On Oct. 16, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued an extension of the comment period for its Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process proposed rule, which would allow an employee to choose a third-party representative, such as an outside union representative, to accompany an OSHA inspector into nonunion facilities. OSHA extended the comment period from Oct. 30 to Nov. 13. On Sept. 21, ABC, as a steering committee member of the Coalition for Workplace Safety, wrote to OSHA requesting a 60-day extension. ABC will submit comments in opposition to the rule and ABC members are also encouraged to submit comments on regulations.gov.

The Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity, of which ABC is a steering committee member, created a grassroots toolkit for members to respond to the U.S. Department of Labor’s new overtime proposed rule. The grassroots portal allows you to send model comments directly to the DOL as well as a model letter to your senators and representative in Congress opposing the new proposed rule. The deadline to submit comments is no later than Nov. 7.

ABC has now launched the CHIPS Act—Resources and Guidance for Contractors webpage to assist contractors in competing for projects utilizing the nearly $50 billion in direct federal funding and additional tax credits in support of restoring U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and improving the semiconductor supply chain.

On Sept. 26, ABC, as a steering committee member of the Coalition for Workplace Safety, and 40 other employer organizations sent a letter to the U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections calling out the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for its Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process proposed rulemaking and the politicization of the agency that the rulemaking exemplifies. The proposed rule would allow an employee to choose a third-party representative, such as an outside union representative, to accompany an OSHA inspector into nonunion facilities.

ABC has prepared a summary of Biden administration regulatory actions of interest to ABC members by agency.

On Sept. 29, ABC submitted comments with a coalition of industry stakeholders to the Council on Environmental Quality in response to a proposed rule regarding Phase 2 of revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act implementing regulations. The proposal would make wide-ranging changes that will add unnecessarily burdensome and costly provisions to the federal environmental review and permitting process.

On Sept. 25, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced a new initiative, the Respirable Crystalline Silica Focused Inspection Initiative in the Engineered Stone Fabrication and Installation Industries. The initiative supplements OSHA’s current National Emphasis Program for Respirable Crystalline Silica and prioritizes federal OSHA inspections in workplaces where workers are typically exposed to high levels of silica, Cut Stone and Stone Product Manufacturing (NAICS Code 327991) and Brick, Stone and Related Construction Material Merchant Wholesalers (NAICS Code 423320).

ABC is conducting an important survey of contractor members to gauge opinions and experiences with the Inflation Reduction Act’s prevailing wage and government-registered apprenticeship requirements on clean energy tax credits. Ensuring as many members as possible respond to this survey will be vital to providing effective, informed comments seeking regulatory clarity and pushing back on concerning aspects of a recent Internal Revenue Service proposed rule.

ABC is conducting an important survey of contractor members to gauge opinions and experiences with the Inflation Reduction Act’s prevailing wage and government-registered apprenticeship requirements on clean energy tax credits. Ensuring as many members as possible respond to this survey will be vital to providing effective, informed comments seeking regulatory clarity and pushing back on concerning aspects of a recent Internal Revenue Service proposed rule.

On Sept. 7, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council’s final rule on the Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects, which would mandate anti-competitive and inflationary project labor agreements on large-scale federal construction contracts, arrived at the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review. This is the final step before the rule will be published in the Federal Register and take effect.