[Source: CalChamber] The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has extended the 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 reporting deadline to August 23, 2021. All employers with 100 or more employees (and federal government contractors with 50 or more employees) are obligated to report their EEO-1 Component data (How to Submit 2019, 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 Data Read More…
Category: U.S. News
DOL tells court it will not defend proposed prevailing wage rule
[Source: The National Law Review] The Department of Labor (DOL) has informed a federal court in California that it did not wish to defend the proposed prevailing wage rule, which would impose steep wage hikes, “at the same time that is internally evaluating the propriety of that Rule” in the challenge to stop the agency Read More…
The EPA just accused Missouri’s environmental agency of violating the Civil Rights Act
[Source: GRIST] The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has preliminarily ruled that the Missouri Department of Natural Resources is in violation of Title VI under the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Federal investigators found that the state agency failed to comply with several nondiscrimination requirements, such as ensuring that everyone — including those who aren’t proficient in Read More…
Fewer in U.S. say government environmental action lacking
[Source: GALLUP] Early in Joe Biden’s tenure as president, a slightly diminished 56% majority of Americans think the U.S. government is doing too little to protect the environment. This marks a five-percentage-point decline from one year ago and coincides with a nine-point increase in those saying the government is doing too much (15%). Meanwhile, an Read More…
Biden EPA ponders ‘Hail Mary’ move on greenhouse gas air limits
[Source: Bloomberg Law] The Biden administration likely will face a tough climb in the courts and on the ground if it tries to push for national ambient air limits on greenhouse gases, experts and lawyers say. Acting Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Jane Nishida wrote last week that the agency “did not fully and fairly assess the issues Read More…
America’s infrastructure is failing: What needs fixing first?
[Source: The Hill] Tens of thousands of homes were without power last week as a weather system packing powerful winds and arctic temperatures roared across Massachusetts, downing power lines. It was nowhere near the catastrophic situation that Texans endured in which people lost heat, electricity and clean water for weeks last month. And don’t forget Read More…
Why the Texas power grid is struggling to cope with the extreme cold
[Source: VOX] Winter Storm Uri chilled large areas of the western, central, and southern US over the weekend, straining the power grid in some places so badly that millions of Americans have had to go without power in temperatures below freezing. The National Weather Service on Monday reported that 150 million Americans were under various winter Read More…
Covid-19 took a bite from U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2020
[Source: The New York Times] America’s greenhouse gas emissions from energy and industry plummeted more than 10 percent in 2020, reaching their lowest levels in at least three decades as the coronavirus pandemic slammed the brakes on the nation’s economy, according to an estimate published Tuesday (Preliminary US Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimates for 2020 | Read More…
A final EPA rollback under Trump curbs use of health studies
[Source: Associated Press] The Environmental Protection Agency released one of its last major rollbacks under the Trump administration on Tuesday, limiting what evidence it will consider about risks of pollutants in a way that opponents say could cripple future public health regulation. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the new rule, which restricts what findings from Read More…