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it Full-time 2003 Fees 2004 Fees <br /> employees Fee p r Total fee Fee per Total fee <br />Company (FTE's) FTE FTE <br /> 2003 <br />Hynix 771 in2003; $13.92 $10,732 $1.66 $2,000 <br />(Hyundai) 1,207 in <br /> 2004 <br />10-employee 10 $13.92 $139.20 $31.65 $316.50 <br />company <br /> <br />Businesses have shifted fees; now Clyde Carson of Williams Bakery_ is proposing <br />to the City Council to send the whole law out to the voters, hoping that businesses will <br />outspend citizens in the campaign, and the law will be killed, and businesses will be able <br />to go back to keeping secret their toxic releases into Eugene's air, water, and <br />environment. <br /> <br />Are there solutions to the fee-shifting that businesses have caused ? <br /> <br /> YES. The City Council could institute either of the following two changes by <br />ordinance, in order to substantially reduce the 'results of fee-shifting from large <br />companies to smaller companies2 AND improve hazardous substance reporting in our <br />community: <br /> <br />1. The City could expand the SIC code range for businesses that must report <br /> <br /> This would reduce the fees for any one business AND provide Eugene citizens <br />with a more complete picture of the toxics to which they are being exposed. For instance, <br />the City could include all SIC Codes that contain businesses that report to the State Fire <br />Marshal that they have large amounts of hazardous substances stored on their site. The <br />City could use the same threshold of 2,640 pounds that triggers reporting by businesses <br />of SIC #20-4t39 in the Charter and could exempt businesses that simply store and sell (but <br />do not use, process, or alter) large quantities of hazardous substances (for example, a <br />retail store). <br /> <br /> Some businesses covered by the program have complained that the program is too <br />small; that there are many other businesses that use and release hazardous substances that <br />aren't currently expected to report. This would address their concerns. The overall cost of <br />the program would go up slightly, e.g., the staffperson overseeing the program might go <br />from thee quarter-time to full-time, at least initially while more companies learn how to <br />report where their toxics are going, but the fees would be spread out over many more <br />businesses. <br /> <br />2 Even with the fee-shifting that the businesses engineered, the largest annual increase in <br />fee per full-time equivalent employee is $17.75 per year. <br /> <br /> City Council Agenda page 650 <br /> <br /> <br />