This time last year the outlook was bleak. The Environmental Protec-tion Agency (EPA) was proposing a rule that would require installation of air monitoring equipment at all commercial laundry facilities. The EPA wanted to make certain your facilities were not threatening human health because of potential exposure to nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs).
 
The compliance costs associated with this proposal could have easily been in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for each and every textile rental facility. Industry-wide costs would have surpassed $1 billion. Any finding of exposure could have led to litigation. The unions would have access ...