On Dec. 14, the Trump administration released its Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The agenda lists upcoming rulemakings and other regulatory actions from each agency that the administration expects to release through the end of the year and in 2018. 

In addition to the Unified Agenda, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs released a status report on the implementation of President Trump’s Executive Order 13771, “Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs,” which requires agencies to eliminate two existing regulations for every new regulation and stipulates that the savings from the eliminated regulations must offset the cost of each new regulation in order to bring the “total incremental cost of all new regulations” to zero for FY 2017. The administration announced that they far surpassed their goal, issuing 22 deregulatory actions for every one new regulatory action and achieving $8.1 billion in lifetime net regulatory cost savings.

Department of Labor

The Department of Labor (DOL) announced its plans to continue to rollback or revise many of the burdensome rules issued under the Obama administration:

• December 2017: OSHA plans to issue a proposed rule to revise its Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, also known as the Electronic Injury Reporting and Anti-Retaliation final rule. The compliance deadline to electronically submit injury and illness data was Dec. 15. According to a Dec. 18 press release, OSHA will continue accepting 2016 OSHA Form 300A data through the Injury Tracking Application until midnight on Dec. 31, 2017.

• January 2018: The Office of Labor-Management Standards plans to issue a final rule to rescind the persuader rule, officially named “Interpreting "Advice" Exemption in Section 203(c) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act.” ABC submitted comments on the proposal to rescind the rule Aug. 11. 

• September 2018: OSHA plans to issue a final rule on Occupational Exposure to Beryllium. ABC submitted comments on the proposal Aug. 28. 

• October 2018: The Wage and Hour Division plans to issue a proposed rule to revise the 2016 final overtime rule, officially named “Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees.” ABC submitted comments on the DOL’s request for information on the overtime rule Sept. 25. 

The department has also slated a proposed rule, “Apprenticeship Programs, Labor Standards for Registration, Amendment of Regulations,” for January 2018. This proposed rule comes at the instruction of President Trump’s E.O. 13801, “Expanding Apprenticeships in America,” which asks the secretary of labor, in consultation with the secretaries of education and commerce, to consider proposing regulations that establish guidelines for third parties to certify industry-recognized apprenticeship programs. On Oct. 16, ABC President and CEO Mike Bellaman was appointed by Secretary R. Alexander Acosta to serve on the Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion, created by E.O. 13801. ABC participated in the inaugural Nov. 13 meeting.

Additionally, the DOL plans to issue a proposed rule to implement President Trump’s Presidential Executive Order Promoting Healthcare Choice and Competition Across the United States, which would expand access to association health plans. The proposal will establish criteria for an employer group or association to act as an "employer" within the meaning of section 3(5) of ERISA and sponsor an association health plan that qualifies as an employee welfare benefit plan and a group health plan under Title I of ERISA. The department expects to release the proposal in December 2017.

Other regulatory actions listed by the DOL include:

• Revision of the Form 5500 Series and Implementing Related Regulations Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) - Analyze comments in January 2018

• Powered Industrial Trucks - Request for information in January 2018

• Standards Improvement Project IV - Final rule in February 2018

• Lock-Out/Tag-Out Update - Request for information in May 2018

• Amendments to the Cranes and Derricks in Construction Standard - Notice of proposed rulemaking in August 2018

• Quantitative Fit Testing Protocol: Amendment to the Final Rule on Respiratory Protection - Final Rule in September 2018

Environmental Protection Agency

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will continue with plans to rescind the 2015 Clean Water Rule, also known as the definition of ‘waters of the United States’ (WOTUS) final rule. The agencies expect to release a final rule rescinding the 2015 WOTUS rule and re-codifying the regulatory definition that existed prior to the 2015 final rule in April 2018 and a proposed rule to redefine WOTUS in May 2018 (final rule expected in June 2019). 

Additionally, the EPA plans to continue to roll back the Obama-era Clean Power Plan. The agency published a proposed rule to repeal the Clean Power Plan in October and plans to solicit public feedback in Dec. 2017 on whether the EPA should propose a new rule regulating carbon emissions. 

Lastly, the EPA will end its review of the 2008 Lead; Renovation, Repair, and Painting Program in April 2018. 

Department of Transportation

• Registration and Marking Requirements for Small Unmanned Aircraft - Final Rule in February 2018

• Safe and Secure Operations of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems - Advanced notice of proposed rulemaking in May 2018

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 

• Amendments to Regulations Under the Americans With Disabilities Act - Notice of proposed rulemaking in August 2018 (Final action in October 2019)

• Amendments to Regulations Under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 - Notice of proposed rulemaking in August 2018 (Final action in October 2019)