The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has set an ambitious agenda for the next six months. Many of its top priorities, identified in the semi-annual agenda released on Dec. 20, involve the construction industry. While some sources say that OSHA has been revitalized under Assistant Secretary David Michaels, they wonder if the agency might be taking on more than it can accommodate. “OSHA has a lot on its plate,” says Aaron Trippler, director of government affairs for the American Industrial Hygiene Association. “We’re concerned that they may not have the resources to fully address all the issues, such as silica.”

Congress has cleared legislation authorizing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to dole out up to $500 million over five years for diesel retrofits. The House passed the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) on Dec. 21, sending it to the White House. The bill is seen as a boon for clean air, contractors and suppliers. In its first five years, DERA returned about $20 in benefits for each $1 spent, according to the Diesel Technology Forum.

It looks like federal agencies will be operating under another short-term spending bill. The Senate on Dec. 21 passed a stopgap continuing resolution (CR) to fund construction accounts and other federal programs through March 4. The vote was 79-16. The House approved the measure within hours. The nine-week measure also would continue authorizations for surface-transportation programs through March 4. State transportation agencies and construction firms that pursue federally funded work would have preferred an extension at least through Sept. 30, when fiscal 2011 ends. Federal Aviation Administration programs, including airport construction grants, will fare a little better. The House and

While the federal government continues to tangle with Congress over a climate change law, the California Air Resources Board on Dec. 16 went ahead and endorsed its own cap-and-trade regulation. The measure was a major component in AB 32, California’s climate change law signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) in 2006. The regulation sets a statewide limit on the emissions from sources responsible for 80% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions and establishes a price signal needed to drive long-term investment in cleaner fuels and more efficient use of energy, according to CARB. It is also designed to provide covered entities

With a short stopgap spending bill set to lapse on Dec. 21, Senate Democrats have introduced a new measure that would extend funding for federal construction accounts and other programs through March 4. It also would continue authorizations for surface-transportation programs through that date. If the full Senate passes the proposed nine-week continuing resolution (CR), which was introduced on Dec. 19, it would go to the House for a vote. The new CR would fund most programs at their fiscal 2010 spending levels. There are some exceptions, such as the latest round of Defense Dept.'s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)

Based on comments during oral arguments on Dec. 8, the U.S. Supreme Court appears divided on an immigration case that could have far-reaching ramifications for construction companies and other businesses. The case, Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting, is important to construction firms. A Pew Hispanic Center study found that “unauthorized migrants” accounted for 14% of the construction workforce in 2005. At issue in the case is whether an Arizona law imposing sanctions on companies that knowingly hire illegal immigrants is preempted by federal immigration law. States that have similar laws in place or would like to enact such legislation are

As the House and Senate head for the end of their lame-duck session, must-pass tax and appropriations bills are advancing. The final versions of both measures will have a major impact on construction. An $858-billion tax bill on Dec. 14 was sent to the Senate for final passage. The bill extends 2001 and 2003 individual rates, offers alternative-minimum-tax protection for many and cuts employees’ Social Security payroll taxes to 4.2%, from 6.2% for one year. Those provisions would help small design and construction firms taxed at individual rates as partnerships or S Corporations. Family-owned firms would get a boost from

Ohio State University, Columbus, violated state statutes governing a $1-billion campus hospital project that required it to mandate a payment bond for site subcontractors, according to a lawsuit filed on Nov. 23 in the Ohio Supreme Court by the American Subcontractors Association and its local chapter. The trade group for sureties joined in the suit. The complaint contends OSU’s decision not to require the project’s construction managers, Turner Construction and Bovis Lend Lease, to post the bond places the subs on the project, called ProjectONE, at financial risk, since they are required to waive their mechanic’s lien rights. “Construction subcontractors

Ohio architect Karlsberger Inc. plans to continuing pursuing a claim for $1.3 million in unpaid fees on a $1-billion hospital project at Ohio State University, in the wake of a Dec. 6 ruling by a state claims court judge that dismissed its 2009 suit against the school. Photo: Ohio State U. 1-million-sq-foot hospital addition will cost $1 billion The Columbus-based firm is seeking compensation for completed work after the university terminated it on its 1-million-sq-ft ProjectONE cancer care and medical center. The firm, which was replaced in its role on the project by HOK, the job’s master planner, had also

There is good news and bad news for construction in a revised, expanded Senate version of the tax package worked out earlier between the White House and Republican leaders. For construction, the positive news among the additions made to the package by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is a one-year extension of a tax break for wind, solar and other renewable-energy projects. The bad news is that the measure does not include an extension for the Build America Bond (BABs) program, which is slated to expire on Dec. 31. Reid introduced the bill