PERP - Bad Outreach Efforts?

These new air pollution regulations are bound to make waves in the air quality community. How much bite will the backlash have?:

When Amber Parsons and her husband started their modest concrete pumping business in Sacramento two years ago, she never expected to become the flag-bearer for an entire industry.

But that's before she bumped up against PERP, the state's registration program for portable, diesel-powered engines.

Officially known as the Portable Engine Registration Program, PERP has caused an outcry this year among hundreds of small businesses that serve California's construction industry.

Under the nine-year-old PERP program, those who operated portable, diesel-powered equipment were required to obtain a single, statewide permit to operate in California. The deadline for registering was Dec. 31, 2005.

... Fearing it will mean the end of her family-owned Performance Concrete Pumping business, as well as others in her predicament, Parsons said she wants to "bring attention to this before it ruins the state's construction industry." She's asking that PERP registration be reopened.

Parsons and construction industry leaders believe thousands do not know their engines and equipment are not in compliance with state regulations, even 10 months after the deadline elapsed for PERP registration.

"I was flabbergasted. Virtually a whole industry is not registered," said Mike Cusack, vice president of operations for Concord-based Conco Pumping and Belting, one of the state's largest concrete pumping firms, and a past president of the American Concrete Pumping Association. "Every single person I talked to didn't register their pumps and didn't know (about) it. I'm (part of) a $300 million-plus company. This is my job -- and I didn't know about it."

... "There wasn't any outreach, and there wasn't any enforcement. Lord knows, you can't hide a 150-foot crane," said Ed Puchi, treasurer and general counsel for MCM Construction, a highway construction firm based in North Highlands.

But the state Air Resources Board says it spent hundreds of hours trying to call, mail and e-mail contractors and others in the industry who would be affected. Gennet Paauwe, an Air Resources Board spokeswoman, said her staff is frustrated that some people still missed the message.

"We worked with every trade group, manufacturer (and) equipment association to get the word out," Paauwe said. "We talked with literally thousands. But you can't force them to read their mail or e-mail," she said.