News

ISSA LARU – OSHA Issues COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

Welcome to the ISSA Legislative & Regulatory Update (LARU), our biweekly roundup of the latest public policy issues impacting the full spectrum of the cleaning industry. This update touches on vaccine mandates, U.S. Congress passing infrastructure legislation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) expanding its Safer Choice program, and more.

Want to stay informed about critical government affairs impacting the industry? Sign up here to have the ISSA Legislative & Regulatory Update emailed to you every other week!

And be sure to check out the latest installment of our new video series, ISSA Advocacy Cleaning Industry Alert with ISSA Director of Government Affairs John Nothdurft, to learn about the top three advocacy issues impacting the cleaning industry right now, including a vaccine mandate update, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, and Safer Choice program.

ISSA Advocacy

OSHA Releases Vaccine Mandate Regulations
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission in the workplace. The ETS establishes binding requirements to protect employees of large employers (100 or more employees) from the risk of contracting COVID-19. Your ISSA Government Affairs Team summarized the salient details of the new rule for the cleaning industry.

What History Reveals about Vaccine Mandates
As cleaning industry companies prepare to meet the employee COVID-19 vaccine mandate by January 4, 2021, they may wonder about the history of vaccine requirements. View this episode of Straight Talk! featuring ISSA Director of Government Affairs John Nothdurft to learn about the challenges, history, and impact of vaccines in the workplace and beyond.

ISSA Issues Statement on Congressional Passage of Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill
Last week, the Congress passed the largest federal investment in infrastructure in more than a decade. The US$1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act focuses on investments in roads, railways, bridges, and internet broadband. This article summarizes key elements of the new law for the cleaning industry.

EPA Restoring and Expanding Safer Choice Program
The EPA will restore its Safer Choice program, as well as add new product categories, identify additional safer chemicals for use in products, and update and strengthen its standards. Earlier this year, ISSA signed on to a letter to the U.S. Congress expressing strong support for the Safer Choice program.

Advocacy Opportunities at ISSA Show
ISSA Show North America 2021, November 15-18 in Las Vegas, offers a myriad of opportunities for you to engage with our Government Affairs Team and learn about the hot-button public policy issues facing your business and the cleaning industry. Advocacy opportunities include: Cleaning Products: A Regulatory Update; What is Going on in Washington? A Legislative and Regulatory Update; an Advocacy Happy Hour with a chance to win a trip to Washington, DC for the 2022 ISSA Clean Advocacy Summit, and Industry Leaders Roundtable.

Double Your Impact 
It’s not too late to double your impact and help ISSA strengthen the full cleaning supply chain by contributing to the ISSA Advocacy Fund (IAF)! IAF Founding Supporter Products Chemical Company, LLC generously agreed to match contributions to the IAF up to $5,000 now through November 30, 2021. Double your impact–contribute to the IAF today!

Share Your Supply-Chain Input with ISSA
Your responses to the ISSA Advocacy Survey 2021 will help guide our positions on important public policy issues that impact your business and help us advocate on behalf of the full cleaning supply chain, as well as gauge overall member interest in ISSA government affairs. The short survey will only take a few minutes to complete. As a thank you for your participation, all survey respondents will be entered to win a free 2022 ISSA Clean Advocacy Summit registration.

Legislative

Rep. Maloney Reintroduces Pandemic Risk Insurance Act 
U.S. Representative Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) reintroduced the Pandemic Risk Insurance Act of 2021. This legislation, which ISSA supports, would create the Pandemic Risk Reinsurance Program, a system of shared public and private compensation for business interruption losses resulting from future pandemics or public health emergencies. Representative Maloney first introduced a version of this legislation in May 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regulatory

Federal Appeals Court Temporarily Blocks Vaccine Mandate for Private Businesses
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered U.S. President Joe Biden’s vaccine and testing requirements halted pending review, CNBC reports.

Vaccine Mandate Guidelines for Federal Contractors Provide Flexibility
Federal contractors have flexibility to determine how to enforce COVID-19 vaccination mandates for workers, according to new guidance from the White House and as reported by Cleaning & Maintenance Management.

Biden Administration Announces Actions to Alleviate Supply-Chain Issues at Ports
The Biden administration announced a new set of immediate and short-term actions aimed at alleviating supply-chain issues at the nation’s ports, waterways, and freight networks, according to CNN.

White House to Launch Dashboard Tracking Supply-Chain Challenges
The White House website is rolling out a new Supply Chain Dashboard that will track progress in easing the backlog of imported goods that has accompanied the economy’s recovery from coronavirus shutdowns, CNN reports. 

U.S. Trade Deficit Hits Record in September
The U.S. trade deficit hit an all-time high of $80.9 billion in September as American exports fell sharply while imports, even with supply-chain problems at American ports, continue to climb, according to ABC News. The September deficit topped the previous record of $73.2 billion set in June, the U.S. Commerce Department reported.

State News

New Law Prevents Unionized Custodians from Suing Their Employers
Certain unionized custodial employees will be exempt from suing their employers under a new California law that goes into effect January 1, 2022, Cleaning & Maintenance Management reports.