On May 22, 2008, NUCA of Oregon & SW Washington participated in congressional visits on Capital Hill.  Our chapter representatives for this important opportunity to discuss vital industry issues were: 

Melinda Daily - Chapter Executive Director
John Kalkoven, Rio Underground - Chapter President
Steve Dukart, Duke Construction - Chapter and Nation Board Member
Jennifer Carter, Emery & Sons Construction - Chapter Safety Committee Member & OUNC State Board Member
David Carter - Jennifer's Husband
Lyle Schellenberg, Armadillo Underground - Chapter Past President & NUCA's National President Elect

Meetings were scheduled with: Brian Baird, WA (D); Earl Blumenauer, OR (D); Peter DeFazio, OR (D); Darlene Hooley, OR (D); Greg Walden, OR (R); David Wu, OR (D); Senator Ron Wyden, OR (D) and Senator Gorgon Smith, OR (R). Due to schedule conflicts, we were unable to meet directly with Baird, DeFazio and Wyden. However, we did meet with key staff personnel to explain our position and the impacts associated with pending legislation.

1. All the Oregon and Washington delegates support Water and Wastewater Infrastructure needs, although Congressman Wu also mentioned that we need to support higher taxes. We thanked these elected officials for supporting the Clean Water and Drinking Water SRF Funds. The House passed HR 720, however the senate has not come out with their version of a bill.  Senators Smith, Wyden and Cantwell did sign a April 2, 2008 letter sent to Diane Feinstein, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies - Committee on Appropriations, supporting increased funding of the SRF Programs.
2. Immigration reform and employer verification remains an issue, and it appears that our delegates recognize the need to protect the employer following the E-Verify or other prescribed method of checking employment authorization. We enforced our position of needing to ensure that a safe-harbor provision is part of any legislation. This would protect the employer from verification errors in the system. This would cover both an eligible worker not hired due to errors as well as the illegal worker hired due to errors. We learned that DeFazio was preparing to introduce his own immigration reform bill in the house.
3. The bill HR 2421 which would redefine wetland areas from "Navigatable Waters" to "Waters of the United States", in the Clean Waters Act and thus expand the Army Corps requirements of 404 permits is of considerable concern for the Northwest. The existing definition was scaled back due to court rulings and the Democratic response is that they just want to return the regulations to their prior coverage. However, "Waters of the United States" is an extremely broad term and even a few democrats recognized the need to provide a definition for clarification. Senator Smith stated "This bill is dead and if it passes, it will only be because I am dead."
4. We requested that the delegates monitor the OSHA's pending Confined Space Regulations for construction. Rather than having two completely different standards, which would create significant confusion, we suggested that for a construction standard, OSHA adopt by reference the General Industry Standard. For example: If one was to enter a manhole to perform maintenance, the General Industry Standard would apply; if one was entering the same manhole to install a 4 inch sewer service, the Construction Standard would apply. OSHA is holding a public hearing on July 22, 2008 at their Washington D.C. headquarters. Lyle Schellenberg has signed up to give testimony at the hearing.