Landscape Management, July 2011

50 YEARS OF INDUSTRY TRENDS BY BETH GERACI PROGRESS In your hands T ighter rules and regulations in the Green Industry have changed the fields landscape in more ways than one And businesspeople in every sector of the profession are feeling the crunch Regulations are more stringent than they were 10 15 years ago and thats the nature of the beast said Tom Delaney director of government affairs for the Professional Landcare Network PLANET Regulations are always going to increase Theyre always going to be more restrictive And thats the nature of regulating and regulators As dark as it sounds new rules and regulations arent necessarily a bad thing said John Farner federal affairs director for the Irrigation Association IA On the irrigation side professional contractors are putting a lot more thought into what is planted into a landscape and how that landscape is irrigated what the design is like and how that design is used Thats the most noticeable change that Ive seen so far he continued A lot of the contractors and manufacturers Ive talked to on the irrigation side are using this as a business opportunity Not only that he said theyre embracing the challenge to diversify their businesses and redefine themselves in the face of tighter municipal state and federal mandates Farner said two predominant issues are driving the irrigation industry today water quantity and water quality Water quantity is a concern in arid states west of the Mississippi River The Wests water availability or lack thereof is dictating what plant material is being installed and what kind of water is being used to irrigate the landscape among New regulations have made work harder for Green Industry pros and change wont happen on its own other things Farner said LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET JULY 2011 4 Out East lawmakers are zeroed in on reducing runoff into the Chesapeake Bay watershed Look we dont want any impurities being runoff into the Chesapeake Bay Farner said Our industry is being looked at but theres no one size fits all solution when it comes to the irrigation profession It needs to be based on the local environment the locality When were faced with one size fits all it really doesnt work And Bay runoff isnt only affecting irrigators its also creating tighter fertilizer regulations for landscapers who now are restricted on when they can fertilize what kind of fertilizers they can use and how much of them We are seeing very prescriptive and restrictive local ordinances covering pesticide and fertilizer use generally and as part of water quality concerns said Aaron Hobbs president of Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment RISE Hobbs said the Green Industry should be most concerned about the absence of science and recognition of product benefits in such policies and the potential for local and state enforcement targeting professionals Some states have cut back on fertilizing by up to several weeks Delaney said And thats just the start for the landscape industry The EPAs WaterSense program aimed at conserving water is killing the turfgrass and landscape industries Delaney asserted It will cut back on the amount of turfgrass thats out there And as they cut back on the amount of turfgrass it has a rippling effect The fertilizer industry will sell less fertilizer The turfgrass companies will sell less seed But the debate over immigration and H 2B is shaking up the landscape business as much as anything he said If landscape companies think its expensive to participate in the program now he said just wait until Jan 1 when theyre going to have to pay 260 more an hour per worker on average PLANET members impacted by the H 2B program cant afford to put their head in the sand Delaney asserted Some of them are afraid that if they put their name on something they might have an inspector at the door Otherwise why would you not spend five minutes to get on our site and send a letter to your congressman It takes five minutes Its just trying to wake people up and get them to see they can have an effect and they can make a difference Having that dialog with lawmakers is most challenging and most important of all Farner echoed The number one challenge is making sure our folks are at the table when these issues are being looked at by a governing body he said We need to make sure we are engaged and speaking with policy makers a mayor a congressman everyone in between If we work with legislators theyll respond more positively to our needs