Welcome to the latest ISSA Legislative & Regulatory Update, a biweekly roundup of the public policy issues currently impacting the full cleaning supply chain. This update touches on Minnesota schools providing free menstrual-care products, Minnesota passing a bill to ban PFAS in cleaning and other products, the 2023 ISSA State Pesticide Registration Survey, and more.

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ISSA Advocacy

Minnesota Schools, Colleges to Provide Free Menstrual Products
On May 17, the Minnesota House and Senate passed a comprehensive education spending package. The package included a new requirement for schools to provide menstrual-care products for students in grades 4 to 12 at no charge. The state appropriated $2 million to implement this requirement, which goes into effect January 1, 2024. A separate higher education package also passed that extends the requirement and additional funding to colleges and universities for the same purpose. Minnesota is the 16th state to require schools to provide these products. Learn more

Minnesota Legislature Sends PFAS Bill to Governor for Signature
On May 18, the Minnesota legislature passed a bill (HF 2310) that, when signed into law by the Governor, will ban the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in cleaning products and other product categories. For certain categories of products such as cleaning products, the ban will go into effect on January 1, 2025. Learn more

2023 ISSA State Pesticide Registration Survey Now Available
Each year, ISSA compiles the State Pesticide Registration Survey with listings of all pesticide registration fees, renewal dates, penalties for selling unregistered pesticides, and state registration authority references. Since our 2022 update, the pesticide registration fee for Oregon has increased and there is now a pesticide registration fee in the Virgin Islands. Registration authority references have also been updated throughout the 2023 survey. Learn more

EPA New Renegotiation Policies for Disinfectant, Pesticide Registration
Pursuant to the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2022 (PRIA 5), the conditions around which re-negotiations have been conducted during the pesticide registration process have been revised significantly, and are now summarized in a May 5, 2023, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) memo directed to pesticide registration staff, which is available here. While directed to EPA staff, the EPA memo is also helpful to manufacturers and other registrants of disinfectants and pesticide products generally on how to handle re-negotiations while in the process of registering products with the agency. Learn more

ISSA Requests DOL Abandon Anticipated Overtime Regulations
ISSA joined more than 100 organizations in urging the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to abandon or at least postpone its anticipated overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Learn more

ISSA Calls on Congress to Improve Legal Immigration System
ISSA, as part of the LIBERTY Campaign, called on Congress to enact measures this year to improve the border and our legal immigration system. In their letter to congressional members, the signatories suggest that one area that could form the basis of bipartisan compromise is “expanding the scope of essential worker programs, specifically allowing employers to meet temporary labor needs in non-seasonal jobs.” Learn more

Your Voice Needs to Be Heard
Laura Craven, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Imperial Dade and an ISSA board member, wrote this article on the importance of government affairs and advocacy for your business and industry for Total Food Service. Learn more

Time Is Running out to Register – 14th Antimicrobial Workshop
Time is running out to register for the 14th Antimicrobial Workshop, June 7-8 in Arlington, VA! The Antimicrobial Workshop is the single event where you can learn from credible sources about the latest policy changes, regulatory developments, and legislative updates that directly impact the manufacturing, marketing, and sale of disinfectants, sanitizers, preservatives, and other antimicrobial pesticides. Learn more and register

Manufacturers and Distributors: Get Ready for MoCRA!
If you’re a manufacturer or distributor of body washes, cleansing wipes, or other “cosmetic” products, then you must attend the ISSA webinar, Get Ready for MoCRA!, June 22, 12-1 pm CT. In December 2022, the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 (MoCRA) was enacted, representing the first major amendment to the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetics Act since its enactment in 1938. MoCRA fundamentally changes the way that body washes, cleansing wipes, and other “cosmetic” products are regulated in the United States. Learn more and register

Legislative

Two US Reps Propose Bipartisan Immigration Bill
Two Latina congressional representatives proposed a bipartisan immigration bill that would create a 12-year, two-part path to legal status and would require that the border first be declared secure before anyone on the path is granted legal status, NBC News reported. The members of Congress, Rep. María Salazar, R-Florida, and Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, call their legislation “The Dignity Act.” Learn more

House Advances Supply Chain Bills
The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee marked up 16 supplychain-related bills, including reforms for ocean shipping and CDL exam processes, a proposed revision for allowed truck sizes and weights and the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act, which would invest US$755 million to increase truck parking, according to FreightWaves. Learn more

Regulatory

CDC Specifies New Air Ventilation Guidelines for COVID-19
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released updated ventilation guidelines for mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in indoor facilities that include specifics on how often air should be changed and what type of filter should be used, Cleaning & Maintenance Management reported. Learn more

EPA Looks to Toss “Deceptive” Plastics Recycling Symbol
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is urging the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to “ditch the iconic chasing arrows recycling symbol for plastics, a move that the environmental agency says will help prevent more plastic material from entering landfills and incinerators,” according to E&E News. Learn more

EPA Proposes Reforms to New Chemical Review Process 
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed amendments to the regulations that govern the agency’s review of new chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to “improve efficiency and align with the 2016 bipartisan TSCA amendments under the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act.” Learn more

FTC Expected to Vote in 2024 on Noncompete Ban
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is expected to vote next April on the final version of its proposed ban on noncompete agreements in employment contracts, Bloomberg Law reported. ISSA opposes such a ban because non-competes serve vital cleaning business and employee interests, and the FTC lacks legal authority to issue the proposed rule. Learn more

IRS Warns on ERTC Scams
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rolled out a first look at this year’s “Dirty Dozen,” and there’s a new entry: improper claims involving the Employee Retention Tax Credit, or ERTC, according to Forbes. Learn more

State News

FL Governor Signs Sweeping Immigration Legislation into Law
Florida SB 1718 was signed into law on May 10, the Restoration Industry Association reported. The legislation prohibits counties and municipalities, respectively, from: “providing funds to any person, entity, or organization to issue identification documents to an individual who does not provide proof of lawful presence in the United States; specifying that certain driver licenses and permits issued by other states exclusively to unauthorized immigrants are not valid in this state; requiring certain hospitals to collect patient immigration status data information on admission or registration forms; requiring the Department of Economic Opportunity to enter a certain order and require repayment of certain economic development incentives if the department finds or is notified that an employer has knowingly employed an unauthorized alien without verifying the employment eligibility of such person, etc.” Learn more, including what this means for employers in Florida

Post-Pandemic NV Law Might Help Hotels, Hurt Housekeepers
Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo signed into law a bill that lifts COVID-19 requirements, including a hospitality facility’s obligation to clean rooms daily, according to Cleaning & Maintenance Management. Learn more

West Coast Ports, Dock Workers May Be Near Agreement
The Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles believes that a tentative agreement between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) on a new labor contract is imminent, ICIS reported. The ILWU, which represents the 22,000 dockworkers, and the PMA, which represents the 29 West Coast ports, have been negotiating since the most recent contract expired on July 1, 2022. Learn more