Proposed law could hurt new business

Published 12:00 am Monday, May 16, 2011

Infiltrator just opened its Salisbury plant, but company officials already have worked with Rowan County’s state legislators to change a proposed law they said would hurt their business.
A bill in the N.C. House would have allowed a competitor to circumvent the regulatory process for a product similar to Infiltrator’s EZflow, said Ben Berteau, Infiltrator southeast regional manager.
Infiltrator worked with N.C. Reps. Fred Steen and Harry Warren, Republicans who represent Rowan County, to reach a compromise with bill sponsors, Berteau said.
Sponsors rewrote the legislation to allow some wastewater products to bypass parts of the regulatory process, but still required them to demonstrate product performance, Berteau said.
Berteau said the compromise will protect the company’s products against knock-offs. Warren said he would watch the bill as it makes its way through the House and over to the Senate.
“When Infiltrator is satisfied, then I’m satisfied,” he said.
House Bill 594 is known as “Functionally Equivalent Wastewater Systems.”
Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.