Here is a summary of some recent news about the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query OSHA. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query OSHA. Sort by date Show all posts
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Roundup of Recent News
Construction
Roman Cement Studied
One could argue that the durable cement developed by the ancient Romans helped
them build a lasting civilization because they could build lasting structures.
Scientists have recreated the mix and studied its properties. You can find the
report in the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences or a summary in the Washington
Post.
Engineering
Be An Engineer Web Site Features
Women Engineers
BeAnEngineer.com has profiles of
notable engineers, many of them women. Here are links to some of the profiles:
Engineers are Human, Too
Check out former ASCE president
Patricia Galloway’s TED talk about the profession of engineering. Engineers
care about solving real problems that help real people.
You can see Galloway’s speech here.
Safety
New Reporting Requirements Take
Effect January 1
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has
updated it rules related to injury reporting. Though many employers will not be
affected by the rule change, it will not be required that all employers report all work-related in-patient hospitalizations,
amputations and loss of an eye within 24 hours to OSHA.
Transportation
Investing in Transportation Good
for the Economy
A recent study by the Transportation
Construction Coalition touted the benefits of investing in surface
transportation infrastructure. These benefits include more jobs, increased
incomes, and increased government revenues without tax increases.
60 Minutes Looks at Crumbling
Infrastructure
60 Minutes ran a story on America’s aging and slowly failing
transportation infrastructure. You can see the story here.
Wonders in the Sky
Slate named the U.S. Aviation
Control System one of its seven wonders of the modern world. America’s airspace
is one of the busiest and one of the safest.
Read more about it at Slate.
Water
New York’s Wonderful Water
Slate named the New York City water system one of the seven wonders of
the modern world. It is a massive engineered system for a massive undertaking.
Read Daniel Glass’ appreciation of the system here.
Sewers Have Limits: Can’t Handle
Grease
I’ve seen shelves of congealed grease on the walls of sewage pump
stations. Yes, it is gross. WAMU
posted a story of the grease problem in the Washington DC sewers.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
New Briefs
It’s been a while since I’ve had to post anything on this blog, so some of this news
is old. I appreciate those of you who still follow this blog. I hope I can
continue to make something worthwhile for you.
Foxx Sworn in As Transportation
Secretary
Anthony
Foxx has been sworn
in as Secretary of Transportation.
Foxx was mayor
of Charlotte,
NC,
and has had a career as an attorney and politician.
GAO Critiques Nonpoint Source
Program
The Government Accountability Office (GAO)
published a report that critiques
the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 319
program. This program (named for the section of the Clean
Water Act that authorized it) provides grants
to states
to undertake activities to reduce nonpoint-source pollution, including
subgrants to organizations to implement improvements. They found that the
program sometime failed to produce desired results and that EPA’s oversight of
the program sometimes was inadequate or produced unintended undesirable
results. In addition, a complementary program of the Natural
Resources Conservation Service introduces practices that, by themselves,
can decrease water
quality because their primary intent is soil conservation.
I-5 Bridge Collapse
At this time, IW
has no news to add to what has been reported on the I-5 bridge
collapse. The collapse of a bridge on I-35
was one of the events that prompted the launch of this blog. IW sends it’s
condolences to those affected by this event and wishes the National
Transportation Safety Board a fruitful investigation.
Many Highway Projects are
Categorical Exclusions for NEPA
GAO published a report
on expediting highway
projects. One of the interesting things was that many highway projects were
considered categorical exclusions for the purpose of review under the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Categorical exclusions are classes of
projects that, individually or collectively, have been determined by rule to
have no significant environmental impact. These projects receive no or limited
NEPA review.
New Appointees to Advisory
Committee on Construction Safety & Health
Acting Labor Secretary Seth D. Harris
appointed or reappointed eight members to the ACCSH. The new members are
-Sarah M. Coyne of Arizona Construction
Training Alliance and
-Jerry Rivera of the National
Electrical Contractors Association.
OSHA Extends Deadline for Crane
Operator Certification
The Occupational Safety and Health
Agency announced its will extend the deadline for certification of crane
operators to November 10, 2017. The original rule that was finalized in 2010
established a deadline next year.
Report on Rural Water
Infrastructure
The GAO published a report
on programs that fund drinking
water and wastewater
infrastructure in rural areas. In Missouri,
agencies that administer the State Revolving
Fund (a state-administered EPA-overseen program), Water and Waste
Disposal Program (U.S.
Department of Agriculture), and Community
Development Block Grants Program (a state-administered program overseen by
the Department
of Housing and Urban Development) coordinate their water funding efforts.
Google
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Federal Infrastructure & Environment Nominees Announced
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Daniel B. Poneman, Deputy Secretary--Since 2001, Poneman has been a Principal of The Scowcroft Group, an international business advisory firm based in Washington, D.C. Prior to that he was a partner in the law firm of Hogan & Hartson. From 1993 through 1996, Poneman served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Nonproliferation and Export Controls at the National Security Council. He joined the NSC staff in 1990 as Director of Defense Policy and Arms Control, after serving as a White House Fellow in the Department of Energy. Poneman has served on several federal commissions and advisory panels, and has authored books on nuclear energy policy and on Argentina. He coauthored Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis, which received the 2005 Douglas Dillon Award for Distinguished Writing on American Diplomacy. Poneman received A.B. and J.D. degrees with honors from Harvard, and an M.Litt. in politics from Oxford University. He is an Adjunct Senior Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the Aspen Strategy Group.
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Mercedes Márquez, Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development--Márquez assumed her duties as the General Manager of the City of Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) in January 2004. Mercedes returned to public service after serving as Vice-President of McCormack Baron Salazar, Inc., a national firm specializing in the development, consultation, and management of urban communities. Márquez oversaw developments throughout the Southwest and California, which included initiating new developments, coordinating the planning process, acting as liaison with joint venture partners, and interfacing with government officials and local community groups. Prior to her time with McCormack Baron Salazer, Inc, she served in the Clinton administration as the Senior Counsel to the Secretary and Deputy General Counsel for Civil Rights and Fair Housing for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Washington, D.C. She was principal advisor to former Secretary Andrew Cuomo on civil rights policy including fair lending and fair housing enforcement, and led investigations and negotiations of housing discrimination cases resulting in landmark settlements. She also advised the Secretary on rural housing and economic development policy, supervised farm worker and Colonias Community Builder specialists in five states, and served as a U.S. delegate to international commissions. From 1992 to 1997, Márquez was a partner at Litt & Márquez, where she specialized in complex public interest litigation including slumlord, fair housing, public housing, sexual harassment, employment discrimination, and constitutional issues cases. Márquez is an Advisory Board Member of The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers & Human Rights Project and the Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence, a former Trustee of The McAuley Institute, and past national Vice-President of the YWCA of the USA. Márquez has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern California and a J.D. and LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Thomasina Rogers, Chairman, Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission--Rogers is a member of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. She was first appointed to the Review Commission by President Clinton in 1998 and served as Chairman from 1999 to 2002; she was then reappointed to the Review Commission in 2003. The agency Chairman is responsible for the administrative operations of the quasi-judicial agency, along with participating with the other Commissioners in case adjudication. Ms. Rogers previously served as Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States from 1994 until its dissolution at the end of 1995. Rogers also served for seven years in the Federal Government's Senior Executive Service (SES). During her time in the SES, she served as Legal Counsel to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission where she had primary responsibility for managing the development of the Americans With Disabilities Act employment regulations. She is a member of the American Bar Association and the National Bar Association. Rogers is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Journalism and the Columbia University School of Law.
Lorelei Boylan, Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division--Boylan is currently the Director of Strategic Enforcement at the New York State Department of Labor, Labor Standards Division. In this capacity she supervises the Apparel Industry/Fair Wages Task Force, a state-wide specialized unit charged with investigating low-wage industries where workers are at risk of exploitation. Under her leadership, the Task Force has flourished into a groundbreaking investigative unit with a high rate of success in the resolution of wage and hour investigations. The Task Force has developed complex investigations, conducted around-the-clock field work and built coalitions with low wage workers' advocates. Boylan has a wealth of experience in the enforcement field, ranging from private monitoring for retailers with social accountability initiatives to affirmative litigation and field investigative experience. Prior to heading the Task Force, Boylan spearheaded the Bureau of Immigrant Workers' Rights, a newly formed division of the Department of Labor, where she formulated innovative policies to respond to the needs of individuals with Limited English proficiency. She is the recipient of the 2008 Frances Perkins Leadership Award for exceptional leadership in developing the mission of the Department. Boylan practiced law as an Assistant Attorney General in the New York State Attorney General's Office. She was hired under the Honor's Program to represent the State in defensive and affirmative litigation. In this position, Boylan investigated businesses for violations of state and federal labor laws and represented the Department of Health in New York State Supreme Court and the New York Court of Appeals. Prior to becoming an attorney, Boylan worked for several years for a global monitoring company, counseling firms on compliance with state and federal labor laws, OSHA, Immigration and tax laws. She graduated cum laude from Hunter College and received a J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School where she was a Writing Competition and Articles Editor of the Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law. Boylan speaks Spanish and French fluently and is admitted to practice law in New York State.
You can read the original news releases here and here.
Other recent nominations and appointments:
More Federal Environment and Infrastructure Appointees Announced
New Chief of Natural Resources Conservation Service Named
New Commissioner Appointed to Missouri Highways & Transportation Commission
Nominations for Federal Environmental and Infrastructure Posts Announced
Ray H. LaHood Appointed Secretary of Transportation
Senate Approves Environmental Appointments
Daniel B. Poneman, Deputy Secretary--Since 2001, Poneman has been a Principal of The Scowcroft Group, an international business advisory firm based in Washington, D.C. Prior to that he was a partner in the law firm of Hogan & Hartson. From 1993 through 1996, Poneman served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Nonproliferation and Export Controls at the National Security Council. He joined the NSC staff in 1990 as Director of Defense Policy and Arms Control, after serving as a White House Fellow in the Department of Energy. Poneman has served on several federal commissions and advisory panels, and has authored books on nuclear energy policy and on Argentina. He coauthored Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis, which received the 2005 Douglas Dillon Award for Distinguished Writing on American Diplomacy. Poneman received A.B. and J.D. degrees with honors from Harvard, and an M.Litt. in politics from Oxford University. He is an Adjunct Senior Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the Aspen Strategy Group.
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Mercedes Márquez, Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development--Márquez assumed her duties as the General Manager of the City of Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) in January 2004. Mercedes returned to public service after serving as Vice-President of McCormack Baron Salazar, Inc., a national firm specializing in the development, consultation, and management of urban communities. Márquez oversaw developments throughout the Southwest and California, which included initiating new developments, coordinating the planning process, acting as liaison with joint venture partners, and interfacing with government officials and local community groups. Prior to her time with McCormack Baron Salazer, Inc, she served in the Clinton administration as the Senior Counsel to the Secretary and Deputy General Counsel for Civil Rights and Fair Housing for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Washington, D.C. She was principal advisor to former Secretary Andrew Cuomo on civil rights policy including fair lending and fair housing enforcement, and led investigations and negotiations of housing discrimination cases resulting in landmark settlements. She also advised the Secretary on rural housing and economic development policy, supervised farm worker and Colonias Community Builder specialists in five states, and served as a U.S. delegate to international commissions. From 1992 to 1997, Márquez was a partner at Litt & Márquez, where she specialized in complex public interest litigation including slumlord, fair housing, public housing, sexual harassment, employment discrimination, and constitutional issues cases. Márquez is an Advisory Board Member of The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers & Human Rights Project and the Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence, a former Trustee of The McAuley Institute, and past national Vice-President of the YWCA of the USA. Márquez has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern California and a J.D. and LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Thomasina Rogers, Chairman, Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission--Rogers is a member of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. She was first appointed to the Review Commission by President Clinton in 1998 and served as Chairman from 1999 to 2002; she was then reappointed to the Review Commission in 2003. The agency Chairman is responsible for the administrative operations of the quasi-judicial agency, along with participating with the other Commissioners in case adjudication. Ms. Rogers previously served as Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States from 1994 until its dissolution at the end of 1995. Rogers also served for seven years in the Federal Government's Senior Executive Service (SES). During her time in the SES, she served as Legal Counsel to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission where she had primary responsibility for managing the development of the Americans With Disabilities Act employment regulations. She is a member of the American Bar Association and the National Bar Association. Rogers is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Journalism and the Columbia University School of Law.
Lorelei Boylan, Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division--Boylan is currently the Director of Strategic Enforcement at the New York State Department of Labor, Labor Standards Division. In this capacity she supervises the Apparel Industry/Fair Wages Task Force, a state-wide specialized unit charged with investigating low-wage industries where workers are at risk of exploitation. Under her leadership, the Task Force has flourished into a groundbreaking investigative unit with a high rate of success in the resolution of wage and hour investigations. The Task Force has developed complex investigations, conducted around-the-clock field work and built coalitions with low wage workers' advocates. Boylan has a wealth of experience in the enforcement field, ranging from private monitoring for retailers with social accountability initiatives to affirmative litigation and field investigative experience. Prior to heading the Task Force, Boylan spearheaded the Bureau of Immigrant Workers' Rights, a newly formed division of the Department of Labor, where she formulated innovative policies to respond to the needs of individuals with Limited English proficiency. She is the recipient of the 2008 Frances Perkins Leadership Award for exceptional leadership in developing the mission of the Department. Boylan practiced law as an Assistant Attorney General in the New York State Attorney General's Office. She was hired under the Honor's Program to represent the State in defensive and affirmative litigation. In this position, Boylan investigated businesses for violations of state and federal labor laws and represented the Department of Health in New York State Supreme Court and the New York Court of Appeals. Prior to becoming an attorney, Boylan worked for several years for a global monitoring company, counseling firms on compliance with state and federal labor laws, OSHA, Immigration and tax laws. She graduated cum laude from Hunter College and received a J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School where she was a Writing Competition and Articles Editor of the Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law. Boylan speaks Spanish and French fluently and is admitted to practice law in New York State.
You can read the original news releases here and here.
Other recent nominations and appointments:
More Federal Environment and Infrastructure Appointees Announced
New Chief of Natural Resources Conservation Service Named
New Commissioner Appointed to Missouri Highways & Transportation Commission
Nominations for Federal Environmental and Infrastructure Posts Announced
Ray H. LaHood Appointed Secretary of Transportation
Senate Approves Environmental Appointments
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