In March of 1997, Delaney became inter- im executive vice president of PLCAA, along with his legislative duties, during the association’s unsuccessful search to fill that vacancy. In February of 1998, after nearly a year of effectively managing both positions, he accepted the challenge and was named executive vice president. He remained as government relations liaison, vowing to talk to every member who called with a question on govern- ment affairs. He was then also respon- sible for running the GIE trade show, as show management, for several years.
In 2002, Delaney arranged for the as- sociation’s legislative bill tracking service and a legislative action center. In 2003, he hired D.C. Legislative and Regulatory Services (DCLRS), a federal lobbyist organization, to assist on Capitol Hill.
With expanding needs on both the administrative and legislative fronts, PLCAA announced a restructuring effective on January 1, 2003, naming industry veteran, Gary Clayton, execu- tive vice president, and Delaney vice president of government affairs. In the press release, (then) PLCAA President Jon Cundiff stated, “Tom, who served as both executive vice president and government affairs director, will now be able to dedicate his full attention and talents to those issues that we consider paramount to our industry.” That included continued monitoring of legislation and providing testimony as needed before legislative hearings at all governmental levels within the U.S., and when called by the industry to do so, in Canada.
In 2004, Delaney worked with EPA on developing the EPA brochure “Healthy Lawns, Healthy Environment: Caring for Your lawn in an Environmentally Friendly Way,” which incorporates many facts provided by The Lawn Institute. That publication continues to be posted on the EPA website at this link:
http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production/ files/2014-04/documents/healthy_lawn_ healthy_environment.pdf.
The Merger PLCAA and the Associated Land- scape Contractors of America (ALCA) merged in January of 2005 to form the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET). With the PLCAA/ALCA merger, another set of issues arose—the industry’s involvement with the H-2B “guest worker” program. Delaney quickly became familiar with all the factors of H-2B regulations.
Delaney was the first person to bring to the Hill the idea of the returning H-2B worker exemption, taking advantage of the strong connection he had established with the staff of Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), chair of a subcommittee on immigration. That change helped to more than double the available H-2B workers for a few years.
Delaney also convinced PLANET to help fund—and add their name to—sever- al lawsuits against the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on the H-2B program.
Delaney developed the major part of the Lawn Care Summit program starting in 2009, when it was first established, and continuing throughout the years that it was offered.
A Stronger Voice In 2011, Delaney was appointed by the EPA Administrator to serve on the Pesticide Program Dialogue Commit- tee (PPDC) for a two-year term. He was reappointed in 2013. PPDC, a broadly representative federal advisory commit- tee, meets with EPA on a regular basis to discuss pesticide regulatory, policy, and program implementation issues. That role gives NALP a stronger voice with the EPA and a greater opportunity to directly address industry issues.
The range of issues challenging the lawn and landscape industry continues to escalate: pesticides, water use, emis- sions, noise. As TPI members know, now lawns are being demonized. Where once adherence to the “green” recom- mendations of programs such as Leeds was voluntary, now restrictions on the
TPI TURF NEWS • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016
percentage of turfgrass used on a site—or any use of turfgrass on a site—are inte- grated into governmental codes. There has even been an ASTM International proposal to include turfgrass in a listing of invasive species. With all this, working together as a united industry is essential.
Delaney never saw his role as forming coalitions, but as finding them and work- ing within them. He has participated with many, including: the H-2B Work- force Coalition, which NALP co-chairs; the Nursery & Landscape Association of North America (NLAE); Project EverGreen; the Tree Care Industry As- sociation (TCIA) - American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Committee; RISE - Government Affairs/Legislative Committee; the Sustainable Urban Forests Coalition (SUFC); the Green- Scapes Alliance; the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engi- neers (ASABE) - ANSI Committee; the American Association of Pesticide Safety Educators (AAPSE); the Keystone Initia- tive - Stewardship Group; the Partner- ship to Protect Workplace Opportunity (PPWO) - Overtime Rule; EPA’s Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee (PPDC); the Association of American Pesticide Control Officials (AAPCO); ASTM International (prior to the 2001 name change the American Society for Testing and Materials); the National Turfgrass Federation (NTF) and National Arbore- tum - Grass Roots.
With his wide network of connections involving such a variety of people, he sees not only the specific situation, but also how it fits within the industry overall. In simple terms, he can find that person and that group to work with to best represent those in the trenches—and make sure their message reaches its tar- get. Time will tell how Tom Delaney’s impact on the green industry will continue into the future.
Suz Trusty is co-editor of Turf News.
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