HIDTA Designation Offers Resources for Counties' Heroin Fight

NACO SEEKS INPUT ON VIRTUAL TOWN HALLS LOCAL ROAD SAFETY COSTS FOR NEW SAFETY ON OPIOID ABUSE TO BE PLANS PREVENT DEATHS RULES PG. 2 HELD IN JUNE PG. 3 AND CONGESTION PG. 7 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of COUNTIES VOL.48, NO. 11 MAY 30, 2016 New overtime Power of federal rule signals funding paints significant Infrastructure county impact Week picture By Charlie Ban By Eryn Hurley senior staff writer legislative assistant Members of Congress don’t The U.S. Department of La- need to look far to see the force bor’s final rule on overtime pay that federal funding can add to amends regulations under the local infrastructure projects. Fair Labor Standards Act gov- They don’t even have to look erning the “white collar” ex- beyond the Washington Belt- emption from overtime pay for way. executive, administrative and The Purple Line light rail professional employees. project between Maryland’s The final rule focuses pri- Montgomery and Prince marily on updating the salary George’s counties couldn’t and compensation levels need- happen without the feder- ed for executive, administra- al government’s investment, tive and professional workers Montgomery County Coun- to be exempt from overtime Western Interstate Region conference attendees view the arugula riding on the carousel at Vertical cilmember Hans Riemer said requirements. Specifically, it Harvest, a public-private greenhouse in Teton County, Wyo. during a tour arranged by NACo’s Agri- at a Capitol Hill briefing for culture and Rural Affairs Steering Committee May 25. The building, leased from the town of Jackson, sets the standard salary level at is 30 feet wide and 150 feet long and the three-story carousels along the south side of the building Infrastructure Week, held by a the 40th percentile of earnings help crops to balance natural light and artificial light. The greenhouse allows for a year-round coalition of local government for full-time salaried work- growing season, and in a half acre, grows 5 acres worth of produce, roughly 100,000 pounds per year, and interest groups including ers, which is $913 per week or which is sold to restaurants that don’t have existing relationships with local farmers. Photo by Charlie Ban NACo on May 19. “There was a strong push in See OVERTIME page 6 Montgomery County to aban- HIDTA designation offers don the federally funded Pur- ple Line and substitute for it a resources for counties’ locally funded bus rapid transit system,” he said. “The rationale was that the federal govern- heroin fight ment wasn’t going to be there.” But the county made its case By Charlie Ban Virginia and Virginia, heroin has counties along the way. to the Federal Transit Adminis- senior staff writer been coming out of Baltimore Jefferson County, population tration in 2014 anyhow — from and passing through dozens of 55,073, is one of the latest to a position of faith, as Riemer The country roads of West Vir- become part of a High Intensity put it — and came away with ginia’s Eastern Panhandle are Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), nearly $900 million in federal carrying more and more heroin a designation that brings with it funding. to markets far and wide. programmatic support and fed- The federal funding con- Because those panhandle eral grants to disrupt the large- vinced Maryland Gov. Larry counties serve as a corridor for scale drug trade and aid in reha- Hogan (R) to change his mind the drug trade, they qualify for bilitation for county residents. on supporting the project, federal aid to help fight the opi- The fact that no interstates run to the tune of $168 million, oid epidemic, which has seen through Jefferson County is one to go with $217 million from accelerated growth over the last four years. In Maryland, West See DRUGS page 4 See FED PARTNERS page 3 2 MAY 30, 2016 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of COUNTIES Risk management rules may change By Julie Ufner associate legislative director NACO NEEDS YOUR INPUT number of industries are im- rule, regulated facilities would pacted by the proposal such be required to consult individ- When the April 2013 West, ven though the public comment period for the proposed rule as environmental quality pro- ually with emergency manag- Texas fertilizer explosion Eis closed, NACo, along with the National League of Cities and grams, agricultural chemical ers on a yearly basis for notifi- killed 15 people and destroyed U.S. Conference of Mayors, plans to meet with the White House’s distributors, utilities and wa- cations and tabletop exercises, or damaged over 150 homes, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on cost implications of ter-wastewater treatment sys- and every five years for field safety practices at chemical the proposed rule. NACo is interested in whether the proposed rule tems. exercises. facilities came under almost would impact your county. Specifically, ask your emergency man- Local governments could The proposed rule would immediate scrutiny. Four ager whether the cost estimates listed in Slide No. 18 of the EPA be most affected on two expand local government re- months later, on Aug. 1, Pres- presentation (see this article online for link to slide) are accurate for fronts: First, as owners and sponsibilities without provid- implementation. And, if not, why? ident Obama issued Execu- operators of publicly owned ing funding to implement the tive Order 13650 — Improving Some Things to Think About water-wastewater treatment more complex requirements. Chemical Facility Safety and • How many facilities within the county would be regulated under facilities, local governments Added compliance costs were Security — which required this proposal? would be regulated through noted in joint comments on federal agencies to tighten • If your emergency responders needed to be involved in each of new requirements on facili- the proposed rule, Accidental chemical security programs. these activities — notification and tabletop (annually) and field ties. Second, since local gov- Release Prevention Require- Subsequently, EPA has re- exercises (every five years) — would the emergency managers be ernments often serve as the ments: Risk Management Pro- leased proposed rules to tight- able to comply with existing staff? If not, how many more staff would nation’s first line of defense grams Under the Clean Air Act, en existing safety programs be needed? before and after disasters filed by NACo, the National at chemical facilities that use • Estimated costs to comply (from an emergency manager perspec- strike, changes to emergen- League of Cities and the U.S. chlorine, ammonia and vari- tive) with these rules? cy protocols would directly Conference of Mayors on May ous flammable chemicals. A impact them. Under the new 13. House, Senate opioid bills headed for conference By Jack Peterson their own prescription drug Easing the IMD exclusion legislative assistant abuse prevention strategies. Easing the IMD would allow counties to provide Also important to counties, exclusion would allow much-needed inpatient and House and Senate versions the bills would authorize grants residential psychiatric services of legislation dealing with the to purchase overdose reversal counties to provide to their residents. impact of the opioid abuse ep- drugs, and train law enforce- much-needed inpa- To view a more detailed side- idemic are heading for a confer- ment officers and first respond- tient and residential by-side comparison of the two ence committee after the House ers in their use, as well as grants bills, as well as NACo’s key pri- SNAP STATS passed its version of S. 524, the to local entities to develop, im- psychiatric services orities, please visit http://www. Comprehensive Addiction and plement or expand treatment to their residents. naco.org/resources/opioid bills. STATES WITH THE Recovery Act (CARA), May 13. alternatives to incarceration. Before going to a conference MOST NUCLEAR The Senate’s bill was passed in There are a few key differ- committee, each chamber must POWER PLANTS March. ences between the bills as well. ment. Under the IMD exclu- appoint designated conferees. The House measure bundles Most notably for counties, the sion, federal Medicaid match- As of this writing, the House State Plants 18 bills — all passed individu- Senate version contains lan- ing payments are prohibited for had already selected its 35 ally — that represent its plan to guage requiring the Govern- Institutions for Mental Disease members, including 21 Repub- Illinois ............................... 6 address the growing prescrip- ment Accountability Office to with populations ranging be- licans and 14 Democrats. Pennsylvania .................... 5 tion drug abuse epidemic. publish a report on the impact tween the ages of 22 and 64. The Senate is expected to South Carolina ................. 4 The two versions of S. 524 of the Medicaid Institutions for NACo policy supports name its conferees within the Michigan ........................... 3 contain more similarities than Mental Disease (IMD) exclu- amending the IMD exclusion next week. After the two sides Florida .............................. 3 differences. For example, both sion, and how it affects an indi- to allow the use of Medicaid agree on a final version of the New Jersey ....................... 3 permit the Departments of Jus- vidual’s ability to access treat- financing for non-hospital res- legislation, both chambers tice and of Health and Human ment. idential placements for hospi- must vote to approve the final Source: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Services to make grants allow- The House version, however, tal-based mental health and bill to send it to the president’s ing communities to develop does not include this require- substance use care. desk. President Executive Editor ADVERTISING STAFF Published biweekly except August by: The appearance of paid advertisements in County POSTMASTER: send address changes to Sallie Clark Beverly Anne Job Market/Classifieds National Association of Counties News in no way implies support or endorsement County News, 25 Massachusetts Ave.

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