Oregon Chimney Sweeps Association

Hot Issues
 

About  SB605
 
The Governor signed SB 605 into law on Wed. June 20th.

     http://www.leg.state.or.us/cgi-bin/searchMeas.pl

Following is transcripts of dialog concerning SB605

June 5, 2007

Well folks the house passed SB605 Monday June 4th by a vote of 41 to 15. It's now off to the Governor for signing and we're through.

Grant

April 24, 2007

Hello everyone.

Our Legislature is up to its arm pits right now so I was happy to get this reponse today from Steve Dixon concerning the statis of SB 605. May and June are my busiest months of the year for chimney sweeping and dropping everything to drive over to western Oregon is no small task. So I need to know who is available to attend a House committee hearing should it pop up with just a few days notice.

See you all May Day.

Grant

From: Dixon Steve

Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 2:47 PM

Subject: RE: SB 605

Hi Grant, We will not be hearing Senate bills until after May 1. I have not had the chance to talk with the chair about this or any other Senate bills, since we are running up against a deadline for house bills to be out of committee. That is the best answer I can give you right now. Sorry. Steve Dixon Committee Administrator

From: Reiley Mike
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 10:34 AM
To: Dixon Steve
Subject: FW: SB 605
 

Steve- Can you answer her on this? Mike

From: Grant Darrow [mailto:williewe@eoni.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 6:56 AM
To: REILEY Mike
Cc: Rep Smith G
Subject: SB 605
 

Mike;

I requested a hearing on SB605 via e-mail to the committee members and never recieved any kind of reponse. I realise your all very busy. Any idea when this may be put on the committee's agenda? The Oregon Chimney Sweep Asoociation's general membership meeting is coming up in two weeks.

Your time is greatly appreciated.

Grant Darrow

April 17, 2007

Chairman Rep. Paul Holvey

My name is Grant Darrow. I'm one of Oregon's senior chimney sweeps and represent the Oregon Chimney Sweep Association, Inc. (OCSA). In 2005 the simple word "cleaning" was removed from the Administrative Rules governing the licensing of Oregon's Contractors. This rule change inadvertently created two classes of chimney sweeps in Oregon. Licensed and unlicensed. The general membership of the OCSA asked me to address this issue and with the help of Sen. David Nelson, Rep.Greg Smith and Craig Smith of the CCB we have come up with this simple statutory change to fix the problem.

To the best of my knowledge there is no opposition to this bill.

Attached please find my original letter to the CCB in May of 2006 which better defines chimney cleaning. Other than when I'm in some kind of compromised position on a roof top here in NE Oregon, my cell phone is always within reach if you or any of the other committee members have any questions, please feel free to call. 541-786-0678.

Shortly after Christmas 2006 I was called into a home in La Grande by Scotts Heating to clean a gas wall furnace and chimney. Upon arriving at this rental I was informed by the family that the father in this home had just discovered he had life threatening levels of Carbon Monoxide in his blood. The rest of the family showed all the symptoms of co poisoning also. In order to clean and fix the point source of CO in this home I had to dismantle the entire burner and convection system on this wall furnace to access the restricted venting. The activities I engaged in to find and rectify this hazardous situation clearly define my chimney cleaning as a contractor. Current administrative rules would require an unlicensed chimney sweep to not only walk away from a situation such as this, but would not allow a report of his inspection of the system.

On behalf of all Oregon's chimney sweeps we do appreciate the time, sacrifice and commitment of our citizen run government. I would respectfully like to request a hearing so we can move this bill along.

Sincerely, Grant Darrow

From: Sen Nelson

To: Grant Darrow

Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2007 11:29 AM

Subject: Re: SB 605

Greetings Grant,

Finally, your bill has passed out of the Senate just moments ago with 22 aye votes. It will take a couple of days for it to be signed by the Senate President and appear on the Speaker’s desk. The Speaker will assign it to a House committee and you will be ready to request a hearing there. Best Wishes, Alice

Alice Nelson
Legislative Assistant to
Senator David Nelson
503-986-1729; 541-278-2332 – District ’To receive Senator Nelsons Capitol Updates Click here

From: Sen Nelson

To: Grant Darrow

Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 3:17 PM

Subject: RE: 605

Grant,

The Committee Administrator just called me to say Senator Metsger is ready to move your bill without amendments. Good News this is! The work session will be on Monday at 1 p.m. We don’t foresee any problems now. It may be a couple of weeks before it comes to the Senate floor for a vote simply because very few bills are being heard in the Senate at this time. Senate President Courtney wasn’t going to schedule any bills for vote until after the 1^st of March, but recently has added a Wednesday regular session and a few are moving now. It is slow. We anticipate March 5, things will change and it will start moving quickly. Regards, Alice

Sent: Jan 20, 2007

Re: SB605

Senator Metsger;

My name is Grant Darrow. I'm one of Oregon's senior chimney sweeps and represent the Oregon Chimney Sweep Association, Inc. (OCSA). In 2005 the simple word "cleaning" was removed from the Administrative Rules governing the licensing of Oregon's Contractors. This rule change inadvertently created two classes of chimney sweeps in Oregon.The general membership of the OCSA asked me to address this issue and with the help of Sen. Nelson and Craig Smith of the CCB we have come up with this simple statutory change to fix the problem.

Attached please find my original letter to the CCB in May of 2006. Other than when I'm in some kind of compromised position on a roof top here in NE Oregon, my cell phone is always within reach if you or any of the other committee members have any questions, please feel free to call. 541-786-0678.

Several weeks ago I was called into a home in La Grande by Scotts Heating to clean a gas wall furnace and chimney. Upon arriving at this rental I was informed by the family that the father in this home had just discovered he had life threatening levels of Carbon Monoxide in his blood. The rest of the family showed all the symptoms of co poisoning also. In order to clean and fix the point source of CO in this home I had to dismantle the entire burner and convection system on this wall furnace to access the restricted venting.

On behalf of all Oregon's chimney sweeps we do appreciate the time, sacrifice and commitment of our citizen run government.

Sincerely, Grant Darrow

www.ocsa.com

 Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2006 12:47 PM

From: Sen Nelson

To: williewe@eoni.com

Subject: SB 605

Grant,

Your bill has been pre-session filed and will become SB 605. It will be introduced on one of the first days of session and will then be assigned to a committee. We’ll let you know when that occurs. Merry Christmas to you and your family, Alice

Alice Nelson
Legislative Assistant to
Senator David Nelson
503-986-1729

541-278-2332 - District

Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 8:42 AM

From: Sen Nelson

To: williewe@eoni.com

Subject: Proposed legislation

Grant,

There is no link to track the progress of your bill yet… We have placed a request with legislative counsel for drafting of the proposal. They will do so sometime before the beginning of the legislative session in January. When the session starts we will drop the bill for introduction, it will receive a bill number and after three readings before the Senate (this is a reading of the title only and is formality) the Senate President will assign it to a Senate Committee for consideration. It is at this time the bill may be tracked through the system – I will contact you and give you the bill number. We will request a hearing, and this is where you and your group come into action. You may write or call the chair of the committee to request a hearing for your bill; the chair may request someone from your group testify before the committee. If it passes out of committee, there will be a vote on the Senate floor and the bill will move to the House. The Speaker assigns it to a House committee and again you may request a hearing. If passed out of the House, it goes to the Governor for his signature or veto. In a nutshell, this is the process. You can see it takes time and effort to put an idea into law and it is a good thing – the democratic process. Every proposal gets a good look, public input and a chance to find and correct errors.

Please contact us if you have other questions. We’ll stay in touch. Alice

Alice Nelson
Legislative Assistant to
Senator David Nelson
503-986-1729

October 2006

Oregon chimney sweep Grant Darrow, CCB administrator Craig Smith and Sen. David Nelson of Pendelton on 10-5-06 submitted a draft to the 2007 Oregon Legislator to revise Oregon Stautes.

701.005 Definitions.

(3) "Contractor" means a person who, for compensation or with the intent to sell, arranges or undertakes or offers to undertake or submits a bid to construct, alter, repair, add to, subtract from, improve, move, wreck, or demolish, for another, any building, highway, road, railroad, excavation, or other structure, project, development or improvement attached to real estate, clean or service chimneys or to do any part thereof.

"Contractor" includes general contractors, residental-only contractors and specialty contractors as defined in this section.

This will take bill form in Jan 2007 and a mailing will go out to all members with talking points so they can call and talk to their Senators and Representatives.

Oregon Drops License Requirement for Sweeping ‘Only’ The Oregon Construction Contractors Board (OCCB) has eliminated license requirements for chimney and flue cleaning as of June 2005. “The change was needed to comply with the statutory definition of ‘contractor’ contained in [Oregon law],” said the OCCB. However, an OCCB license is still required for chimney inspection or repair. Members of the Oregon Chimney Sweeps Association, Inc. (OCSA) said they are confused and surprised by the ruling. They noted that the act of sweeping a chimney requires an inspection, according to the National Fire Protection Agency’s 211 Standard for Chimneys, Fireplaces, Vents and Solid Fuel Appliances (Chapter 14.4.1). The change in regulations was finalized after a public hearing to allow stakeholder input. No one appeared at the hearing to provide testimony. Members of the OCSA Board of Directors said they were first informed of the change in the April 2006 OCCB newsletter. by Jim Gillam SNEWS - The Chimney Sweep News www.chimneysweepnews.com    TWO OREGON CITIES "ATTAIN" AIR QUALITY by Jim Gillam SNEWS - The Chimney Sweep News www.chimneysweepnews.com After struggling with problems of particulate air pollution for many years, two small cities in southern Oregon were officially removed from "non-attainment" status by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in December, 2003. The declaration means that the communities of Klamath Falls and Grants Pass, Oregon can now take responsibility for their own air quality, in cooperation with the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), without Federal oversight. The two communities were severely affected in the 1980's by particulate pollution from residential wood burning, combustion of wood waste at lumber mills, road dust and other sources. In the late 1980's, Klamath Falls was said to have "the worst wood smoke air pollution in the nation," with particulate readings up to 500% above the federal standard. A combination of regulatory and market forces effectively reduced particulate levels in the two communities. The spread of natural gas lines and the advent of attractive gas-fueled hearth appliances and efficient gas furnaces led many people to switch to gas for heating and recreational fire-viewing. Government incentives in the form of grants to low-income households for replacing uncertified wood stoves, and disincentives in the form of no-burn days further encouraged the replacement of polluting residential heating equipment. The Wood Heating Alliance (a predecessor of the Hearth Patio and Barbecue Association, assisted by local hearth appliance retailers and chimney sweeps, sponsored programs to replace uncertified wood stoves with natural gas appliances, pellet stoves or EPA certified wood stoves. The percentage of people in Klamath Falls burning wood as their primary heating fuel declined from 46% in 1987 to just 4% in 1999, according to a DEQ survey, while use of natural gas as the primary source of heat rose from 22% to 61% over the same period. Additionally, many forest products industries in the two communities have ceased operation and those remaining have switched to cleaner burning fuels and no longer burn sawdust and bark. Burning of agricultural fields and forest slash and undergrowth is now coordinated with weather forecasts to limit the amount of smoke that drifts over populated areas. The two Oregon communities have not recorded levels of particulate pollution above the federal standard in over ten years, with the exception of several summer days while major forest fires raged in the region. Communities rarely regain "attainment" status after having been declared in "non-attainment," according to Larry Calkins, an air quality specialist with Oregon DEQ.

ocsa@ocsa.com