In response to the Defense Industrial Base becoming the target of more frequent and complex cyberattacks from foreign and independent bad actors, the U.S. Department of Defense is expected to release new cybersecurity regulations in 2023 designed to enforce protection of sensitive federal contract information and controlled unclassified information that is shared by the DOD with

On Jan. 31, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 497, the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, by a bipartisan vote of 227-203. ABC supported the legislation, which would eliminate the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate on health care workers and repeal the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services health care staff vaccination rule that continues to affect ABC members who perform construction work at health care facilities. ABC provided a statement in support of the bill ahead of passage.

The Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny Act of 2023, or REINS Act, was recently reintroduced to the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.). The bill, which would require every new “major rule” proposed by federal agencies to be approved by both the House and U.S. Senate before going into effect, currently has 179 Republican co-sponsors.

On Jan. 19, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced opportunities for public input on new programs funded by the Inflation Reduction Act that affect states, developers and builders. The IRA, opposed by ABC, was signed into law on Aug. 16, 2022.

Representatives from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are hosting a webinar on Thursday, Feb. 2, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET, to give an overview of the agency’s recordkeeping requirements and Injury Tracking Application.

On Jan. 31, 100 organizations, including ABC, signed a letter urging the Federal Trade Commission to extend the comment period for its proposed rulemaking on banning noncompete agreements for an additional 60 days. The groups argued that the regulated community should be given sufficient time to assess the potential consequences of the rulemaking and develop insightful comm

On Jan. 9, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a press release reminding certain employers that the deadline to submit the calendar year 2022 Form 300A is March 2.  

On Jan. 13, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced a process for labor and employment agency-related requests for deferred action

On Jan. 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission issued a proposed rule that would ban all noncompete agreements with limited exceptions. ABC will be commenting in opposition to the proposed rule, which is overly restrictive on well-established and reasonable business practices of the construction industry. Comments on the proposed rule are due by March 20 through regulations.go

On Jan. 13, pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act, the U.S. Department of Labor published a final rule increasing the civil monetary penalties for 2023 based on cost-of-living adjustments. The final rule went into effect on Jan. 17, 2023.