The Truck and Bus Regulation was adopted in 2008 to significantly reduce toxic particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen emissions from existing diesel vehicles operating in California. It targeted approximately 1 million diesel trucks. The existing regulation requires nearly all heavier trucks to have filters to reduce PM emissions beginning…
The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board’s (OSHA) recently amended Operating Rules for Compaction Equipment and amended hand protection regulations are effective July 1, 2014. Contractors who use compaction equipment should consider reviewing their written operating procedures to confirm compliance with the amended regulations in anticipation of July 1. Title…
On April 24, at the Contractors State License Board’s (CSLB) quarterly board meeting, Registrar of Contractors Steve Sands announced his plan to retire at the end of the year. Mr. Sands has been “at the helm” of the CSLB since January 1, 2001. The Registrar of Contractors oversees a $60…
The minimum wage has been in the news recently, with new developments at both the state and federal levels. On the federal side, President Obama signed an executive order in February 2014 raising the minimum wage for federal contractors to $10.10 per hour effective January 1, 2015. President Obama has…
ENR’s “Top Lists” provide a broad spectrum ranking of those in the construction industry, including general contracting, specialty contracting, engineering, architecture and environmental services, among other specialties. What makes the Top Lists even more interesting is that ENR ranks the firms for the given year and it shows how the…
Change is inevitable but does it have to come right in the middle of summer? The Arizona Registrar of Contractors’ (AROC) rule changes become effective in two months. AROC warns that these changes will effect “nearly all applicants and licensees.” The new rules are expected to, among other things, change…
Last week, a San Jose jury awarded the residents of California Hawaiian Mobile Estates $111 million for an alleged litany of troubles at the mobile home park. This is the largest award of its kind, with previous awards in other California cases up to around $12 million. If the verdicts…
Change is in the air. The Oregon Building Codes Division’s (BCD) webpage confirms that the effective date of the Oregon Structural Specialty Code, Oregon Mechanical Specialty Code and Oregon Energy Efficiency Specialty Code is now July 1, 2014. Additionally, the BCD will allow a 3 month transition period for implementation…
Yesterday, Pillsbury attorneys Brad Raffle, Tom Campbell, Anthony Cavender and Nicholas Krohn published their advisory titled The Fish and Wildlife Service Lists the Lesser Prairie-Chicken as a Threatened Species Under the Endangered Species Act. The Advisory discusses the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s March 21, 2014 final rule which…
In California, a C-57 specialty contractor is a well drilling contractor that “installs and repairs water wells and pumps by boring, drilling, excavating, casing, cementing and cleaning to provide a supply of uncontaminated water.” Cal. Code of Regs., Tit. 16, Div. 8, Art. 3. In its Industry Bulletin 14-04, the…