Equipment of any kind needs to be accompanied by training, evaluation, inspection, follow-up and, most importantly, an operator who understands the potential hazards and carries out their duties in a safe manner. Safety is everyone’s responsibility throughout the entire organization, and everyone needs to be fully and thoughtfully engaged. Proper training, culture and mindset is the key to success and lower incidence rates.

On Aug. 14, the Office of Management and Budget announced final guidance to revise OMB’s Guidance for Grants and Agreements. This guidance defines the rules for federal agencies as they distribute funding through grant programs and other financial assistance. The revisions would aid implementation of the Build America, Buy America Act provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This guidance finalizes a proposal issued by the OMB on Feb. 9.  

On Aug. 8, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its final rule, Updating Davis-Bacon and Related Acts

On Aug. 2, the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision in Stericycle Inc., which overruled Boeing and adopted a new legal standard for evaluating employer work rules challenged as f

The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council plans to issue a proposed rule on Aug. 3, 2023, that would establish new requirements for “sustainable procurement” in federal contracting. The proposal complies with Executive Order 14057, Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability, signed by Pr

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

On July 31, the Council on Environmental Quality released a proposed rule to implement Phase 2 of revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act implementing regulations. The proposal makes wide-ranging changes to the rules for federal agencies conducting the environmental review and permitting process.

On July 26, the U.S. House of Representatives passed S.J. Res. 24, a Congressional Review Act resolution on the Endangered Species Status for Northern Long-Eared Bat with a bipartisan vote of 220-209. The passage of S.J. Res. 24 would, if enacted, prevent the ABC-opposed U.S. Department of Interior&a

On July 26, ABC Senior Director of Legislative Affairs Peter Comstock participated in a roundtable hosted by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C. The roundtable focused on the reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and policies to better connect job creators and small businesses with job seekers.

On July 18, Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., introduced the Main Street Tax Certainty Act, H.R. 4721, legislation which would make permanent the current 20% deduction for small and family-owned businesses, provided through Section 199A of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. This bipartisan proposal is co-sponsored by 99 U.S. representatives, including two Democrats, and has the support of all Republican members of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee.