The EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers released their joint proposal on June 27 to rescind the 2015 Clean Water Rule (i.e., “WOTUS rule”). Following the repeal of the rule, a replacement will be promulgated. GCSAA applauds this first step in the WOTUS rule repeal and replace effort and looks forward to working with EPA and Corps officials to help redefine what a “water of the United States” is under the Clean Water Act to help provide regulatory certainty to golf facilities.

GCSAA is working with multiple industry stakeholders on an urgent pesticide regulation related issue, and your help is needed. Currently, the EPA is evaluating whether to further restrict pyrethroid use for professionals. Inappropriate regulations can significantly impact your lives and livelihood, and GCSAA needs you to voice your concerns by July 7 to help the EPA better understand the important role that pyrethroids serve in your ability to provide your services and protect the public.

Ask the average Joe if he's heard of the H-2B visa program or ever met a seasonal guest worker, and he’ll probably say no. Ask a member of Congress how he or she feels about expanding the number of H-2B visas available to small businesses each year, and they may be opposed, but they would be in the minority.

On April 19, members of FWD.us, a lobbying group focused on immigration reform, and the Colorado Business Roundtable hosted a roundtable discussion with Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) on the campus of the University of Denver.

On May 11, Bob Helland, director of congressional and federal affairs, attended a congressional hearing before the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry Committee entitled “Pesticide Registration under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act: Providing Stakeholders with Certainty through the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act”. The purpose of the hearing was to discuss reauthorization of the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act (PRIA).

On April 6, Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE) and Crop Life America (CLA) conducted a roundtable at their annual Spring Regulatory Conference in Washington, D.C., called EPA Labels Live!. The discussion focused on the full life cycle of how pesticide labels make it from the lab, eventually to the end user.

The Trump administration and Congress have come to a compromise on the 11 spending bills needed to fund the federal government for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2017. In addition to funding domestic and defense priorities, the $1.163 trillion package also includes language providing a much-needed increase to the annual 66,000 H-2B cap.

GCSAA's Grassroots Ambassador Program continues to grow with the start of the Spring 2017 class this month. Below is the roster of our newest members, so please reach out to those you may know and congratulate them on their acceptance into GCSAA's grassroots advocacy program.

The American Association of Pesticide Control Officials (AAPCO) held its annual spring meeting March 6-8 in Arlington, Va., and Chava McKeel, director of government affairs, represented GCSAA at the meeting. Key discussion topics included Zika virus and funding; state level implementation of Managed Pollinator Protection Plans; and the status of neonicotinoid bans and legislation across the country.

The Pesticide Policy Coalition, of which GCSAA is a member, released a press release March 30 in support of the decision by the EPA to deny the petition from environmental groups to ban agricultural use of chlorpyrifos. The agency says it will address the questions raised in the petition during a broader review of the pesticide that it expects to finish in 2022, which was what the PPC and others requested in public comments.

Robert Helland, GCSAA director of congressional and federal affairs, joined landscape professionals, the hospitality industry and other users of the H-2B visa program on March 21 to lobby Congress on issues facing the H-2B visa program.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order Feb. 28 directing the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps): to "review" the Clean Water Rule, and "publish for notice and comment" a rule that either revises the pending Clean Water Rule (WOTUS) or replaces it entirely.

On Jan. 25, 2017, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States." This order lays out the president’s plan for enforcing immigration laws, including, among other initiatives, increasing and expediting the deportation of removable aliens from the United States.

One of the first things the Trump Administration did on Jan. 20 was to issue a freeze on new and pending federal regulations in order to allow for their additional review. This is not unheard of – the Obama Administration issued a similar freeze in January 2008. However, President Trump has followed that up both with a promise to cut regulations by 75 percent and an executive order that states for every new federal regulation, two must be rescinded. All of this indicates a greater scrutiny of regulations that will likely have an impact on golf course management.

The election of Donald Trump as our nation’s 45th President has broad implications for the final disposition of the Clean Water Rule, also known as “WOTUS”. The Clean Water Rule has been on hold nationwide since October 2015 and its fate has long appeared to rest on whether courts would uphold it.

USCIS has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H‑2B cap for the first half of fiscal year (FY) 2017. Jan. 10, 2017, was the final receipt date for new H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before April 1, 2017.

Nineteen new members were welcomed to the GCSAA Grassroots Ambassador program for the Winter 2017 class. Their terms started on Jan., 1, 2017, and will extend for two years. These new members bring the total number of GCSAA Grassroots Ambassadors to 258.

With the start of a new Congress and a new Administration taking power comes the formation of an entirely new Presidential Cabinet. The cabinet is made up of the heads of 15 executive departments in addition to the vice president. President-elect Donald Trump has submitted his nominations. Now it’s time for the confirmation process in the Senate to begin and hearings are slated to kick off this Jan. 10.

It's election time. Not only has GCSAA launched a new Elections portal in the Government Affairs section of the website, but the Government Affairs department would like to invite you to participate in the #golfvotes social media campaign starting now.