Newsline

ABC is conducting an important survey of contractor members to gauge opinions and experiences with the Inflation Reduction Act’s prevailing wage and government-registered apprenticeship requirements on clean energy tax credits. Ensuring as many members as possible respond to this survey will be vital to providing effective, informed comments seeking regulatory clarity and pushing back on concerning aspects of a recent Internal Revenue Service proposed rule.

On Sept. 7, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council’s final rule on the Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects, which would mandate anti-competitive and inflationary project labor agreements on large-scale federal construction contracts, arrived at the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review. This is the final step before the rule will be published in the Federal Register and take effect.

ABC has prepared a summary of Biden administration regulatory actions of interest to ABC members by agency.

On Aug. 30, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a new proposed rulemaking that would alter overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The proposal increases the minimum salary level threshold to $55,068 annually for a full-year worker and automatically updates the threshold every three years.

Despite being litigated for years, the Biden administration’s National Labor Relations Board has revived controversial policy from the Obama era in the form of its Representation-Case Procedures final rule. The direct final rule, issued without notice and the opportunity to comment, essentially restores provisions of the “ambush” election rule of 2014 and rescinds the remaining ABC-supported provisions of the 2019 final rule. The rule will apply to representation petitions filed on or after Dec. 26, 2023, and employers will have less time to respond to representation petitions.

On Aug. 29, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Internal Revenue Service released a proposed rule and FAQs on provisions of the ABC-opposed Inflation Reduction Act, which will affect the developers, contractors and workers that are building clean energy projects eligible for more than $270 billion in federal tax credits.

On Aug. 29, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers issued a final rule and fact sheet regarding amendments to the definition of “waters of the United States” subject to Clean Water Act regulation. This rule is aimed at bringing the January 2023 WOTUS final rule into compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s May 25 decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency.

Associated Builders and Contractors today announced its opposition to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announcement of a proposed rule, Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process. The proposed rule would allow an employee to choose a third-party representative, such as an outside union representative, to accompany an OSHA inspector into nonunion facilities.

On Aug. 25, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board issued its decision in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC, which imposes a new framework that greatly expands the Board’s ability to impose unions on employees without a secret ballot election. The Board’s decision overrules precedent that has stood for over half a century.

Despite being litigated for years, the Biden administration’s National Labor Relations Board has revived controversial policy from the Obama era in the form of its Representation-Case Procedures final rule. The direct final rule, issued without notice and the opportunity to comment, essentially restores provisions of the “ambush” election rule of 2014 and rescinds the remaining ABC-supported provisions of the 2019 final rule. The rule will apply to representation petitions filed on or after Dec. 26, 2023.

On Aug. 23, the U.S. Department of Labor officially published its final rule, Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations, in the Federal Register. The regulation’s drastic revisions to existing rules regarding government-determined prevailing wage rates that must be paid to construction workers on federal and federally assisted construction projects funded by taxpayers will now take effect on Oct. 23.

On Aug. 14, the Office of Management and Budget announced final guidance to revise OMB’s Guidance for Grants and Agreements. This guidance defines the rules for federal agencies as they distribute funding through grant programs and other financial assistance. The revisions would aid implementation of the Build America, Buy America Act provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This guidance finalizes a proposal issued by the OMB on Feb. 9.  

On Aug. 8, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its final rule, Updating Davis-Bacon and Related Acts

On Aug. 2, the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision in Stericycle Inc., which overruled Boeing and adopted a new legal standard for evaluating employer work rules challenged as f

The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council plans to issue a proposed rule on Aug. 3, 2023, that would establish new requirements for “sustainable procurement” in federal contracting. The proposal complies with Executive Order 14057, Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability, signed by Pr

ABC has prepared a summary of Biden administration regulatory actions of interest to ABC members by agency. 

On July 31, the Council on Environmental Quality released a proposed rule to implement Phase 2 of revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act implementing regulations. The proposal makes wide-ranging changes to the rules for federal agencies conducting the environmental review and permitting process.

On July 26, the U.S. House of Representatives passed S.J. Res. 24, a Congressional Review Act resolution on the Endangered Species Status for Northern Long-Eared Bat with a bipartisan vote of 220-209. The passage of S.J. Res. 24 would, if enacted, prevent the ABC-opposed U.S. Department of Interior&a

On July 28, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards published its final revision to the Form LM-10 Employer Report, which adds a checkbox to the Form LM-10 report requiring certain reporting entities to indicate whether such entities were federal contractors or subcontractors in their prior fiscal year, and two lines for entry of filers’ unique entity identifier and federal contracting agency or agencies, if applicable. &

On July 21, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued its Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses final rule, which will undo the ABC-supported provisions of the 2019 final rule promulgated under the Trump adm

The U.S. Department of the Treasury plans to release a proposed rule implementing provisions of the ABC-opposed Inflation Reduction Act. The law provides over $270 billion in tax credits for the construction of solar, wind, hydrogen, carbon sequestration, electric vehicle charging stations and other clean energy projects, conditioned on requirements that project contractors meet prevailing wage and appr

Three proposed rules of concern to ABC members promulgated by the U.S. Department of Labor are currently at the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and are expected to be issued imminently. The Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process and Overtime proposed rules are being reviewed by OIRA, and review of the Form LM-10 Employer Report final rule has concluded.

On June 22, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced it will be holding Small Business Advocacy Review panel (also known as a SBREFA panel) meetings this summer to gather input on a possible Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings rule.

On June 13, the Biden administration released its Spring 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. ABC has prepared a summary of the actions of interest to ABC members by agency. 

On May 25, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in the Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency case, narrowing the scope of “waters of the United States” that may be regulated under the Clean Water Act.