Related Links: Crane Experts Challenge OSHA Rules Viewpoint: OSHA Crane Rules Must Change Viewpoing: OSHA Crane Rules Have Merit The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says that it might revisit the controversial standard for cranes and derricks for construction.Since the rule was finalized in August 2010, stakeholders ranging from crane certification companies to union officials have raised concerns about the cane operator certification requirements and whether the perception could exist that operators who receive their certifications could be considered “qualified” to operate cranes on construction jobsites simply because they have received a certification.To fully understand those concerns, OSHA held
Related Links: Issues Mount at Hanford Site, Including Nuclear Waste Treatment Plant Design (ENR 4/22/13 issue) Obama Names Picks to Lead EPA, DOE (ENR 3/11/13 issue) Ernest Moniz, President Obama’s nominee to head the Dept. of Energy, has breezed through confirmation, winning Senate approval on May 16 by a 97-0 vote.Moniz, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology physics professor and DOE undersecretary during the latter part of the Clinton administration, will succeed Steven Chu as DOE secretary.Among the challenges Moniz will face at DOE are overseeing the long-running, multibillion-dollar cleanup effort at former nuclear-weapons facilities, such as the Hanford complex in
Related Links: BLM Proposal Industry Website on Fracking A new proposal to update 30-year-old regulations for hydraulic fracturing on federal and tribal lands is being criticized by environmental and industry groups.The Dept. of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on May 16 released a draft proposal that modifies an initial draft proposal from 2012. The newly released draft is a response to feedback from more than 177,000 public comments to the 2012 draft.Approximately 90% of wells drilled on federal and American Indian lands use hydraulic fracturing, but the BLM’s current regulations for hydofracking are more than 30 years old and
Related Links: Archived Environment and Public Works Webcast of May 16 McCarthy Vote Republicans Block Votes on EPA, Labor Nominees After a weeklong standoff, Senate committees on May 16 approved the nominations of two candidates to serve in top posts in the Obama administration: Gina McCarthy for the Environmental Protection Agency and Tom Perez for the Dept. of Labor.The Environment and Public Works Committee approved the nomination of McCarthy, currently assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, by a 10-8 vote along party lines. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who is 89 and in ill health, made a rare
Related Links: Planning To Punish Structures With Rain, Hail, Wind and Fire Maryland closed a loophole in its building code with a law signed May 16. The measure prevents jurisdictions from weakening Maryland's Building Performance Standards for wind design and windborne debris resistance."The legislation signed by Gov. [Martin] O'Malley (D) corrects a previous flaw in the...statewide building code," says Debra Ballen, general counsel and senior vice president of public policy for the Institute of Business & Home Safety—a Tampa, Fla.-based insurance industry group. The flaw Ballen refers to allows local amendments to weaken the wind resistance provisions in Maryland Building
Related Links: WRDA Bill Clears Senate Committee Bill Summary and Status The Senate passed the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) easily on May 15, by an 83-14 vote.The legislation, sponsored by Sens. Barbara Boxer and David Vitter (R-La.), would authorize new U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects, revise civil-works policies and give financial help to get projects built. A comparable bill has not yet been introduced in the House, but Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) has called WRDA his panel’s “highest priority.”The bill also would implement some reforms in the way projects are delivered, such as accelerated reviews
Related Links: Link to archived webcast of Environment and Public Works Committee meeting Link to GOP News Release on Vote Boycott The nominations of Gina McCarthy, President Obama's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, and Tom Perez, Obama's nominee to serve as the next Labor Dept. secretary, could be in trouble.Senate committee votes scheduled for May 8 and May 9 were postponed after Republicans on the Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) boycotted McCarthy's nomination hearing, and labor committee Republicans used a procedural maneuver to delay the vote on Perez. MCCARTHYSenate EPW committee Republicans continue to push for a
Related Links: WRDA Bill Clears Senate Committee (ENR 4/1/13) Link to Boxer-Vitter revised version of WRDA bill (Senate amendment S.799) On May 14 the Senate was moving toward approving a bill to authorize new Corps of Engineers civil-works projects, revamp Corps policies and provide new water-infrastructure funding sources.When the pending Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) cleared the Environment and Public Works Committee in March, the Congressional Budget Office estimated its authorizations at $7.7 billion over five years, including $4.5 billion for 27 Corps projects. To comply with the congressional earmark moratorium, the bill doesn't name the projects but says they
Related Links: Summary of S. 761 Letter opposing amendmends to bill Advocates of an energy-efficiency bill in Congress are hopeful the measure can pass both chambers sometime this year.The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on May 8 approved S.761 by a voice vote. However, three GOP senators said they wanted to go on the record as voting against the measure. At the meeting, ranking member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said, "It's encouraging to see senators from both sides of the aisle coming together to work on bipartisan energy legislation." Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) added, "To anybody who calls this
Related Links: U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. Circuit May 7 Ruling NLRB Fact Sheet on Posting Requirement In a victory for employers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has quashed the National Labor Relations Board's "posting requirement" rule, which the agency issued in August 2011.The final rule, which has not gone into effect because of the legal dispute, requires most businesses to post notices in conspicuous places informing workers of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Some of those rights include forming, joining or assisting a union as well as collectively bargaining through
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