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Environmental Compliance Inspector Contacts the UAMCC

Carlos Gonzales

New member
The UAMCC received a call a week or so ago from the gentleman below. He is a Environmental Compliance Officer here in Northern California. Needless to say I was thrown a little off guard when he told me that he found the UAMCC by visiting the different industry related Bulletin Boards. He casually stated that he visits them all the time. I made all the owners of the different BBS's aware of this.

Anyway, his real purpose is to open some dialogue with the UAMCC relating to BMP's for Central Costa County. I wanted to share the discussion with all of you thus far. The below emails are listed in chronological order!


> Carlos,

>
> Thanks for your time this morning discussing the possibility of UAMCC
> assisting in a possible environmental compliance training class 101 for
> mobile washers. As I briefly explained on the phone, I handle
> pretreatment and storm water inspections in the central Contra Costa
> County area and would like to get some educational outreach to the
> mobile washers on what is required of them to comply in this area.
> Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
>
> XXXXX XXXXXXXXX
> Environmental Compliance Inspector II
> Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
> 5019 Imhoff Place
> Martinez, CA 94553
> (925) xxx-xxxx


"Marcus",

It was a pleasure speaking with you also. I am encouraged with the idea
that Central Contra Costa is considering having a open-dialogue with the
mobile contract cleaning industry as it relates to the county's BMP's for
waste water.

As mentioned, the UAMCC was instrumental in assisting the city of
Charlotte and Meklenburg county with their BMP's relating to waste water
runoff. The UAMCC served as a buoy if you will for not only the pressure
washing industry but also assisted in bridging the gap of understanding
between Level I, II & III municipalities and the pressure washing industry
in general. I have enclosed some literature from that meeting for your
review.

Our experience with the CWA and BMP's are keen and vast. The UAMCC's
Environmental Consultant, Mr. Robert Hindeliter, brings a wealth of
experience and expertise to the table. Mr. Hindeliter is considered to be
an expert in the field of wast water management. For a quick snapshot of
the experience that Mr. Hindeliter brings to this subject matter, I would
recommend that you "google" his name.

Our question for Central Costa County revolves around your current BMP's
and what they mean for the pressure washing industry? It is our hope that
the UAMCC will be afforded an opportunity to comment/review the BMP's that
are in place today. Coupled with adopted BMP's, all of Contra Costa
County is facing a serious drought problem. The environmental impact that
water restrictions will cause can also be viewed as a topic that would
most certainly be brought up with BMP discussions.

Representing the pressure washing industry is certainly the UAMCC's main
plight but we also are just as concerned and determined to ensure that
environmental policies are adhere to by our industry. We must ensure that
whatever 'practices' materialize that there is a "fair and responsible"
balance in which BMP's do not drive legitimate business owners out of
business. This is the proclivities that municipalities nationwide and the
pressure washing industry must deal with today.

In order to gain a better understanding of what you want to do 'Marcus",
please elaborate more on your vision and purpose for the training seminar.
Based on your answers, both Robert and I can offer up a summary with our
recommendations on how to proceed.

Sincerely,

Carlos Gonzales
Executive Director
United Assoc. of Mobile Contract Cleaners ~ UAMCC
5055 Business Center Drive
Suite 108 ~ #225
Fairfield, CA 94534
Toll Free: 1-800-816-3240
Mobile: 707-812-3702
www.uamcc.org
www.uamcc.org/forum
info@uamcc.org
 
The UAMCC received a call a week or so ago from the gentleman below. He is a Environmental Compliance Officer here in Northern California. Needless to say I was thrown a little off guard when he told me that he found the UAMCC by visiting the different industry related Bulletin Boards. He casually stated that he visits them all the time. I made all the owners of the different BBS's aware of this.

Anyway, his real purpose is to open some dialogue with the UAMCC relating to BMP's for Central Costa County. I wanted to share the discussion with all of you thus far. The below emails are listed in chronological order!


> Carlos,

>
> Thanks for your time this morning discussing the possibility of UAMCC
> assisting in a possible environmental compliance training class 101 for
> mobile washers. As I briefly explained on the phone, I handle
> pretreatment and storm water inspections in the central Contra Costa
> County area and would like to get some educational outreach to the
> mobile washers on what is required of them to comply in this area.
> Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
>
> XXXXX XXXXXXXXX
> Environmental Compliance Inspector II
> Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
> 5019 Imhoff Place
> Martinez, CA 94553
> (925) xxx-xxxx


"Marcus",

It was a pleasure speaking with you also. I am encouraged with the idea
that Central Contra Costa is considering having a open-dialogue with the
mobile contract cleaning industry as it relates to the county's BMP's for
waste water.

As mentioned, the UAMCC was instrumental in assisting the city of
Charlotte and Meklenburg county with their BMP's relating to waste water
runoff. The UAMCC served as a buoy if you will for not only the pressure
washing industry but also assisted in bridging the gap of understanding
between Level I, II & III municipalities and the pressure washing industry
in general. I have enclosed some literature from that meeting for your
review.

Our experience with the CWA and BMP's are keen and vast. The UAMCC's
Environmental Consultant, Mr. Robert Hindeliter, brings a wealth of
experience and expertise to the table. Mr. Hindeliter is considered to be
an expert in the field of wast water management. For a quick snapshot of
the experience that Mr. Hindeliter brings to this subject matter, I would
recommend that you "google" his name.

Our question for Central Costa County revolves around your current BMP's
and what they mean for the pressure washing industry? It is our hope that
the UAMCC will be afforded an opportunity to comment/review the BMP's that
are in place today. Coupled with adopted BMP's, all of Contra Costa
County is facing a serious drought problem. The environmental impact that
water restrictions will cause can also be viewed as a topic that would
most certainly be brought up with BMP discussions.

Representing the pressure washing industry is certainly the UAMCC's main
plight but we also are just as concerned and determined to ensure that
environmental policies are adhere to by our industry. We must ensure that
whatever 'practices' materialize that there is a "fair and responsible"
balance in which BMP's do not drive legitimate business owners out of
business. This is the proclivities that municipalities nationwide and the
pressure washing industry must deal with today.

In order to gain a better understanding of what you want to do 'Marcus",
please elaborate more on your vision and purpose for the training seminar.
Based on your answers, both Robert and I can offer up a summary with our
recommendations on how to proceed.

Sincerely,

Carlos Gonzales
Executive Director
United Assoc. of Mobile Contract Cleaners ~ UAMCC
5055 Business Center Drive
Suite 108 ~ #225
Fairfield, CA 94534
Toll Free: 1-800-816-3240
Mobile: 707-812-3702
www.uamcc.org
www.uamcc.org/forum
info@uamcc.org

There are the ones we deal with all the time. I am surprised that they actually allowed you to post this. I was always told that I could not for one reason or another. I did mention that they were reading our posts some months ago on another site. Didn't go over to well with others. At least Carlos you got confirmation in a good way.
 
Carlos,

What you post over at the other forum was some of the best explanation on this subject I have ever seen on the boards. It was well thought-out, detailed and executed.

I was very impressed at that thread that you wrote and everyone here should be made aware of it:

Historically in our industry, BMP's were written and then handed to us with a "here you go" and live with it gesture. These BMP's were set, regardless if it put legitimate business owners on the fence. The "proclivity" or negative thing about this is that today our job is much more difficult than it was when these BMP's were written. Thus meaning this is what we are faced with today!

If we as an industry years ago would have been more proactive in this arena and participated in helping with the writing the BMP's we would hopefully been so far ahead. For whatever the reasons are or were, the industry did not get invited to the party or did not ask to go. Whatever the case was, today the industry has a much more difficult tasks to not only go in and say the BMP's are all wrong but we have to prove to them why.

Now remember, the federal government has empowered each state/county and city to adopt the CWA from a federal standpoint. However the feds have also allowed these states, counties and cities to implement more stringent guidelines. The rule of thumb has always been...you can add more stricter stuff but you can't take away from the Federal CWA.

Here again is another problem because each state/county/city can mold or create their own BMP's based on the federal guidelines as their base. What does this mean for the washer? Well you may have BMP's in one service area and then travel over to the next county (maybe 10 minutes from you) and their BMPs are totally different ~ meaning more stricter.

So, multiply the above scenario to all the different cities and counties nationwide. Tackling this would and is a daunting task for anyone. The UAMCC is no different. I would love to hop on a plane to every city and county that has BMP's in place that are not user friendly to our industry and compel them, show them and ask them to change them so that contractors are not forced to buy thousands and thousands of equipment for reclaim purposes.

I am sure you are familiar with Level I, Level II and Level III municipalities? Level I being the most densely populated areas and Level II a little less populated and so forth and so on.

Recently you have heard from the UAMCC Environmental Consultant, Robert Hinderliter. He has made mentioned several times about the "audit cycle" that all states, cities and counties will be going through. This audit cycle is coming down from the Feds. This audit cycle is nothing new to the municipalities as they have been made aware of this audit for a very long time but never really paid attention to it...except now. The municipalities must meet an array of requirements or satisfy this audit so that their revenue stream will stay in place. This is why we in the industry are now seeing interest from cities such as Charlotte, NC and counties such as Mecklenburg and Contra Costa County. These folks want to get their policies/BMP's in place early so that their revenue stream is not hampered or compromised. Another advantage for any city/county to do this now also affords them to make any corrections to a unfavorable audit before that magical deadline. Same thing when one gets audited by the IRS - you are giving a period of time to 'correct'. Same rule applies here with the federal audit. Over the next year or so we can expect more and more cities/counties to contact organizations such as UAMCC, PWNA and CETA. This is just the beginning.

I have discussed this with Robert and my transition team in great detail. The UAMCC is NOT equipped nor financially solvent to hit every single city and county in the U.S. However, we have picked up on a trend with the Level I, Level II and Level III jurisdictions. Historically we have found that Level II and Level III municipalities follow what Level I's enact regarding BMP's.

If someone were to ask me how the UAMCC would go about tackling the BMP problem facing our industry. As I have instructed Robert a while back, I will also convey to you that hitting the Level I bodies are our best shot. You may get in the front door with Level II's and Level III's but I am afraid at the end of the day they will most likely side with what the Level I BMP's are, no matter how compelling your argument is. This is why Ron raised the the concern about the BMP's in Atlanta. Atlanta is a Level I. Very important not only to that city but more importantly to the counties nearby. It is my understanding that the BMP's were adopted with not so favorable points about washers. (I have not read the Atlanta BMP's but do have a call into them). If it is true that Atlanta has very strict BMP's then it would be logical and based on historical data that surrounding Level II's and Level III's will adopt theirs. This would not be good for the pressure washer.

I know I am getting away from your original question Tony but I felt it was high time to shed some light on this matter. It is my hope that now some will see that there is some 'logic and process' that I have considered and evaluated relating to this issue.

It is a very difficult subject that we today are dealing with. The CWA and the pressure washing industry has tip toed around each other for many years. I remember speaking with Ron about this ohhh...maybe 5-7 years ago. It was a problem then and it is a problem now. However, I will not let the UAMCC be the blame of something that should have been dealt with responsibly and correctly years ago. The UAMCC is a little over a 100 days old. In that short of time I trust we have at least shown that we are doing our best and trying to address what we can. Myself and the transition team take on a lot...a lot that most don't see. I am averaging 14-16 hour days here at UAMCC headquarters. Not complaining just stating a fact. Believe me, I read these posts and seriously evaluate not only what you say but also others.

I could go on-and on for another two pages of what the BMP's mean and the logical strategy that I would recommend. Maybe if you come to Orlando we could compare notes.

Hope this helps

**I am sure there are tons of spelling errors in my post**


Carlos Gonzales
New Look Powerwash
United Assoc. of Mobile Contract Cleaners ~ UAMCC
5055 Business Center Drive
Suite 108 ~ #225
Fairfield, CA 94534
Toll Free: 1-800-816-3240


Of course there is more, but this thread by you was very well written. :clap:
 
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