Landscape and Irrigation is read by decision makers throughout the landscape and irrigation markets — including contractors, landscape architects, professional grounds managers, and irrigation and water mgmt companies and reaches the entire spetrum.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/217788
Staying Current By Tom Delaney Landscape Industry Challenges More of the same next year? T by groups such as the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) that want to limit the amount of turfgrass in the landscape; and the recently rolled out Affordable Health Care Act. The Professional Landcare Network (PLANET), with assistance from state and other national organizations and the vigilance of its members, tracks these issues, and legislation and regulations that may impact the landscape industry at the local, state, and federal levels — whether in a negative or positive way. Turfgrass I expect the industry will continue to be criticized for its inputs of water, pesticides and fertilizers, and the motorized equipment used to maintain healthy turfgrass. Educating the public about the benefits of turfgrass (especially benefits grounded in scientific research) is the only real way to combat this negativity about turfgrass. At the National Arboretum in Washington D.C., this type of education will be on display through an unprecedented four-year initiative called Grass Roots. This project will explore the history, uses, benefits, value and issues of the turf industry, primarily through an outdoor turfgrass exhibit. Pesticide labels In the coming year, with the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Endangered Species Protection Program (ESPP) and OSHA's implementation of the Globally Harmonizing Standards, it will be more important than ever to read pesticide labels. Next year is an election year, and incumbents, as well as those seeking to be elected will be courting your votes. 8 Landscape and Irrigation November/December 2013 www.landscapeirrigation.com Image ©istockphoto.com/ qingwa. he Department of Labor's H-2B wage and new program rules were — and continue to be — at the forefront of the issues the landscape industry battled in 2013. In July, many companies received notification they would be required to increase the hourly wages for the H-2B workers already in their employ by 30 percent or more. A number of these companies are now wondering if this program is still worth using, and many that have stopped using it seem to have lost hope in the fight to maintain a usable H-2B program for their businesses. Senate Bill 744: Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act gave some positive movement for fixes to the H-2B program — a new "W" visa program that would admit 20,000 low-skilled foreign workers starting in 2015, and could gradually grow to a cap of 200,000 after five years, for example — but the Senate bill still needs changes to some of its provisions.Those changes may be made in the U.S. House of Representatives. Other challenges faced by the industry in 2013, and that are likely to continue into the coming year, include fertilizer and water issues, such as stormwater runoff, pesticide restrictions (which remain a focus of state and local governments), and developing a standardized procedure for estimating landscape water requirements; the soon-to-be rolled out Globally Harmonized System that was added to OSHA's "Employee Rightto-Know" or Hazardous Communication (HAZCOMM) Program, and requires employers to have trained the necessary employees by Dec. 1, 2013; Green Building codes proposed