ASA Codes and Standards Director Jim Kendzel make sure member companies’ best interests are always protected when it comes legislation, codes and standards and regulatory issues. Every day, ASA’s Government Affairs office monitors the latest legislative and regulatory developments – from Washington to Sacramento – and everywhere in between. Last year, out of the tens of thousands of bills introduced in capitals across the country, ASA was able to identify, follow and act on 125 different pieces of legislation that directly affected the PHCP/PVF industry. In Washington, ASA has been active with myriad issues from infrastructure to taxation, as well as proposed regulations that can potentially stifle growth. As America emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, new priorities from the Biden administration and Congress attempt to change how business is done. The American Rescue Plan, the Infrastructure Investment ASA REVIEW
and Jobs Act, as well as the proposed Build Back Better Plan will fundamentally reshape our nation for years to come. At the state level, several states are proposing (or have proposed) new legislation that implements new mandates on our industry when it comes to the sale of products, as well as the increasing adoption of new climate and emissions goals. Over the last year, ASA has been successful on several fronts when it comes to protecting our industry. With the variety of tax and spending proposals making their way through Washington, ASA has been active in supporting commonsense legislative approaches to the challenges facing our industry. On the taxation front, ASA has fought against initiatives that seek to: raise the top income tax bracket from 37% to 39.6%, raise the corporate income tax from 21% to 28%, raise taxes on pass-through businesses (with a full 199A deduction to 35.5% or if the 199A deduction is eliminated to 43.4%), institute a “double death tax” on family businesses and requiring banks to report ALL business and personal financial transactions over $600 (including transfers between the accounts with the same owner). KEEPING MEMBERS INFORMED, ENGAGED AND LEADING
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The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act bill signed into law includes language supporting a DRIVE Safe pilot program that establishes a three-year/3,000-driver pilot program with the Department of Transportation to allow drivers between 18 and 21 to haul interstate commerce. To assist our members in advocating on behalf of our industry, this past fall, ASA joined our colleagues at National Association of Electrical Distributors to hold the first-ever virtual Capitol Hill fly-in. This was a unique opportunity for our members to have direct contact with senators, members of Congress and their staffs. ASA and NAED staff held a briefing session for participants and Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-ND) provided a welcome message to kick off the event. As a result, productive discussions were held through 50 different appointments, urging Congress to protect LIFO, support the bipartisan infrastructure package, support/co-sponsor the REINS Act (reduces the number and streamlines regulations from the executive branch), keep stepped-up basis, repeal the estate tax, as well as several other issues important to our industry. In California, ASA was able to achieve victory for our members on AB 100, a bill that regulates the manufacture and sale of endpoint fixtures that conform to the NSF 61 2020 standard related to lower lead extraction limits on drinking water endpoint devices. ASA worked with a broad coalition of organizations to make changes to the bill that will give distributors and manufacturers an appropriate amount of time to supply compliant fixtures, while selling remaining stock. With the assistance of our contract representation at California Strategies, ASA was able to work with the bill author, as well as coalition partners, to gain a year extension on a sell-by date for compliant product, while gaining an additional six months beyond the manufacture date to allow our distributor members time to clear their inventories of non-compliant fixtures (see more in the codes and standards update below).
As we progress through 2022, ASA will continue to monitor and take action where appropriate on legislation and regulations affecting our industry.
Codes and standards update
ASA is committed to bringing the voice of wholesalerdistributors and their supply-chain partners to the table where codes, standards and regulations are developed. Over the last 10 years ASA’s presence has grown significantly in this area, and today the ASA Advocacy team participates in more than 40 different committees involved in the development of product standards, building management systems standards and model codes impacting industrial, commercial and residential construction. The team’s major objective in representing ASA members is to ensure the codes and standards developed do not have a negative impact on access to new and innovative products, and the ability to distribute those products in a fair market. In addition, we work diligently to keep our members apprised of trends in code and regulatory development to ensure they have critical information to plan for their future growth and possible changes to the market conditions. As background, the U.S. codes and standards process is a combination of non-government organizations that develop consensus standards and model codes that are considered by local, state and federal agencies for adoption into regulation. The consensus process brings together experts from the following sectors: regulatory, manufacturing and users to develop the industry standards and model codes. Until ASA became engaged in the process, the wholesaler-distributor sector of the PHCP and PVF supply chain was not represented. The ASA Advocacy team is proud of the success we have had in representing our membership and the PHCP/PVF industry as a whole. Below are some examples of our success: S ignificant success at code hearings: Model codes are on a three-year review cycle and ASA has been highly successful over the last two cycles in having the voice of our members heard. Through the hard work of member volunteers on the ASA code committees in developing positions on proposed code changes, the Advocacy team was able to provide oral and written testimony on behalf of our members. We were successful in more than 80% of the positions we developed.
The ASA Advocacy team played a key role in changes made to the California-based AB 100 bill that will now give distributors and manufacturers an appropriate amount of time to supply compliant fixtures, while selling remaining stock as to conform to the NSF 61 standard related to lower lead extraction limits on drinking water endpoint devices. Shutterstock photo.
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A dequate implementation times and low impact on inventory: In 2020, NSF Standard 61 was revised to provide a lower lead extraction limit on drinking water endpoint devices; devices that are typically installed within the last liter of the water distribution system. The Advocacy team worked with other organizations to ensure the new requirement would be implemented with sufficient time for the industry to comply, Jan. 1, 2024, and for the first time, due to ASA’s active involvement, the implementation date was specifically noted as being applicable to the date of manufacture and not the date of sale. This added wording,
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Impact of climate change on our market: There is significant standards and code activities directly related to addressing climate change. As an example, the Advocacy team has been spending a significant amount of time on the switching to low-greenhouse gas-emitting refrigerants and the potential impact on our members related to storage of the refrigerants. ASA joined with HARDI, AHRI and other trade organizations in successfully updating the International Fire Code to incorporate safe and reasonable storage requirements for the refrigerants that should have a minimal impact on the majority of our members, while also providing a safe means of storage.
ASA teamed up with the National Association of Electrical Distributors to host a virtual fly-in last fall that resulted in 50 different appointments with members of Congress and their staffers where productive discussions were held on topics such as LIFO, estate tax and infrastructure.
specifically requested by ASA, ultimately led to the adoption of the new requirement in California to be based on a manufacture date and allowing wholesalers-distributors time to sell their existing inventory of product. F air market conditions: In December 2020, the Department of Energy adopted a new rule concerning the testing of multi-head showerheads which was significantly different than the testing required under the nationally accepted industry standard. ASA opposed the proposed rule change through written and oral testimony. ASA member concern was based on the significant resources invested in designing products to comply with the previous DoE requirements and the potential of creating an unfair market advantage to product suppliers outside the U.S. once the new rule was adopted. ASA joined with the Alliance for Water Efficiency in a successful appeal of the DoE decision, resulting in the DoE reversing the ruling in late 2021. P roduct access to market: The ASA Advocacy team has been diligently working to ensure that press-connect fittings, currently supplied by many of our members, continue to be accepted in the marketplace. ASA recently provided oral testimony to the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) Standards Council in opposition to two proposals that, if adopted, would ban the use of press-connect fittings in refrigeration systems. The IAPMO Standards Council decided in favor of the ASA position. In addition, ASA has brought together a coalition of organizations working to reverse the Veterans Affairs Office of Construction and Facilities Management decision to ban the use of press-connect fittings in plumbing systems, except for emergency/temporary situations. As of the writing of this article, ASA is awaiting a response from the VA on our position.
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The above are just some of the many success stories the Advocacy team is proud of achieving through the hard work and expertise of our volunteer members. There is no doubt a significant amount of our time is engaged in meetings and discussions that might not directly impact our members. However, to ensure our voice is heard when it needs to be heard, we need to be engaged and at the table building valuable relationships and being proactive instead of reactive. As we look forward, the phrase “the future is now” comes to mind. The Advocacy team is spending increasing amounts of time and resources related to legislation, regulatory, codes and standards activity related to addressing climate change through energy/water efficiency, de-carbonization and green building design. The Advocacy team is taking leadership roles on industry coalitions and committee activities, ensuring we are at the forefront of these changes and ensuring the voice of our members is heard. In addition, we are committed to keeping our members up to date on these activities to ensure they can be prepared for and be ready to serve the new markets associated with those activities addressing climate change. To keep informed on our activities and successes we ask that you be sure to read our weekly updates provided in ASA’s electronic newsletter, ASA Insights. In addition, members of ASA can visit the ASA member’s only website pages at www.asa.net to gain up-to-date information on federal and state activities impacting the PHCP and PVF market.
Each Year ASA Monitors: More than 150,000
federal/state pieces of legislation.
More than 70,000
federal/state regulatory actions.
In 2021, tracked 125
pieces of legislation directly impacting our industry.
KEEPING MEMBERS INFORMED, ENGAGED AND LEADING
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