The Trump administration recently released its Spring 2018 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions and, contained within it, is a series of regulations that federal agencies plan to either amend or eliminate.
The website summary of the agenda reads: “By amending and eliminating regulations that are ineffective, duplicative, and obsolete, the Administration can promote economic growth and innovation and protect individual liberty.” Each agency, it says, is responsible for ensuring that the benefits of any regulations they propose or want to keep justify the costs.
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), who has been a leader in the realm of pushing back against new regulations for the construction industry, has released a summary of the regulatory actions that construction companies can expect to see from the government over the next 6 months, which include:
- U.S. Department of Labor
- Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
- Finalizing a rule which would allow more employers to form associated health plans.
- Employment and Training Administration (ETA)
- Proposed rule entitled Apprenticeship Programs, Labor Standards for Registration, Amendment of Regulations, which would allow third parties to certify apprenticeship programs.
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
- Plans to issue a proposal to “reconsider, revise or remove provisions of Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, also known as the Electronic Injury Reporting and Anti-Retaliation final rule in July 2018”
- Plan to seek public feedback on the silica dust regulations that went into effect in 2017.
- Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
- Proposed rule to revise 2016’s final overtime rule.
- Proposed rule to expand apprenticeship and employment opportunities to 16 and 17 year olds.
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Plans to rescind the 2015 Clean Water Rule, aka the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) final rule.
For more information on the deregulatory plans, visit ABC’s website by clicking here.
Last summer, Hilti announced that they had developed their first exoskeleton designed for construction tradespeople in a partnership with Ottobuck, a prosthetics, orthotics, and exoskeleton provider. Earlier this month, Hilti officially released the exoskeleton, announced more details, and published its retail price on their website.