News

ISSA LARU—ISSA Opposes DOL Overtime Proposal

Welcome to the latest ISSA Legislative & Regulatory Update, a biweekly roundup of the public-policy issues currently impacting the full cleaning supply chain. This update touches on ISSA submitting comments opposing DOL’s overtime proposal, an opportunity for ISSA members to easily urge their congressional delegation to tell DOL to abandon its overtime proposal, FDA issuing guidance on MoCRA enforcement, and more.

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ISSA Advocacy

ISSA Submits Comments to DOL Opposing Overtime Proposal
On November 6, ISSA submitted comments to Acting U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Julie A. Su opposing the department’s proposed changes to the criteria for the employee exemptions from the overtime requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In the comment letter, ISSA Director of Government Affairs John Nothdurft explains that “businesses in the cleaning industry are already facing labor shortages, while the demand for cleaning products and services remains at an all-time high.” Learn more

Urge Congress to Tell DOL to Abandon Overtime Proposal
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is attempting to push through significant changes to overtime-pay regulations at a time when our economy is still struggling to recover from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Supply chains are disrupted, inflation remains high, and worker shortages continue to plague cleaning businesses across the country. Take Action Now

FDA Issues Guidance on MoCRA Enforcement
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued guidance on its intent to delay enforcement of the requirements for cosmetic product facility registration and cosmetic product listing requirements under the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 (MoCRA) for six months. Learn more

Proposition 65 Short-Form Warnings-Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Public Hearing
California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has again proposed a rule to upend short-form warnings—“safe harbor” language that currently does not need to identify a chemical being warned about, only the endpoint—under Proposition 65. Learn more

ISSA Is Hiring-Regulatory Affairs Manager
Join, or recommend someone to join, ISSA’s Government Affairs Team! We’re hiring a Regulatory Affairs Manager (in-person and/or remote) to manage our regulatory affairs efforts. Learn more

Legislative

Senate Sends Funding Bill to Biden’s Desk, Averts Government Shutdown
The U.S. Senate passed a stopgap funding bill, postponing the threat of a government shutdown until after the holidays, NBC News reported. The bipartisan vote was 87-11, with 10 Republicans and one Democrat voting against the bill. Learn more

Regulatory

EPA Seeks Comments on Updates to Safer Choice Standard
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed updates to the Safer Choice standard, which identifies the requirements that products and their ingredients must meet to earn the EPA’s Safer Choice label or Design for the Environment (DfE) logo, Chemical Processing reported. The agency is requesting public comments on the proposed updates by January 16, 2024, and will hold a webinar on December 19, 2023, to provide information on proposed updates to the standard. Learn more

Biden Administration Investing $653M in Ports to Improve Supply Chains
The Biden administration is investing more than US$653 million to fund port projects with the goal of improving U.S. supply chain reliability, according to The Hill. The projects through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration will focus on 41 ports nationwide, including at the ports in Long Beach, California; Milwaukee; and Newark, New Jersey. The funding comes from the bipartisan infrastructure law, which included nearly $17 billion overall in funding for ports and waterways. Learn more

NLRB, OSHA Team up on Investigations, Enforcement
The U.S. agencies that enforce labor laws and workplace safety rules will work together on investigations and enforcement to “protect workers who raise safety concerns from retaliation, which could spur more fines and legal complaints against employers,” Reuters reported. The U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) and U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said that they entered into a memorandum of understanding to collaborate in cases involving worker efforts to improve safety conditions. Learn more

NLRB’s Joint-Employer Rule Prompts First Industry Suit
A coalition of business advocacy groups filed a lawsuit seeking to block the U.S. National Labor Relations Board’s (NRLB) recently finalized regulation that lowers the bar for two companies to qualify as joint employers of the same contract or franchise workers, according to Bloomberg Law. Learn more

Other News

Canadian VOC Limits Go into Effect January 2024
The regulatory limits for volatile organic compounds for the manufacture and import of household and commercial cleaning products in Canada listed in Schedules 1 and 2 of the Volatile Organic Compound Concentration Limits for Certain Products Regulations are coming into effect. The regulatory limits will go into effect on January 1, 2024, for all product categories, except disinfectants, whose limits go into effect on January 1, 2025. Learn more