January 16, 2020: Roger Miksad joined Battery Council International at the start of the year as its new senior vice president and general counsel. Miksad is already well known to BCI members, having acted for the council for the past 10 years while working for David Weinberg, a partner at the Washington-based law firm Wiley Rein.
Effectively the appointment of Miksad brings his Wiley Rein work in-house to BCI. It reflects the greater amount of legislative and regulatory work BCI is involved in. David Weinberg will continue to work with the council.
His experience within BCI has been intensive.
“Over the years, I’ve supported BCI’s board of directors, its environmental, health and safety work, the marketing and technical committees, authored the BCI battery labelling manual, and led the association’s legislative and regulatory advocacy efforts in California, Washington, and other states,” says Miksad.
Miksad says he is just starting preparations for the council’s two-yearly environmental health and safety conference. This year it will be held in St Louis, Missouri on October 27-28.
Miksad says BCI’s workload has increased over the past decade.
“Over the past few years, the industry has faced increasing regulatory and legislative attention as lead issues more broadly have gained exposure in the public eye,” he says. “While most of that attention rightly focuses on children’s exposures to lead from lead paint and drinking water, there is an unfortunate tendency to view all lead-related industries with a broad brush.
“Our mission is to ensure that regulators and legislators understand why we are different and the great strides the lead battery industry has made to protect our workers and neighbours.
“We have already seen significant disruption from California’s attention to lead batteries, and the state still has several impactful programs ongoing, namely the Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations and the green chemistry review. And, at least two other states have OSHA rulemakings underway.
“There are also looming federal pressures. The two most potentially impactful long-term federal efforts will be OSHA’s long-planned effort to update the workplace lead rules, and Environmental Protection Agency’s eventual evaluation of lead under the Toxic Substances Control Act program. EPA will also soon review the National Ambient Air Quality Standards and National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants air rules and is likely to update the requirements for lead clean-up sites.
“In addition, 17 federal government agencies have committed to turn their attention to lead as part of the federal “Lead Action Plan” to protect children. Any one of those regulatory programs has the potential to impact our industry.
“We also can’t lose sight of the severe regulatory challenges we face in Europe as part of the EU’s REACH program and the End-of-Life Vehicle directive.”
Miksad says BCI is a unique organization that represents an established and strong manufacturing and recycling industry that competes in high-tech sectors and provides critical components for the automotive, industrial and infrastructure investments the country needs.
“While the underlying technology of lead batteries has been around for a long time, I see nothing stagnant about the industry. The issues BCI’s members care about are exciting; the industry leads the world on recycling, and is investing in cutting-edge R&D programs to ensure the continued success of lead batteries.
“I greatly enjoy working with all the BCI folks I regularly interact with on the BCI Board, the EHS and Marketing Committees, association staff, and all the employees I meet during plant tours. I could not ask for a better industry to work for.”
Miksad joined Wiley Rein LP in 2009, and has counselled a range of chemical and product manufacturers on environmental, health, and safety related regulatory matters before the US EPA, the OSHA, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and other federal and state agencies.
Miksad, who has worked for BCI throughout his career, is a familiar face at the BCI Convention + Power Mart Expo, EHS Conference, committee meetings and other events where he presents and briefs the members on BCI’s regulatory and legislative efforts.
