Colorado Green Now

The latest ALCC news, including Colorado Green NOW articles, legislative updates, and programming announcements. 

Legislative update for the landscape industry Email
News
Tuesday, May 24, 2016 01:00 PM

Colorado legislative updateThe Colorado state legislature adjourned Wednesday, May 11th. The 2016 session ended with little progress on issues that lawmakers in both parties claimed were top priorities in January. Dubbed as a ‘do nothing’ session, many of the bills introduced were political messaging bills crafted with the election – and control of certain legislative districts – in mind. In total, the legislature saw 686 bills introduced, with more than half of them garnering bipartisan support. As an industry, we closely watched about 25 bills – fewer than is typical.

The ALCC/GreenCO legislative priorities fall into four basic categories: water policy, business practices, budget and tax policy and infrastructure investment policy.

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Understanding the DOL overtime rule Email
News
Tuesday, May 24, 2016 09:00 AM

DOL overtime ruleNo doubt that by now you’ve heard that last week the US Department of Labor (DOL) released a final rule regarding overtime for white collar workers. Despite some revisions from the rule change proposed last fall, the new rule might have a big impact on employers. Landscape company employers should review their current employees' status to determine whether they need to make changes in order to comply.

The final rule applies to overtime exemptions for executive, administrative, professional, outside sales and computer employees. The salary threshold for exemption is lower than previously proposed, but it is still more than twice the previous threshold. Employers may also use nondiscretionary bonuses and incentives (including commissions to satisfy up to 10% of the new salary level—provided those bonuses are paid quarterly or more often. In other words, year-end bonuses will not apply.

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Legislative update for Colorado landscape industry Email
News
Tuesday, May 24, 2016 08:00 AM

Colorado legislative updateThe Colorado state legislature adjourned Wednesday, May 11th. The 2016 session ended with little progress on issues that lawmakers in both parties claimed were top priorities in January. Dubbed as a ‘do nothing’ session, many of the bills introduced were political messaging bills crafted with the election – and control of certain legislative districts – in mind. In total, the legislature saw 686 bills introduced, with more than half of them garnering bipartisan support. As an industry, we closely watched about 25 bills – fewer than is typical.

The ALCC/GreenCO legislative priorities fall into four basic categories: water policy, business practices, budget and tax policy and infrastructure investment policy.

Read more...
 
OSHA final rule regarding silica dust exposure Email
News
Tuesday, May 24, 2016 07:00 AM

Laying brickOn June 23, 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) final rule regarding exposure to respirable crystalline silica will go into effect. The aim of the rule is to curb lung cancer, silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney disease in America's workers. There are two standards: one for Construction and one for General Industry and Maritime.

Employers have one year to comply with the new rule, and OSHA has unveiled a number of resources to help with compliance. A web site (www.silica-safe.org) has an online, interactive “Create-a-Plan” tool that allows employers to create their required written plan and be sure it is in compliance. Once completed, the plan can be emailed, downloaded, or printed to keep on record. The site also offers manuals, talks, videos, presentations, and handouts for communicating the rule with employees.

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Collaboration reaps rewards--The ELITE Award for Irrigation Management Email
News
Tuesday, May 24, 2016 06:30 AM

The ELITE Award for Irrigation Management - Timberline LandscapingThis week, Colorado Green NOW shines a light on The ELITE Award for Irrigation Management, which was awarded to Timberline Landscaping for their work at Oracle America in Colorado Springs. The success of the project is due to a committed group of like-minded people from three organizations: Colorado Springs Utilities, Oracle and Timberline.

Timberline achieved these goals for Oracle through low-water-use renovation projects and irrigation renovations on their property. Oracle, which is continually striving to be more sustainable and to lessen water use, was impressed by Timberline’s sustainable thinking and had been impressed by the company’s work on other area properties. 

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