Oregon Business Association

Entries in the “Environment/Economic Development” category

OBA Stands Up for EETC - Good for Business and Environment

February 8th, 2008

OBA’s Environmental Enhancement Tax Credit is up for a hearing on Monday. The bill is being supported by a strong coalition of business leaders who will testify on behalf of the tax credit which provides a $10 million incentive for companies to exceed state and federal environmental regulations.

Some questions have been raised about this bill. Here are the answers.

• Question - Why not try to resurrect the old Pollution Control Tax Credit?

• Answer - The reason OBA is not pursuing the re-establishment of the PCTC is that we have determined the PCTC is no longer politically viable. The 2007 Legislative Session experienced a historic revenue increase, passed several new credits and expanded three existing tax credits. However, they chose to allow the 30-year program to expire and have made clear they do not intend to pursue the PCTC.

• Question - Is the process for applying for the Environmental Enhancement Tax Credit cumbersome or prohibitive?

• Answer - OBA has worked with the DEQ to establish clear guidelines for claiming the credits. DEQ representatives will testify on Monday, presenting the application process and the shared goal of incentivizing businesses to exceed environmental regulations.

• Question - Does the EETC undermine a coalition of supporters of the old PCTC?

• Answer - OBA began working in October to build a coalition in support of the politically viable EETC. On Monday, the Senate Finance Committee will hear from several manufacturers on the need for the tax credit and positive effect it will have on job creation and sustainability in Oregon.

Companies all across the state are supporting the EETC and saying a tax credit that encourages businesses to exceed environmental protection regulations is better than no tax credit at all.

Click here for more information about the EETC

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OBA Member Commentary - EETC

January 31st, 2008

EETC - Good for Business, Good for Oregon
By Dennis Denton

Denton Plastics strongly supports OBA’s effort to pass the Environmental Enhancement Tax Credit in the 2008 session. We believe that it is possible to help the environment and promote economically sound business principles at the same time. The EETC is an outstanding opportunity to encourage both economic growth and sustainability.

Sustainability has been our business for 25 years. By taking plastics out of the waste stream and compounding them into new resins, we not only help the environment, but also offer quality material at a cost savings to manufacturers.

A full-service plastic recycler, Denton Plastics offers our customers a wide-range of opportunities. First, we bring in plastic scrap from all over, taking material that would otherwise be headed for the landfill and providing businesses an opportunity to recycle. Our high-quality reprocessed resins are designed to meet our customers’ specific needs to make everything from pipe to flower pots to kayaks. We also bring in railcars of virgin resin and give our customers the option of blending our reprocessed material with our virgin material, making it possible for them to use recycled content for more applications.

At Denton Plastics, we make it easy and affordable for companies to choose to “go green.”

We are excited about OBA’s efforts to pass the Enhanced Environmental Tax Credit because of what it means for companies like ours. At Denton Plastics, we are always looking for new feedstocks. There is a demand for our recycled resins and we are seeing that demand increase. In order to meet our customers’ needs, we want to go deeper into the waste stream. The EETC would provide us the opportunity to pursue these goals by making it more economically feasible.

Denton Plastics is a small, locally-owned business with about 40 employees and the desire to grow. We have already laid out plans to attain additional equipment to wash dirty material. The EETC would make this capital investment possible sooner. The sooner we can provide a new market for landfill-bound dirty plastics, the sooner we can pass along the environmental and economic benefits.

We would like to thank OBA and other supporters of the EETC for their commitment to helping companies like Denton Plastics expand Oregon’s opportunities to be sustainable.

Dennis Denton is President & Founder of Denton Plastics, Inc. and Chairman of the 2008 Global Plastics Environmental Conference.

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