THE GREEN INDUSTRY AND TOM DELANEY
By Suz Trusty
After dedicating 28 years of service to the lawn and landscape industry, Tom Delaney, director of govern- ment affairs for the National Asso- ciation of Landscape Professionals (NALP) will be leaving his position with the organization. Delaney will remain with NALP over the next few months to help ensure a smooth transition for the organiza- tion’s public policy work.
To many in the industry, Delaney has been the face of the association since its inception and through its varied iterations. He was the one at- tending committee meetings; the one speaking at numerous conferences and educational programs; the one signing the association to group let- ters to the Hill; the one submitting testimony at hearings; and the go-to guy for government-related industry issues for the trade press and often for the general media as well. His industry-related travels have taken him to 45 states and he’s established connections in most of them.
“I know the industry joins me in thanking Tom for his many years of service to NALP and the industry as a whole,” noted Sabena Hickman, NALP’s chief executive officer. “Tom has overseen a vast array of complex issues for the association at federal, state, and local levels. Each and every company in the industry, members and non-members, have benefitted from Tom’s legislative and regulatory work, whether they know it or not.”
Hickman’s statement hit home, so we asked Delaney to provide a few of the highlights.
The Challenges Begin His industry career started with the Georgia Department of Agricul- ture in the Pesticide Division. He alerted the newly-formed Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA) after being called by the U.S. Government Affairs Office (GAO) about a report they were working on concerning a lawn care company’s safety claims. Shortly af- terwards, at the top of his pay grade with the state of Georgia, Delaney accepted a position with PLCAA to handle state-level government affairs.
The GAO report led to the U.S. Sen- ate Hearing 101-685, “the use and regu- lation of lawn care chemicals” before the Subcommittee on Toxic Substanc- es, Environmental Oversight, Research and Development, held on March 28, 1990. Representing PLCAA, Delaney was one of the industry representatives testifying in front of Senator John Warner (R-VA), Senator Joseph Lieber- man (D-CT), and subcommittee chair, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV).
The hearing generated a long round of intense negative media coverage, including headlines such as “Lethal Lawns,” which topped an article in The Washington Post on September 16, 1991. Countering sensationalism with reasoned science, clearly expressed, be- came the goal shared across the lawn and landscape industry. Delaney, with federal government affairs now added to his responsibilities, has continually played a key role in that effort.
After the hearings, Delaney worked with the U.S. Environmental Protec- tion Agency (EPA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on word- ing that would allow the lawn care industry to state the facts without legislative and regulatory opposition from federal government agencies or state attorneys general. The resulting brochure, “What You Should Know About Lawn Care Products and Ser- vices,” is still in use today.
TPI TURF NEWS • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016
RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment), representing the non-agricultural segment of pesticide manufacturers and users, was formed early in 1991 in response to all the controversy. Delaney became a mem- ber of the RISE government/legislative committee upon its formation and has continued to serve on it ever since.
In June of 1991, Delaney attended the U.S. Supreme Court session where the ruling was announced that—while federal laws did not overrule local ordinances against pesticide usage—the individual states could pass legislation on pesticide exemption that would do so. Delaney worked with other nation- al associations to get state bills passed on pesticide preemption. RISE and key agricultural organizations joined in preemption efforts, expanding and strengthening the initiative. This in- volvement further broadened Delaney’s networking contacts.
Due to the numerous lawn care-related legislative bills across the state of New York, Delaney hired PLCAA’s first state lobbyist there.
Another major issue erupted in 1991, when a study (Hayes 1991) was is- sued linking a form of cancer in dogs (canine malignant lymphoma) with the use of lawn care products contain- ing 2,4-D. That report was picked up by consumer media across the nation, generating the largest volume of phone calls ever received at the PLCAA office, according to Delaney. The 2,4-D Task Force reported subsequent independent examination of the study by Dr. John B. Kaneene, Director, Population Medicine Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University (MSU), using the study’s own data, would not support the pur- ported conclusions, and there was no association between 2,4-D and cancer in dogs. Delaney again focused on countering the negativity with science- based facts, even connecting with Dr. Robert H. Poppenga, a board-certified
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