Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/819351
26 PalletCentral • March-April 2017 palletcentral.com ne of the major campaign issues during 2016 was the impact of federal government regulations on businesses, but the question in rebuttal was how that burden could (or should) be lessened without undermining protections and necessary support structures that are critical. Now that the Republican party has regained Executive Branch control while also retaining a majority in both chambers of the U.S. Congress, the campaign promises to roll back regulations (or turn programs back to state management and funding) are on the table to become reality. A number of regulatory reform activities have already occurred within the Executive Branch and Congress, including legislation (HR 861) to completely "terminate" the Environmental Protection Agency! One reform measure – the Regulatory Accountability Act – has already become law, and would apply to OSHA, EPA and other agencies. It requires factual determinations to underlie federal agency action, requires "advance notice of proposed rulemaking" for all major or high-impact rules (which slows down the process by adding an extra step), and includes criteria for issuing major guidance (policy and interpretations of law issued without rulemaking by agencies), which could lead to economic impact of $100 million+ per year, cause a major increase in cost or prices, or have significant adverse effects on competition or employment. Congress also has rescinded President Obama's "Fair Pay & Safe Workplaces" Executive Order, which subjected contractors who provide goods and services to the federal government to debarment if they had poor compliance records with OSHA, employment laws and civil rights laws. President Trump himself has issued an array of new Executive Orders (EO) involving regulatory activity. One requires regulatory review within each agency by a task force, to identify existing regulations that should be rescinded or modified to lessen regulatory burdens. That action is already underway. Another EO requires that any new regulations be "revenue neutral" and impose SAFETY O Regulatory Reform INITIATIVES By Adele L. Abrams, Esq., CMSP JFR Holdings, Inc. OSHA A N D