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Directories Int'l Realty US Realty
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Don't Force Dry Cleaners Out Of Business Stuart Lieberman, Esq., Every neighborhood has a dry cleaner. Maybe even more than one. We need dry cleaners: they provide an important function. Many of them are family run and have been so for decades. Many are run by people new to this country, and these stores are their chance at the American dream. People have lived near local dry cleaners for decades without any problems. True, they can be an environmental problem if the dry cleaning fluid, called "PERC" leaks onto the ground, but modern stores do a really good job at containing leakage and usually are very safe. But right now there seems to be a move by some state regulators to try to force these businesses to switch away from PERC technology to alternative technologies. That may or may not be a good idea. But in any case, for these small family run operations it is an expensive idea: we are talking about tens of thousands of dollars. Some government regulators are taking drastic measures which may effectively put many of these operations out of business. I have a problem with this kind of mindless over regulation. I think readers should be concerned about government over reaching as well. The problem is that instead of being fair and even handed, some regulators are putting a gun against the heads of these small operations and threatening them with horrible fines if they do not immediately upgrade their equipment. Often this costly equipment has been recently purchased, which means these operators are being told to take perfectly good, new equipment and dump it into the garbage. One State agency recently announced that it is tightening PERC controls for dry cleaning operations. This change does not appear to be driven by science, but rather by raw emotion. Some operators who have been safe and legal forever may now find it impossible to meet the new standards. They may have to close up shop -for no good reason. Here is the point. Dry cleaners using PERC have been around for generations. They can be very safely operated and most are no problem whatsoever. If the government believes that it has scientifically legitimate reasons for banning PERC technology, it needs to open dialogue and share these reasons. Maybe it is right, maybe it is not right. Certainly, the jury is not in on this question. I appreciate the work of federal and state regulators. We need them to protect all of us and preserve this world for those to come. But fairness cannot be sacrificed. Regulators must be even handed and function based on science -not based on emotion or politics. Any mandatory changes in technology must be phased in over time. A reasonable time period must be provided so that these small businesses are not forced into bankruptcy without basis or legitimate reason. Approximately 28,000 US dry cleaners use PERC. Most dry cleaner operations rely on this chemical. These stores have been good neighbors, run by local people who care about their community. New stores with new technologies are environmentally safe. This equipment is expensive and these operators should be thanked for upgrading at substantial cost. Instead, some regulators continue to harass these companies, and threaten them with large fines. That approach does not seem to be fair. If technology changes are needed, they must be phased in so that these small companies are not forced to vanish. If immediate changes really are needed, and I doubt that is the case, then government funds should be used to assist in this process. Otherwise, the government will be effectively over regulating many of these small companies into oblivion. That is neither fair nor American.
The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.
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