Intel from the capital

Election years can be their own kind of whirlwind for the National Association of Landscape Professionals, says Andrew Bray, senior vice president of government relations.

Despite the uncertainty looming in November, Bray says there’s plenty of other concerns for the industry. He outlined some of those during the 2024 Wilson 360 Thought Leader Retreat.

“There’s a lot going on in DC,” Bray says. “I’ve never seen anything like what we’ve been seeing over the past few weeks.”

H-2B HAPPENINGS. Bray offered his yearly update on the H-2B program and what to expect going into the 2025 season.

“It’s always changing,” Bray says of H-2B.

Bray quickly polled attendees and was relieved to see that the vast majority of them received their H-2B workers this season.

Bray says he and his team would still love a permanent fix to the issues surrounding the program’s supplemental cap of 66,000 annual visas, but he admits it’s all up to Congress.

“This congress has been interesting… I’m very optimistic that we can resume those conversations with the next Congress,” Bray says.

Bray notes NALP is also lobbying hard to reinstate the returning workers exception which would exempt any workers from the cap from the past one to three years looking to return again. Bray predicts reinstatement would raise the cap to somewhere around 190,000 H-2B visas.

Also, in terms of H-2B changes, Bray notes he and others are working hard to change some language that would speed up the process for additional visas to be released once the caps been exceeded. Bray says that can be done simply by changing “may” to “shall.”

“We want that language changed to shall, so we don’t have to go in and argue with the president or the Department of Labor. If it’s ‘shall,’ the minute the cap hits, the visas are rolled out,” he explains. “Next season, regardless of who wins the election, the cap will be hit in September or October and Biden will still be the president to release the supplemental visas. We should still be good for next year.”

GAS, OIL & WATER. Bray points out that the California ban on the sale of gas-powered landscaping equipment is now underway. There are other states looking to make similar moves.

Though Bray notes that California only has this authority if the EPA grants it, which has still yet to happen. That’ll make it difficult for the state to enforce the regulation, Bray adds.

He adds that more and more states are attempting to enact similar laws, but instead of using language that aims to regulate emissions, they are using noise regulation as the motivating factor.

“We had 10 states try to ban leaf blowers or gas-powered equipment this cycle, and as of now nine of those 10 have been defeated,” Bray reports. “We only have on left in the hopper — and it’s New Jersey… all in all, a 90% success rate is pretty good.”

And while gas-powered bans have been making headlines these past few years, Bray says water restrictions will be the next hot topic for regulation.

“It’s not just about the water restrictions but the implications of how people view turf,” Bray says. “It’s not catching us off guard, but Colorado came out with a pretty significant ban on having turf in new construction, and they’re looking at taking out turf in commercial settings.”

In addition to Colorado, Bray says Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas and Utah are all also looking into similar bans and restrictions.

“NALP is taking this to the top,” Bray says. “We’re working on bringing some like-minded associations and groups together to solve this problem.”

HANDLING THE HEAT. Bray says business leaders should also be aware of Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new heat standards. While it hasn’t been formally introduced yet, Bray explains a copy got leaked recently.

“You don’t need to worry about this until next summer,” he says.

Bray adds that NALP worked with OSHA to help create the new heat standards and regulations.

“Regardless of where you work and how hot it is, you will have to create this new heat injury and illness prevention plan,” Bray says. “This will need to be accessible to all your workers and this will need to be taught annually.”

When temperatures are above 80 degrees, other regulations include having accessible, cold drinking water for staff and shaded break areas. When temperatures rise to 90 degrees, employees will have to receive mandatory 15-minute rest breaks every two hours.

Bray warns that when these new heat standards go into effect, it will take a lot of communication on the business’s end to make sure they are being followed.

“We wanted OSHA to make temperatures thresholds different based on region,” Bray says. “Because you can argue that 90 degrees in Texas is different than 90 degrees in Oregon or another region.”

PRESIDENTIAL PREDICTIONS. Bray wrapped up his session with some information on the election and his insight and predictions on who will win the White House in November.

“I’m an election junkie,” Bray says. “And I’m a gambling man, so as much as I’d love to say I pick winners, I usually pick losers.”

With Kamala Harris being named the Democratic candidate, Bray says it will force Republicans to start campaigning in more states.

“Kamala now has several paths to victory,” Bray adds. “She has the Sunbelt path, and Kamala is going to bring North Carolina into play — and the same thing with Georgia and Arizona. She has significant relationships in Arizona from her time serving in California.”

However, though Bray says Harris was a much better choice than Biden in terms of polling numbers, he is still predicting a Trump victory as of now.

“If the election was tomorrow, I think Donald Trump wins it,” he says.

Bray says he thinks it’ll be a tight race right up to the very end. In fact, NALP’s holding its annual Elevate event during election week and Bray says he isn’t certain the election will be called Tuesday night.

“I don’t anticipate being able to tell you guys who the president is on Wednesday morning,” he says. “We are a very divided country right now ideologically.”