Quarterly Report - 2nd Qtr 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C., ADVOCACY AND GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

  • Organized PMI Washington, D.C., Executive Forum and Fly-In – April 27-28, 2016. Fifteen PMI executives participated in the half-day forum. Topics included the economic outlook for housing/construction, tax reform, water-related legislation and regulations, 2016 elections, and workforce development. Hosted reception including key business and water-related organizations. PMI members participated in 28 House and Senate Congressional meetings for Advocacy Hill Day.
  • WaterSense, Rebates and Toxic Substances Control Act. Worked to include WaterSense authorization provision in Water Resources Development Act (S. 2848) awaiting vote by full Senate. Signed onto Plumbing Industry Leadership Coalition (PILC) letter highlighting 10th anniversary of EPA WaterSense Program. Joined coalition effort in support of tax exemption status for water efficiency rebates. Scheduled webinar on the recently passed law updating the Toxic Substances Control Act.

CALIFORNIA ADVOCACY AND GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

  • Sacramento Fly-in. Several member company executives and PMI Advocacy/Government Affairs Committee co-chairs attended the 2016 fly-in to California’s Sacramento Capitol. They updated the California Energy Commission’s executive staff on PMI member efforts to comply with the low flow rates that apply to their products, and met as constituents with 10 legislative offices to lobby specific measures.
  • Los Angeles Ordinance. Following months of PMI engagement, the L.A. City Council adopted an ordinance with voluntary low flow rates for specific plumbing products that reflect PMI’s input and suggestions and will enable companies to move forward and provide products.
  • Toilet Donation Program. The California Water Resources Department, Department of Community Services and Development, and Governor’s Office of Planning and Research thanked PMI and member companies Kohler and American Standard for the donation of 75 high-efficiency toilets that are being installed to assist the residents of East Porterville.
  • 2016 Legislation and Regulations. PMI is engaged as the California legislature considers proposals to replace out-of-date plumbing fixtures or fittings in commercial real property, allow local governments to finance water conservation improvements paid for by charges collected through water bills, establish monitoring and reporting requirements for the non-potable use of onsite treated water prior to its use in internal plumbing, and require public water systems to compile an inventory of known lead service lines in use in their distribution systems.

INDUSTRY NETWORKING

  • International Emerging Technologies Symposium (IETS) and PILC Meeting. Together with the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) and American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE), PMI co-convened the 5th annual IETS for an audience of 124. Founded and convened by PMI, ASPE and IAPMO, the 5th annual meeting of the Plumbing Industry Leadership Coalition (PILC) followed with 31 participants.
  • Rotary International. PMI staff Higgens and Stuhrberg attended a panel discussion on Flint hosted June 16th by Rotary International in Evanston, Ill.
  • American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Governance Development and Board Engagement Seminar. Together with PMI Board President Patton and PMI Board Vice President Jahrling, PMI CEO Higgens attended a symposium for chief elected officers and chief executive officers June 6-7 in Baltimore.
  • American Water Works Association (AWWA). PMI CEO Higgens participated in the 2016 AWWA conference and expo, which attracted 14,000 attendees in Chicago from June 19-22.
  • Globe Union (Gerber/Danze) was approved as a member by the PMI board.
  • CEIR (European Valve Industry Association). Higgens addressed the CEIR annual conference in Lyon, France. Past PMI board president Jeff Baldwin also attended. (PMI board president Patton was scheduled but unable to attend due to an air traffic controller strike.)
  • Canadian Institute of Plumbing and Heating (CIPH). Higgens and Patton attended the CIPH annual conference in Banff, Alberta. Past PMI board president Fernando Fernandez also attended.

FLINT RELIEF EFFORT

  • 1,000 Showerheads Donated. Building on the success of the initial January event, hundreds of volunteers gathered in Flint to provide residents with safe, clean water. On May 21, volunteers from as far away as New Mexico installed products donated by PMI member companies in homes where existing fixtures were not compatible with filters. While the initial effort focused on filters for kitchen faucets, participants in the most recent event installed more than 1,000 water-efficient showerheads and filters. The request for shower filters came in response to resident complaints of severe rashes and hair loss as a result of non-lead contaminates in the water. The latest round of plumbing products were donated by Delta Faucet Co., Kohler Co., and Symmons Industries, Inc. The shower filters were purchased by the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry (UA).

TECHNICAL

  • Codes and Standards and Research Project Update. PMI’s Codes & Standards presentation has been updated, and a workshop has been scheduled for August 9 and 10. PMI staff finalized a research project request for proposal pertaining to flow rate and pathogen growth, and are in the process of bidding out. PMI staff, in partnership with the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE), is finalizing a research project request for proposal pertaining to the number of pre-EPAct fixtures still in existence in California and a few other states.

OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATION

  • D.C. and Sacramento Fly-Ins. PMI provided support to the D.C. and Sacramento Fly-ins, preparing handouts, talking points and pre- and post-publicity. PMI staff updated media on the WaterSense authorization amendments and WaterSense anniversary, and supported the IETS and PILC meetings.
  • Position Paper on Water Infrastructure Approved by PMI Board. A one-page position paper calling for the restoration of America’s aging underground water infrastructure was approved by the PMI board. PMI staff is now preparing additional materials about the need for this restoration.
  • Recruiting Speakers for August Press Event and October Conference. PMI staff also recruited experts on infrastructure for these two events, including Catherine O’Connor of the Metropolitan (Chicago) Water Reclamation District and a TBD speaker from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
  • PMI News Releases and Website. The four PMI news releases distributed during the second quarter gained 19,412 views on Business Wire and resulted in 112 PMI website clicks. The website had 26,560 sessions/visits and 40,281 page views. The lead-in-plumbing page continued to be the most viewed page, with 14,283 page views.

UPCOMING PMI-HOSTED EVENTS

July 26: PMI Advocacy/Government Affairs and Fair Trade Issue Committee Chairs Strategy Session
PMI Offices, Rolling Meadows, Ill.

July 27-28: PMI Board of Directors / Strategic Advisory Council (SAC) meeting
PMI Offices, Rolling Meadows, Ill.
Invitation only

August 9-10: PMI Codes and Standards Workshop
Schaumburg, Ill.

August 9-10: PMI Outreach/Communications Seminar
PMI Offices, Rolling Meadows, Ill.

August 10: PMI Press Luncheon
PMI Offices, Rolling Meadows, Ill.

October 24-27: PMI 2016 Conference
The Westin O’Hare, Rosemont, Ill.