The Biden administration recently released its Fall 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The agenda lists upcoming rulemakings and other regulatory actions from each agency that the administration expects to publish in 2023 and 2024. ABC has prepared a summary of the actions of interest to ABC members by agency.

U.S. Department of Labor

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

• Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Indoor and Outdoor Settings—the agency is currently reviewing the SBREFA report.
• Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process—the agency is currently reviewing comments on the proposed rule.
• Occupational Exposure to COVID-19 in Healthcare Settings—a final rule is expected in December 2023.
• Personal Protective Equipment in Construction—the agency analyzed comments through November 2023.
• Powered Industrial Truck Design Standard Update—the agency analyzed comments through November 2023.
• Welding in Construction Confined Spaces—a proposed rule is expected in February 2024.
• Procedures for the Use of Administrative Subpoenas—an interim final rule was expected to be issued in November 2023.  
• Infectious Diseases—a proposed rule is expected to be issued in June 2024.

Read about other OSHA issues that could affect the construction industry on the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs website at reginfo.gov.

Wage and Hour Division

• Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair Labor Standards Act—a final rule was expected in November 2023.
• Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees—a final rule is expected in April 2024.
• Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts—a final rule was expected in November of 2023.

Office of Apprenticeship

• National Apprenticeship System Enhancements—a proposed rule was expected in November of 2023.

U.S. Department of the Treasury

• Increased Credit or Deduction Amounts for Satisfying Certain Prevailing Wage and Apprenticeship Requirements—a final rule is expected in December 2024.

Federal Acquisition Regulation Council

• Federal Acquisition Regulation; FAR Case 2022-003, Use of Project Labor Agreement for Federal Construction Projects—a final rule is expected in December 2023.
• FAR Federal Acquisition Regulation; FAR Case 2023-021, Pay Equity and Transparency in Federal Contracting—a proposed rule is expected in February 2024.
• FAR Federal Acquisition Regulation; FAR Case 2023-020, Modernizing the Davis-Bacon Act Regulations—a proposed rule is expected in April 2024.

Federal Trade Commission

• Ban on Noncompete Agreements—staff is currently reviewing public comments.

National Labor Relations Board

• Election Protection Rule—a final rule is expected in March 2024.

Council on Environmental Quality

• National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Regulations Revisions Phase 2 —a final rule is expected in April 2024.

U.S. Department of Transportation

• Processing Buy America and Buy American Waivers Based on Nonavailability—a proposed rule is expected in December 2023.

To learn more about these regulatory actions, read ABC’s Regulatory Roundup.