Carpet Industry, Extended Producer Responsibility, CRI Legislative Update

Legislative Update – Extended Producer Responsibility and the Carpet Industry

One of the Carpet and Rug Institute’s most important functions is to monitor potentially harmful legislation at the state, federal, and international level. Jennifer Mendez, CRI’s Director of Government Affairs, is tasked with monitoring activity at the state level. Here's an update, with major focus on Extended Producer Responsibility in the Carpet Industry.

I got a glimpse of Jenn’s world at the June 1st, 2010 Government Relations Committee meeting, when she presented a spread sheet of proposed legislation from state legislatures all over the U.S. The scope was staggering – 99 pieces of legislation from 25 separate states. Bills were categorized as beneficial or adverse, and either direct or indirect effect on the carpet industry.

California and New York top the list with 17 bills each. Tiny Rhode Island comes next, with nine. Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Vermont have six apiece; Illinois, four; Maryland, three, and all the rest either one or two.

BR: Jennifer, what kinds of legislation are you following?

JM: Seventy percent of what I’m tracking is EPR – Extended Producer Responsibility legislation, where manufacturers are held responsible for ensuring that the ultimate disposal of the products they make happens in an environmentally-responsible way. (Also see Earth Day, Carpet Recycling and California.) Except for California, no state is taking direct aim at carpet, but CRI’s position is that if a state will regulate one industry in a specific way, they will eventually get around to the other industries.

BR: How do you monitor so many pieces of legislation?

JM: CRI uses a legislative tracking service that picks up on certain keywords – the service searches the internet and presents the results every morning. On a busy day, I will get as many as 200 “pings” a day, bringing items to my attention. I sift through all of it to see if it’s relevant, and if it is, whether it’s potentially adverse or beneficial. The service tracks the bills I tell it to track, and brings up new bills I may not have been familiar with.

It’s an ongoing process – some legislatures, like California and New York – never go out of session.

Thanks, Jennifer!

Here is a link to entire Government Issues Committee legislative tracking document. Let me know if you have any questions.

~Bethany