In a petition filed on November 6, 2008, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) requested that EPA cancel all product registrations and revoke all tolerances (legal residue limits in food) for the pesticide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, or 2,4-D. After considering public comment received on the petition and all the available studies, EPA is denying the request to revoke all tolerances and the request to cancel all registrations.

By way of background, in 2005, as part of the regulatory process to ensure pesticides meet current regulatory standards, EPA completed a review on the registration and on the safety of the tolerances for 2,4-D. EPA determined that all products containing 2,4-D are eligible for reregistration, provided certain changes were incorporated into the labels and additional data were generated and submitted to the EPA for review.

During the recent review of the petition from NRDC to revoke the tolerances, EPA evaluated all the data cited by NRDC and new studies submitted to EPA in response to the reregistration decision. Included in the new studies is a state-of-the-science extended one-generation reproduction study. That study provides an in-depth examination of 2,4-D’s potential for endocrine disruptor, neurotoxic, and immunotoxic effects. This study and EPA’s comprehensive review confirmed EPA’s previous finding that the 2,4-D tolerances are safe. Read the full release

Appeals Court Delays April 30th NLRB Poster Mandate – In a significant blow to the National Labor Relations Board, a federal appeals court has delayed a key implementation deadline which mandates an 11×17” poster be displayed in workplaces detailing workers rights to organize into a union.  Previous court rulings also took issue with the NLRB poster mandate, in effect saying the board had the authority to impose the mandate, but did not have the authority to enforce any penalties for noncompliance, being designated an “unfair labor practice” under the National Labor Relations Act.  This most recent ruling from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today issued an emergency injunction blocking the NLRB from enforcing the poster mandate until the court can hear a legal challenge brought by a group of business organizations at a later date. More information about the NLRB poster situation, and the legal challenges, can be found here.

Restaurant industry job growth also far outpaced the overall economy in recent months.  In the 12 months ending March 2012, eating and drinking establishments employment jumped 3.2 percent, more than double the 1.5 percent increase in total U.S. employment during the same period. Additionally, 2012 marks the 13th consecutive year in which restaurant employment growth has outpaced overall employment growth in the United States. More (National Restaurant Industry)

The Supreme Court will hear three days of oral arguments beginning March 26th.  The first day of argument will focus on whether the Court has standing to hear the case since the “penalties” involved in the challenge will not begin to go into effect until 2014.  By all accounts, the Justices seemed to suggest they intended to hear the arguments on the constitutionality, not kick the can down the road a few more years. 

Tuesday’s arguments are the main event, discussing the constitutionality of the “individual mandate” of the bill, which will force all Americans to purchase health insurance or choose to pay a fine.  Those who have insurance through their employer, or public health benefits would be exempt, there are also subsides depending on income levels up to $90,000 annual income for a family of four.  The argument against the individual mandate is that the government does not have right to force Americans to purchase something if they are technically not engaging in commerce, such as forcing someone to purchase broccoli because it is good for you.  The government’s attorney’s will argue that Americans need access to health care and would need to sign a waiver explicitly waiving their rights to go to a hospital to reach the standard of “not engaging in commerce” argued by the suit.  

Wednesday will hear arguments on the government’s right to force individual states to expand their Medicaid enrollment criteria.  The PPACA expands Medicaid enrollment to 133% of the Federal Poverty Level, creating an estimated 15-20 million newly eligible enrollees in 2014. The Federal government will cover the costs of the newly eligible enrollees for the first two years, but will begin to shift costs back to the states after the initial period.

The Court is likely to issue their opinion on the constitutionality of the individual provisions listed above and the constitutionality of the entire law sometime in late June, which is actually very prompt by Supreme Court standards.  Stay tuned for more information from VGM Club Government Relations.

- Creating a national electronic job registry for all H-2B job orders to improve U.S. worker access to these temporary jobs.

- Enhancing recruitment of U.S. workers from across the country

- Increasing the amount of time for which U.S. workers must be recruited and hired

- Requiring the rehiring of former employees when available.

If no court takes action stopping these new regulations, they will become active on April 23, 2012. The National Restaurant Association and the GCSAA both submitted comments to the Department of Labor that argued against the onerous new provisions designed to restrict access to the program and significantly raise wages to the H-2B employees, but their comments seem to have been ignored. VGM Club President DJay Ellis also wrote a letter to Iowa Senator Charles Grassley asking him to contact the Labor Department not to move forward with their proposed changes. 

VGM Club Government Relations urges all Club members to contact their elected officials and urge them to support HJ Res. 104, which would issue an official act of congress disapproving of the new Labor Department rules if passed by the full House, Senate and signed by the President.

The GCSAA has a great tool to search for your congressional representatives and send them a letter asking for their support.

Text of  HJ Res 104 can be found here.

Senate Passes Bill Allocating BP Fines to Gulf Coast Damaged Clean Up Efforts– In a rare show of bipartisanship, the Senate voted to pass the RESTORE Act earlier this month by a vote of 76-22, as an amendment to a pending highway transportation bill. Action now moves to House of Representatives, which likely will make changes to the bill, but if the House passes a transportation bill containing the same language, 80 percent of the fines paid by BP would go to the five Gulf states affected by the spill: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Texas. Fines could amount to $5 billion to $20 billion.  VGM Club Government Relations urges Club members to contact their local congressperson and ask them to support the Senate’s efforts to help clean up the Gulf Coast region. MORE

National Restaurant Association Joins Lawsuit Challenging Federal Reserve on Debit-Swipe fees — Last year, as a result of the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd/Frank Financial Regulation bill and after a major repeal effort in congress, the Federal Reserve voted to cap debit swipe fees for merchants at 21 cents per transaction plus 0.05 percent of sales for large financial institutions beginning Oct. 1, 2011. The amount was less than the 44 cents per transaction that merchants had averaged to that point, but more than the 12-cent cap that the Fed first proposed in December 2010. This muddled policy proposal resulted in significantly lower debit swipe fees for many restaurants and other businesses, but left some merchants that primarily have smaller transactions to actually have their rates increase since the policy became effective on October 1, 2011. The lawsuit seeks to improve the existing rule to allow additional small businesses to take advantage of a more level playing field on debit swipe fees. MORE

The final rule changes the process by which employers obtain a temporary labor certification from the Department for use in petitioning the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to employ a nonimmigrant worker in H-2B status. The final rule also introduces new regulations designed to increase worker protections for both U.S. and foreign workers.

Key changes to the administration of the program include:

- Creates a national electronic job registry for all H-2B job orders to improve U.S. worker access to these temporary jobs.

- Enhances recruitment of U.S. workers from across the country

- Increases the amount of time for which U.S. workers must be recruited and hired

- Requires the rehiring of former employees when available.

The Final Rule is effective April 23, 2012. Click here for more information concerning key changes from the 2008 policy to the current rule changes.

The IRS’s original proposal, slated to take effect December 1st, 2011, would have required businesses accepting credit cards or other third-party payments, to reconcile the gross receipts they report on their tax returns with the totals that third-party payers report to them using a new 1099-K information-reporting form.

After business groups repeatedly approached the IRS on the feasibility of the new requirement and the sheer volume of increased paperwork that would be involved in this new reporting, IRS delayed the proposed date of implementation by one year to December 31st, 2012, then removed the program altogether earlier this month. MORE

Several members of congress are working to ensure the IRS does not attempt to resurrect this proposal in future years. Earlier this month, Senate Finance Committee members John Thune (R-S.D.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) introduced a Senate bill, after Reps. Aaron Schrock (R-Ill.) and Bobby Schilling (R-Ill.) introduced the same bill in the House.

Over the next several weeks, VGM Club Government Relations will examine these topics, and others, indept; detailing the current legislative/regulatory landscape and likelihood of movement on key issues affecting the golf industry and Club members across the country. For more information on the GCSAA release, click here.