Testimony - Ohio Chemistry Technology Council in Support of House Bill 158 (April 21, 2021)

Summary

Testimony of Andy Swaim, Director of Government and External Affairs for the Ohio Chemistry Technology Council (OCTC), in support of House Bill 158, dated April 21, 2021, to the House Commerce and Labor Committee. The testimony says OCTC is the leading advocate for Ohio's chemical manufacturing industry, which employs nearly 40,000 people at more than 600 facilities across the state. It states that HB 158 will establish a statewide uniform requirement banning firefighting foams containing intentionally added PFAS chemistries for training and testing purposes, while allowing their continued sale and use against real world fires.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

     Board of Directors
                                                                  April 21, 2021
    Chair – Rich Rogers
          Covestro                              Ohio Chemistry Technology Council Testimony
 Vice Chair – Seth Tomasch                              In Support of House Bill 158
Gabriel Performance Products
 Treasurer – Karleen James     Chairman Stein, Vice Chair Johnson, Ranking Member Lepore-Hagan and
       Dover Chemical          members of the House Commerce and Labor Committee, my name is Andy
 Past Chair – David Hurder
                               Swaim. I am the Director of Government and External Affairs for the Ohio
          McGean
                               Chemistry Technology Council (OCTC). Thank you for the opportunity to testify in
                               support of House Bill 158 (HB 158).
       John Ambrozy
      Kraton Polymers          OCTC is the leading advocate for Ohio’s chemical manufacturing industry. Ohio is
       Chuck Almroth           the third largest chemistry producing state in the United States. The Ohio
 Jones-Hamilton Company
                               chemical industry employs nearly 40,000 people at more than 600 facilities
       Ken Armstrong
     RPM International         across the state. The average wage in the industry is over $85,000 per year.
         James Bull            Nearly 97% of manufactured goods can trace their origins back to the chemistry
 Capital Resin Corporation     industry. Amongst the thousands of products produced by the chemistry
        Joseph Bush            industry, there exists a large class of chemicals referred to as per- and
           Solvay              polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
     Fernando Carvalho
          Ashland
         Mike Groh             OCTC supports HB 158 to codify best practices regarding the use of firefighting
   Emery Oleochemicals         foams containing intentionally added PFAS, also known as aqueous film forming
      Steel Hutchinson         foams (AFFF). These firefighting foams fall under the category of Class B
      GFS Chemicals            firefighting foams that serve a vital role in controlling combustible and
      Daniel Isaacson          flammable liquid fuel fires commonly found at military bases, airports, storage
  The Lubrizol Corporation
                               tanks, petroleum/chemical operations, rail transportation and power generating
      Richard Jackson
     ASHTA Chemicals           facilities. The ability of foam to rapidly extinguish flammable liquid fuel fires has
       Joseph Bianco           undoubtedly saved many lives, reduced property loss, and helped minimize the
       INEOS Nitriles          global pollution that can result from the uncontrolled burning of flammable
    Jonathan Kammerer          liquids.
     Americas Styrenics
     Matthew O’Connor
         Zaclon LLC
                               While “fluorine-free foams” do exist, they do not meet the performance
         Rob Paxton            requirements for military specification and they require substantially more
Shepherd Chemical Company      product to produce equivalent fire suppression. Completely eliminating the use
        Heather Rutz           of AFFF foams that contain PFAS chemistries is not advisable because these
    Husky Lima Refinery        foams are still the most effective agents currently available to fight flammable
         Chris Shaul           liquid fires. The chemistries within AFFF foams provide fuel repellency and heat
           DuPont
         Terry Snell
                               stability, allowing for rapid extinguishment, burnback resistance, and protection
            BASF               against vapor release, which helps to prevent re-ignition.
       Hadley Stamm
            PPG
         Tom Steib
   The Elco Corporation
The chemistry industry recognizes that it has a responsibility to reduce, to the greatest extent possible, the
environmental and health impacts associated with its products. Fortunately, there are alternative fluids and
methods currently available that mimic the properties of AFFF foams for the purposes training and testing.

HB 158 will establish a statewide uniform requirement that would ban the use of firefighting foams containing
intentionally added PFAS chemistries for training and testing purposes but will allow for their continued sale and
use against real world fires. As a result, Ohio firefighters will continue to have access to the most effective
firefighting foams available to protect life and property.

Thank you again for the opportunity to provide testimony today. I would be happy to answer any questions you
may have.


File and source

File

2021-04-21_commerce-labor_testimony_testimony-4212.pdf

Size

295,950 bytes

SHA-256

6039c9b12aa4fafb19b6a2192eaf7bf21955529a05782bead4ba7191fd079622

Our copy

2021-04-21_commerce-labor_testimony_testimony-4212.pdf

Original

No public link identified.