BiPartisan Tariff Bill Introduced to Help Manufacturers The American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016, which has strong bipartisan support, would create a new process for the consideration and approval of Miscellaneous Tariff Bills (MTBs) by the federal government. Miscellaneous Tariff Bills reduce or suspend duties on imported products. The goal of an MTB is to lower costs by reducing the tariff obligations on products or parts that are imported. Presently, members of Congress introduce MTBs based on requests received from constituent companies. It is largely an ad hoc process that produces mixed results. Under the new process, petitions first would be made exclusively through the International Trade Commission (ITC), an independent federal agency. The ITC would solicit comments from the public and the administration, and conduct its own analysis. It would then issue a public report to Congress with its analysis and recommendations regarding products that meet the MTB standards. The next step would be an examination by the House Ways and Means Committee, which would then draft an MTB proposal for the full Congress to consider. Federal Corporate Trade Secret Legislation Approved The Defend Trade Secrets Act has been signed into law. This new law is designed to help reduce intellectual property theft from U.S. companies by creating a harmonized federal standard for protection of trade secrets and products produced using the same. In addition, the legislation would allow corporate owners of trade secrets to directly sue for trade secret misappropriation, including against foreign competitors, in U.S. federal court, and secure remedies such as an injunction and damages. The law also provides for expedited relief on an ex parte basis in the form of a seizure of property from the party accused of misappropriation, a remedy available under extraordinary circumstances where necessary to preserve evidence or prevent dissemination of a trade secret. There is a statute of limitations of five years from the date of discovery of the misappropriation. Unlike other types of intellectual property, which are primarily protected under federal law, until now trade secrets have been primarily governed by state law. This has greatly limited the ability of U.S. companies to effectively combat trade secret misappropriation in court, especially against foreign competitors. OSHA Revises Eye and Face Protection Standard The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule regarding eye and face protection requirements in the general industry, shipyard employment, marine terminals, longshoring, and construction standards has been updated to incorporate by reference of the latest ANSI/ISEA Z87.1-2010 standard, Occupational and Educational Eye and Face Protection Devices and removal of the oldest ANSI (Z87.1-1989) version of the same standard. In addition, OSHA is modifying the language in its construction standard to make it more consistent with the general and maritime industry standards. This new rule will allow employers to continue to follow the existing ANSI standards referenced or allow employers to follow the latest version of the same ANSI/ISEA standard. Employers are not required to update or replace protection devices solely as a result of this rule and may continue to follow their current and usual practices for their eye and face protection. Therefore, this rule has no compliance or economic burdens associated with it. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration generally requires employers to ensure their employees use eye and face protection where necessary to protect them against flying objects, splashes, or droplets of hazardous chemicals, and other workplace hazards that could injure their eyes and face. House Passes DOE Direct Skills Training Legislation Legislation (H.R. 4583) has been approved in the House that would direct the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to prioritize education and training for energy and manufacturing related jobs in order to increase the number of skilled workers trained to work in those fields. Among other things, the DOE would establish a clearinghouse to provide information and resources on training and workforce development programs for energy- and manufacturing-related jobs. Results of New OSHA Reporting Rule Analyzed Under a requirement that took effect January 1, 2015, employers must report to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) within 24 hours any workrelated amputation, in-patient hospitalization, or loss of eye. The requirement to report a fatality within 8 hours was unchanged. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently released results and analysis of the first year of reporting under this new rule. According to OSHA, employers reported 10,388 incidents involving severe work-related injuries, including 7636 hospitalizations and 2644 amputations. The organization declared the results a success, as it met its intended goals of helping focus resources where they are most needed, and engaging employers in high-hazard industries to identify and eliminate hazards. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration responded to a third of all of the reported injuries and 58% of the amputation reports. WASHINGTON WATCHWORD HUGH K. WEBSTER, AWS WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS OFFICE — Contact the AWS Washington Government Affairs Office at 1747 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20006; email hwebster@wcb. com; FAX (202) 8350243. 10 WELDING JOURNAL / JUNE 2016 WJ BY HUGH K. WEBSTER
Welding Journal | June 2016
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