On Nov. 22, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced it has extended the compliance date for the electronic reporting provisions of its Electronic Injury Reporting and Anti-Retaliation final rule (also known as Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses) to Dec. 15. This is a two-week extension from the Dec. 1 compliance date in the proposed rule. The final rule regarding the delay of the compliance date will be published in the Federal Register on Nov. 24.

On Nov. 28, ABC will offer the webinar “DOL Training on Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors” at 2 p.m. EDT. The webinar will cover the Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors final rule issued by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) on Sept. 30, 2016, which implements President Obama’s E.O. 13706. 

Be sure to mark your calendar for the upcoming ABC webinars on federal regulations and policies that impact the construction industry.

On Nov. 9, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a final rule, Cranes and Derricks in Construction: Operator Certification Extension, which delays its deadline for employers to ensure that crane operators are certified by one year, from Nov. 10, 2017, to Nov. 10, 2018. OSHA is also delaying its employer duty to ensure that crane operators are competent to operate a crane safely for the same one-year period.

On Nov. 6, three federal agencies issued a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to withdraw the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces final rule —“blacklisting”— and President Barack Obama’s Executive Order 13673.  Additionally, the Department of Labor withdrew the corresponding guidance document. 

ABC praised the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the Save Local Business Act (H.R. 3441) this week with bipartisan support. ABC joined forces with a wide range of business advocacy groups, including the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace and the Coalition to Save Local Businesses, to build support for the ultimate passage of H.R. 3441. 

A new study from the Beacon Hill Institute (BHI) for Public Policy Research shows the economy and the construction industry would benefit if Congress passed the Public Building Renewal Act (PBRA).

On Oct. 27, President Trump nominated Scott Mugno for Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health in the U.S. Department of Labor. Mugno currently serves as the vice president for safety, sustainability and vehicle maintenance at FedEx Ground and previously worked as managing director of FedEx Express corporate safety, health and fire protection.

On Oct. 19, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Thomas Galassi issued a memorandum on Interim Enforcement Guidance for the Respirable Crystalline Silica in Construction Standard. The memo provides interim enforcement guidance to Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHOs) for enforcing the standard.

On Oct. 4, the U.S. Treasury Department released a report announcing plans to withdraw its proposed regulations under Section 2704 of the Internal Revenue Code, entitled Estate, Gift and Generation-skipping Transfer Taxes: Restrictions on Liquidation of an Interest. The proposed rule was issued Aug. 4, 2016, during the Obama administration.