CSPA announces mid-year agenda: homeland security and financial security are key topics at the mid-year meeting, set for Chicago, May 6-9.

URGENT ISSUES of security at home and the state of the U.S. economy are the key themes of the May 7 general session of the Consumer Specialty Products Association's (CSPA) mid-year meeting. The annual midyear meeting will take place May 6-9 at the Downtown Chicago Marriott.

The general session program topic, "From homeland security to financial security," will be addressed in two parts. The first part, homeland security, will be addressed by Winston P. Wiley, who was appointed last year to the newly-created position of associate director of Central Intelligence for Homeland Security. In this capacity, Mr. Wiley will pursue the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) goal of ensuring efficient, secure and timely flow of intelligence in support of the national homeland security effort.

Prior to this assignment, Mr. Wiley held several key agency leadership positions, including chief of the DCI Counterterrorist Center and chief, Persian Gulf division, where he headed the intelligence directorate's Persian Gulf task force following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in the 1990s. During his career at the CIA, Mr. Wiley has been awarded the director's award, the distinguished intelligence medal and the Donovan award. He received a BA in economics from The American University in 1969 and earned a Masters in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, in 1980. Prior to his professional Agency service, he served three years in the United States Army Security Agency.

Building Financial Security

The morning's other keynote speaker is Robert D. Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International and managing director of Goldman Sachs & Co., who will discuss personal financial security in today's uncertain climate. Mr. Hormats joined Goldman Sachs in 1982 after five years of service in international economic affairs at the state department. He served as senior economic advisor to Dr. Henry Kissinger, General Brent Scowcroft and Dr. Zbigniew Brezinki before joining the private sector.

Serving on several boards including the Council on Foreign Relations, Mr. Hormats is also a member of the board of visitors of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the Columbia University School of International Affairs. He is on the advisory board of Foreign Policy and International Economics magazines, and has been a visiting lecturer at Princeton University.

Consumers and Regulations

CSPA's air care division will hold its program, "Consumers and our regulatory environment," on May 8, 8 a.m.-noon. Speakers and topics: Kelly Semrau, S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., "PR in our regulatory environment;" Mark Metzger of the Chicago law firm of Hinshaw & Culbertson, "Legal issues and the web" and Dr. Bill Troy, Firmenich, "EU dangerous preparations directive." A prominent speaker from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is also on the agenda, and will discuss "Consumer perception of regulatory issues."

Aerosol Propellant Seminar

In other association news, the CSPA and the Western Aerosol Information Bureau (WAIB) will hold the fourth Aerosol Propellant Safety seminar on May 28 at the Hyatt Regency Orange County in Anaheim, CA. The seminar will focus on safety in the workplace and will include information on essential aerosol safety technology. The session will feature leading industry experts on aerosols and safety systems used in storing and handling aerosol propellants, updates on safety regulations and trends and state-of-the-art equipment.

William A. Frauenheim, Diversified CPC International, Inc., will introduce the day's agenda and speak about propellant shipping and receiving/storage handling. He will be followed by James A. Bloome, Packaging Technologies, who will discuss propellant charging and pump rooms: location and construction/piping. Mr. Bloome will return to speak on compressed and soluble gas propellants. David Swenson, Sherwin-Williams Company, will discuss ventilation and Donald Rowson, Industrial Hydrocarbons, Inc. and Ben Jeffcoat, Zellweger Analytics Inc., will detail gas detection. Mr. Rowson also will address fire protection and control and safety seminars. Other presenters are Gary Ayres of Zep Manufacturing on electrical equipment; David Grandaw, Fenwal Safety Systems, on Fenwal explosion suppression; Barry Craddock, GRR Aerosols, along with Mr. Rowson on disposal of filled aerosol products and Joseph Creazzoo of E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co. Inc., on laboratory safety.

The registration fee for CSPA and WAIB members is $225 ($300 for nonmembers). Participants may register online at www.cspa.org. Hotel reservations for the Hyatt Regency must be made no later than May 1.

More info: Michelle Pitkin, [phone], E-mail: [e-mail]. For hotel info: Hyatt Regency Orange County, [phone].

RELATED ARTICLE: REJV submits first round of national survey data.

THE RESIDENTIAL EXPOSURE Joint Venture (REJV), one of CSPA's Product Ingredient Review (PIR) groups, submitted the first four months of data from a national survey on product-specific pesticide use and related information to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on March 3. The group, chaired by Stuart MacArthur, S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., expects to submit the full 12-month data set this summer.

The goals of this project are to obtain information about pesticide product use in and around residential sites, as well as gather information regarding pesticide product use in a form that permits "mapping" use over time. Further, the project aims to provide information necessary for a quantitative exposure assessment over a one-year period using a static sample of households.

Current REJV members and data owners include: Bayer CropScience, Inc.; BASF Corporation; S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.; MGK Company; Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc.; United Industries Corp.; Valent BioSciences Corporation and Whitmire Micro-Gen.

For information regarding membership to the REJV, please contact Susan Little, executive director, Product Ingredient Review Program, [phone]; E-mail: [e-mail].