Many construction projects are subject to the federal Clean Water Act and its regulation of the discharge of pollutants into the navigable waters of the United States, which the law defines simply as the “waters of the United States”. This definition drives the scope of federal jurisdiction in numerous areas.…
On September 9, 2014, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed into law Assembly Bill 2053 amending California Government Code § 12950.1. Subdivision (b) requires an employer, as defined, to include prevention of abusive conduct , as defined, as a component of the training and education required in Subdivision (a) of…
On July 8, 2014, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed into law Assembly Bill 326 amending California Labor Code § 6409.1. Subdivision (b) requires every employer, in addition to the report required by Subdivision (a), to make an immediate report to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health by telephone…
Today, the State of Nevada Contractors Board (Board) issued a Notice of Intent to Act Upon a Regulation, confirming that it will conduct a public workshop on Monday, December 1. 2014 at 9:00 a.m. PST and a public hearing on Wednesday, December 10, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. PST on the…
On November 1, 2014, the Contractors State License Board (CSLB) submitted its Sunset Review Report to the Legislature. Among other things, the Sunset Review Report highlights select CSLB achievements. It also includes a list and summary of the legislation sponsored by the CSLB from 2011 through 2014, and urges the…
Congratulations Steve Thornton! Jose Rodriguez, Assistant Director for Field Services and Public Safety for the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (the “Department”), announced in the Electrical Currents newsletter from the Office of the Chief Electrical Inspector, Vol. 18, No. 11 (Nov. 2014), the appointment of Stephen Thornton as…
In a recent press release, California Contractors State License Board Registrar Steve Sands reminds contractors that “[c]ontractor licenses are not transferrable between anyone: associates, friends – family members included.” In California, all home improvement jobs valued at $500 or more, which includes both labor, material costs and other item costs…
Yesterday, Pillsbury attorneys Michael Hindus, Eric Save and John McNeece published their advisory titled Mexico’s Guidelines for Clean Energy Certificates Will Support Renewable Energy Development. The Advisory discusses, as part of a historic restructuring of its electrical power sector, Mexico’s creation of a market for tradable Clean Energy Certificates, which…
On October 24, 2014, the D.C. Circuit rejected a challenge to the revised OSHA Hazardous Communication Standard insofar as it applies to “combustible dust”. The case is National Oilseed Processors Association, et al., v. Occupational Safety & Health Administration, et al. The Standard was substantially revised in 2012 to conform…
On July 16, 2014, the U.S. District Court of the District of Maryland issued an important Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 6901 et seq. (RCRA), ruling in the case of Sherrill, et al. v. The Mayor and the City Council of Baltimore, 2014 WL 3555956. The City…