Dear ILTA Member

New Year’s Day is my favorite holiday. I like the holiday because it serves as an annual reminder to reflect on the previous year and to set goals for the year ahead. (As an added bonus, it’s also my wedding anniversary!) In keeping with the spirit of New Year’s Day, I want to share with you some of the highlights of ILTA’s work in 2019 and our exciting plans for 2020.

This past year, we’ve been pleased to provide several new—and returning—benefits for the ILTA membership. We’re also proud of our growing voice as an advocate for issues that matter to the tanks and terminals industry in Washington D.C.

• ILTA Member Directory: Back in print with an improved format. We heard from many of you that you’ve missed the printed version of the ILTA membership directory. We’ve brought this back, because we understand the value of having a ready reference available at arm’s reach, allowing you to easily find summary information and contact information for your peers, vendors and customers. We’ve also added content on industry trends and reference information we’ve designed to provide value to you all year long.
• ILTA’s Monthly Newsletter and Weekly ILTA News Plus: We’ve increased our focus on bringing the membership more information on topics that matter to tanks and terminal professionals. This past year, we’ve increased the content in our monthly newsletter to share more about developments on Capitol Hill and in the regulatory agencies. We’re also working to tell you more about how ILTA is working on your behalf and communicating more about upcoming ILTA events and activities that could benefit your company. Most weeks, we supplement the newsletter with ILTA News Plus, covering industry updates, national and regional press coverage relating to our industry, and a recap of ILTA social media activity. 
• 2019 Advocacy Accomplishments: This past year, ILTA has elevated its voice on behalf of the membership in Congressional offices and with Administrative officials within the White House, the Department of Homeland Security, the Surface Transportation Board and OSHA. We’ve secured important progress on issues including demurrage charges received from terminals and railroads, the treatment of PFAS/PFOA contained in fire-fighting foams; implementation of the Waters of the United States ruling; regulation of fuels mixtures under CFATS; and securing funding needed for proper maintenance of our nation’s ports and waterways.

This past year saw the first ILTA Industry Fly-in, which brought our many of our Board members to Capitol Hill to convey their priorities to Members of Congress and their staffs. We’ve also created new opportunities for ILTA members to connect with and build relationships with Coast Guard officials though our support of the U.S. Coast Guard Foundation.

While we have made strong progress on the advocacy issues highlighted above, we know we have more work to do to bring many of these items over the finish line. We are committed to the work ahead, and excited to advocate on behalf of the tanks and terminals industry in 2020. We’ll also continue our efforts to bring opportunities for members to strengthen their professional development and peer-to-peer learning through our committee meetings, TOPS event and our annual operating conference and trade show.  

Preparations are underway for a great year ahead for ILTA. We are excited to bring our 40th Annual Operating Conference and Trade Show to Houston June 8-10, 2020. This year, we will again hold our conference at the beautiful Marriott Marquis hotel, and our trade show will take place directly across the street at the George R. Brown Center. Our November Conference Planning Workshop, held at ILTA headquarters in November, generated great momentum and we are in the midst of planning fresh new speakers and content for this year’s sessions.

Happy 2020 to you all,

Kathyrn