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Prepared
Remarks of Don Wesson February 7, 2000 Good Evening, I wish to take this opportunity to thank Kelly Robbins from the Arkansas Forestry Association and Richard Shaw from International Paper for the invitation to speak to this group. I am very pleased to see this many people turn out on a Monday night for such an important meeting. I would like to start by giving you a brief history about who the Pulp & Paperworkers' Resource Council, more commonly known as the PPRC, is and how we are here to help each and every one in this room. We are a "grassroots" labor group that formed in 1992 whose primary concern at that time was the Endangered Species Act. We began in the Pacific Northwest, where the spotted owl was successful in shutting down hundreds of mills, thereby causing us to lose thousands of good paying jobs in the forest products, pulp & paper sectors. As time progressed, we realized this loss of jobs would not just stay in the Pacific Northwest, nor would it only relate to Endangered Species. In 1993 the PPRC decided to go on a nationwide recruiting campaign. Our goal was to wake the workers in the wood products, pulp, and paper industries up to the fact that we need to be more involved in environmental and resource issues instead of the "traditional labor issues" we have always fought for in the past. We were being shutdown by government agencies who were being pressured by the environmental extremist. We went to the Paperworkers International Executive Board, Carpenters, International Association of Machinist, and even the National AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and asked for their blessings. We convinced them if we did not get involved, our jobs would continue to shut down, and their membership would steadily decrease. Currently the PPRC has membership in 46 states with a combined membership of over one million members. Last week the PPRC had its annual flyin in Washington, D.C., where we had 84 members representing 26 different states converge on the nation's capital. We had over 325 scheduled appointments with our elected officials and some 100 walk-ins. We had meetings set up with the US Forest Service, where we discussed the roadless issue, the Corp of Engineers where we discussed the dam removal issues on the Snake River, the United Nations, where we discussed Trade and Tariff Issues, and then the EPA, where we discussed the PSD Permitting Enforcement Initiative and, of course, the number one issue being the EPA's proposed TMDL ruling. This TMDL proposal is the reason we are all gathered here on a Monday night in Texarkana, Arkansas. Let me assure you of one thing: if this proposal goes the way the EPA wants it to, we are all in a lot of trouble. A few years ago, the EPA had another proposal that could have easily shutdown one third of all pulp and paper activities in the United States. That was the EPA Cluster Rules. We refused to sit back and not do anything at the time, and we were successful in obtaining a workable solution for all concerned. We were told last week in DC the Cluster Rules compared to the TMDL would be like comparing one grain of salt to a 50 pound bag of salt. I would like to point out a few ways the EPA's Proposed TMDL Regulation could affect the workers of the wood products, pulp, and paper industries in the United States. The proposed rule will have a devastating impact on forest product workers and will be another "Job Killer" like ESA and Cluster Rules were. EPA is attempting to re-write the regulations to satisfy the environmental lobby without concern for economic well being of rural communities and its' workers. Changes the designation of silviculture and agriculture from "non-point" status to "point source" status that will shift the regulatory process from state to federal levels. This is a slap in the face to the thousands of private landowners who voluntarily use Best Management Practices and Sustainable Forestry Initiatives for many years with the blessings from their state agencies. This revision will regulate forestry for private land owners, requiring EPA permits prior to implementing sound forestry practices that have a 27 year track record for success in addressing run-off and are already accepted at the state regulatory level. This will be an open door to environmental groups to lock up log sales by challenging these EPA permits in court, thereby costing hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawsuits with months and even years between sales. It will place severe restrictions on manufacturing operations by limiting the expansion or modification of manufacturing facilities and has the potential to completely prevent the construction of any new industrial facilities. EPA Assistant Administrator Charles Fox calls this the most ambitious proposal yet to protect Americas water quality in our nation's history. Yet he claims its impact will be very minor. At the same time, the EPA estimates an additional 40,000 plans will need to be written at the state level in the next 15 years to meet the demands of this proposal. Only 1000 plans have been written between 1972 and 1998. This is anything but minor. It seems that even some of the other Government Agencies is questioning these proposed changes. In a letter written to Carol Browner (EPA Administrator) from James Lyons (Undersecretary, Department of Agriculture) on October 22, 1999, Mr. Lyons states: "We disagree with the proposed redefinition that would differentiate between 'Pollutant' and 'Pollution.' The proposal is legally incorrect, is not in keeping with the intent of Congress, it complicates a rather simple issue." He also stated: "We are concerned that the full breath of scientific knowledge may not be used appropriately by the EPA when dealing with non-point sources." This is only one of many rulemakings and policy initiatives that is being conducted simultaneously, driven by special interest groups, and put on as fast track priority list for completion this year under the current Administration. These efforts are moving forward without concern for their cumulative impacts on workers and rural communities. Our ultimate concern lies with the fact that as these rules were crafted, the livelihoods of thousands of American workers and the communities they live in were being ignored. This kind of restrictions, on economic opportunities for workers, are felt hardest in rural communities that depend on forest resources to support families and local economies. When living wage jobs for Americans are eliminated by overregulation, the demand for the products we make will simply be met by workers in competing nations whose labor and environmental standards are inferior to those in the United States. In closing, I wish to thank our many local, state and federal elected officials that helped make this meeting a success. I only hope that the mighty powers that be in Washington, D.C. will listen to our representatives from rural communities across this great United States and realize without the farmers, ranchers, loggers, and mill workers, you would not have a self supportive nation. The day we depend on third world countries to provide us with the many products we represent will be the end of America as we know it. The cost imposed by these rules will eliminate jobs, hamper economic development, and prevent landowners from practicing sound and sustainable forest on their lands. I would like to thank the following companies for sending representatives from their mills to our fly-in last week. International Paper at Texarkana, Bastrop, Pine Bluff, Smurfit Stone, and Potlatch. If you would like more information about the PPRC please get with me after this meeting. We have a saying in the PPRC that pretty well sums it up. "The World is Run by Those Who Show Up". The PPRC keeps showing up time after time. However, it's going to take all of us working together, both management and labor, as well as loggers and mill workers if we are going to continue to do business and have good paying American jobs in the future. Thank you and have a safe trip home. Please get involved! Don
Wesson
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