On Thursday 12/16/2010 in Boston, the Mass Department of Occupational Safety will be meeting with the Division of Labor to discuss funding for their department for 2011. The DOL and DOS hearing is open to the public. I have been invited by the DOS to share thoughts and suggestions regarding the Mass RRP Lead Law.

I will be joining Shawn McCadden at this hearing.( Shawn McCadden's post on Mass DOS) Both of us work on the Eastern Mass NARI Government Affairs Committee with Roger Gallagher. We are focused on helping the DOS formulate reasonable strategies on how to help contractors, landlords and those affected by the RRP Law.

As Shawn has stated in his post, I am also pleased with the employees of the Mass DOS regarding the RRP Law. They are very responsive and even though they have limited budgets and manpower, they make every effort to address our concerns as quickly as possible. Both Patricia Sutliffe and Ernie Kelly have been at several functions I set up this year. On 1/13/2010 they both attended my EPA RRP Training in West Boylston. In March, I invited them to the Mass Federation of Building Officials board meeting to speak to 20 plus building inspectors. They attended and joined Nancy Barmakian and Jim Bryson of the Region 1 EPA Headquarters. Of course I invited Shawn McCadden who also attended. Patty and Ernie were present at the LEHA workshop in Marlborough. They were at the OSHA workshop in Amherst in September. Patty attended one of our RRP Implementation Workshops. Shawn and I have met with them on other occasions regarding the RRP Law.

I share these thoughts with you to let you know that there are industry and public professionals working together on the Mass RRP Law. This collaborative effort produces an environment for frank and open dicussions leading to concrete solutions that will benefit the residential industry. 

Shawn and I are immersed in this effort up to our necks. We are very interested in how this law is administered and enforced in our home state and throughout the country. 

We have invested a large amount of our time this year to establish lines of communication with first the EPA and then the Mass DOS. We are committed to finding ways to level the playing field so legal contractors rights are protected. Our efforts are at a minimum equaled by the Mass DOS officials and the Boston EPA. Last week when the DOS asked for support at this meeting we said we would be glad to share our insights so that our officials can see the view from our industry. As a board member of EMNARI and now member of the Government Affairs Committee I look forward to helping the DOS in their efforts to promote, educate, administer and enforce the Mass RRP Law.

If you have any thoughts you would like me to present at the hearing please respond to the post or send me an email.

I hope some of you can join us for this important opportunity. See Shawn's post for the details.

Mark the Coach