National Clothesline

The deadline for applying for Wisconsin’s Dry Cleaner Environmental Response Fund has been extended until August 2008 due to changes enacted in the law this spring.

The deadline change was sought by both the Wisconsin Fabricare Institute (WFI) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

The original law specified two deadlines for submitting reimbursement applications, depending on whether a facility was closed or operating after January 1, 1998. Closed facilities would have needed to submit applications by August of next year. Now all facilities have until Aug. 30, 2008 to apply.

Because a cleanup can take several years, WFI and DNR were concerned that the deadline dates for the completion of cleanups could have led to the selection of higher cost but shorter term remedies rather than selecting the most cost-effective remedy for the site.

WFI and the DNR believe that selected cleanup technologies should be based on compliance with the cleanup rules that require consideration of technical and economic feasibility based on site-specific conditions.

The new law also corrects a possible problem in which otherwise eligible costs were incurred but not reimbursed because they were incurred after the deadline date.

The change in the law sets the deadline for entering the program, not for completing the cleanup. The clean-up time-line will be based on site-specific conditions and technologies.

Other changes enacted in this year’s legislation set a cap of $15,000 on third-party claims and limits them to initial site investigation costs incurred by a neighbor of a drycleaner where solvent has migrated off site. According to DNR, the average initial site investigation costs are about $7,000.

Also changed were fee collection procedures by the Department of Revenue, replacing what WFI termed “excessive monetary penalties” with a structure that is identical to that used for sales tax penalties.

Wisconsin’s clean-up fund is derived from an annual license fee of 1.8 percent of the annual gross receipts on drycleaning services plus a $5 per gallon fee on perc purchases and a 75-cent per gallon fee on purchases of other solvents.

Average total fees per drycleaner are estimated at $3,400. The fees generate about $1.2 million a year for the fund.

A spotting and wetcleaning seminar will be sponsored by the Minnesota Chemical Co. and Adco Inc. on Wednesday, Aug 25 at Shorty’s Cleaners in Stillwater, MN.

Donna Freese, chief analyst of the Adco Independent Garment Analysis Service, will be the presenter. She will cover fibers, fabrics, chemistry of spotting agents, stain removal and wetcleaning.

A reservation fee of $25 per person is required but will be fully refunded on the day of the event. To make reservations, call Steve Baker at Minnesota Chemical (651) 646-7521, or Ken Bazille of Adco, (612) 805-6404.

A seminar on route building and a golf outing are planned for the Indiana Drycleaning and Laundry Association’s convention Aug. 27 at the Links Golf Course in New Palestine, IN.

The day begins with a golf scramble on Friday morning. Registration is at 7:30 a.m. and tee-off at 8: 30 a.m. The cost is $60 per person. Golfers must wear collared shirts and soft spikes; no cut-offs are allowed.

Rex Carrigan will speak on route building at 2:30 p.m., exploring methods for finding and retaining customers. The seminar will be at Indiana Downs, 4200 N. Michigan Rd. in Shelbyville, IN.

IDLA’s annual business meeting and election of officers will follow at 5 p.m.

A reception and dinner will precede the evening’s races which begin at 6:30 p.m.

Registration for the route seminar is $35 for the first person from a plant and $25 for each additional person. Banquet tickets are $35 each. Also available are IDLA monogrammed polo shirts for $25 plus tax.

For more information, contact IDLA, (800) 401-0703.