According to OSHA’s latest semiannual regulatory agenda, released Nov. 27, the agency plans to issue a final rule on confined spaces and a notice of proposed rulemaking on injury and illness prevention programs (I2P2) in 2014. The regulatory agenda lists the priorities of the administration and the rulemakings they expect to release this year; however, OSHA is not required to adhere to the timeline.

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) Nov. 27 announced that online enrollment for small businesses in the federally-facilitated Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Marketplace will be delayed one year until November 2014.  

The Affordable Coverage Coalition, of which ABC is a member, Nov. 21 sent a letter urging members of congress to support H.R. 3367, the Small Business and Family Relief Act, bipartisan legislation that would delay the health insurance tax for two years.

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Nov. 19 filed a request for an injunction in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against an Aug. 27 rule from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) that drastically alters federal contractors’ existing affirmative action and nondiscrimination obligations for individuals with disabilities. The rule is schedule to go into effect March 24, 2014.

ABC, as part of the Waters Advocacy Coalition, responded to a draft scientific report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the connectivity of water, which the EPA said is intended to guide a forthcoming proposed rule that would expand its jurisdiction under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). The proposed rule has not been released publically, but is under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

As part of the Employers for Flexibility in Health Care (E-FLEX) Coalition, ABC Nov. 7 submitted comments to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in response to Sept. 9 proposed rules on information reporting by applicable large employers on health insurance coverage offered under employer-sponsored plans and information reporting of minimum essential coverage.

On Nov.8, OSHA proposed a rule that would require employers to submit specific injury and illness data electronically to OSHA on a quarterly or annual basis. 

A study completed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) found that corporate-only tax reform might cause many small businesses that file as pass-through entities to suffer the consequences of this one-sided solution. 

Employers have until Dec. 1 to train their employees on the changes made to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Global Harmonization Standard (GHS) including the new “Safety Data Sheets” (SDS).  

According to a recent study by the Lansing, Mich.-based Anderson Economic Group (AEG), Michigan’s prevailing wage law costs taxpayers and the state’s public schools millions each year in higher construction costs—adding up to more than 315 elementary school buildings that could have been built in the past decade with the money lost to prevailing wages.