Homebuilders have sued OSHA in an Oklahoma federal court to stop the agency’s new injury record-keeping and reporting rule. “The national and state builder groups, the U.S. and state chambers of commerce, the National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation and U.S. Poultry & Egg Association filed the lawsuit Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma,” reported the Oklahoman (see: “National builders, other trade groups, sue OSHA for ‘overreach’ in Oklahoma federal court,” by Richard Mize). “It was filed here, quite frankly, due to the conservative nature of our district courts and the particular circuit we are in,” said Mike Means, executive vice president of the Oklahoma State Home Builders Association. See also: “Statement from NAHB Chairman Ed Brady on Legal Challenge to OSHA Rule”.
Santa Fe builders are worried about their Hispanic labor force under the incoming Trump administration. The Santa Fe HBA held a lunch meeting in January to discuss immigration issues, reported the Albuquerque Journal (see: “Santa Fe home builders told workplace raids likely,” by Mark Oswald). “Kim Shanahan, executive officer of the Home Builders Association, is an outspoken supporter of Santa Fe’s sanctuary city policies against helping federal authorities enforce immigration law,” the paper reported. “He estimated that 80 percent of workers in the local home-building industry are immigrants.” Santa Fe mayor Javier Gonzalez continues to back the sanctuary city policy, reported the Santa Fe New Mexican (see: “Gonzales says Santa Fe will remain immigrant sanctuary,” by Daniel J. Chacón). “We proudly stand by our policy of human rights for all immigrants,” Gonzales said in a statement. “It has benefited our people, made us a safer, more cooperative community, and strengthened our economy, and we have no intention to reverse course or be bullied into abandoning our values.” See also: “Reader View: Doubling down on the sanctuary city,” by Kim Shanahan (Santa Fe New Mexican).
Is California’s five-year drought over? A rain-bearing “atmospheric river” has drenched California this month, with more to come this week and most of the West Coast rainy season still ahead. “The federal government’s Drought Monitor on Thursday pronounced 42 percent of California drought-free, affirming an astonishing recovery from a half-decade-long dry spell that will mean a lot more water to go around in coming years,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported Friday (see: “Feds: More than 40% of California out of drought,” by Kurtis Alexander). Professor Jay Lund, director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis, blogged about the situation (See: “Tails of California’s Drought”): “Most of the state’s precipitation and snowpack are far above average, boding well for this water year. In terms of surface water, most of California is no longer in drought.”
What about the long run? In a 2015 posting, Lund downplayed the uniqueness of the extended drought, arguing that California should anticipate more of the same in the future (see: “The banality of California’s ‘1,200-year’ drought,” California WaterBlog 9/23/15). Lund argued, “The chance that this dry period is a ‘new normal’ is probably small… By focusing on unique aspects of a drought, any drought can become an incredibly rare event… [But] We should expect to see droughts in California of severity similar to the current drought about once or twice in a generation… Agencies, cities, bankers, insurers, farmers and residents should prepare for greater regularity of droughts as harsh as the current one. Severe drought in California should be reclassified from a rare ‘act of God’ to something more like a business cycle swing that recurs several times in a lifetime or career.”
See also:
- “Call it the Southern California drought. Rain and snow end Northern California water woes,” by Joseph Serna and Matt Stevens (Los Angeles Times).
- “How a Chronicle photographer captured kayaking into the kitchen,” by Michael Bodley (San Francisco Chronicle).
- “Before-and-after photos show California storm’s insane impact on water levels,” by Amy Graff (San Francisco Chronicle).
Hurricane Sandy is gone, but not forgotten: “A Long Island engineering company and one of its former executives pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges that they had deliberately falsified engineering reports of homes battered by Hurricane Sandy in 2012,” the New York Times reported (see: “Guilty Pleas to Falsifying Reports on Hurricane Sandy Damage,” by David W. Chen). Engineering firms were accused of under-reporting flood damage to help insurance companies avoid payment on claims. Hanley-Wood’s Remodeling covered the flood insurance engineering report scandal in 2015 (see: “Is Flood Insurance a Racket?” by Ted Cushman, 1/29/15; see also, “Texas Trial Lawyer Mostyn Changing the Game in Sandy Insurance Battle,” Coastal Contractor 2/23/15).
In other Sandy-related news, New York City “has now completed work on 60% of homes in the Build It Back program,” the New York Daily News reported (see: “EXCLUSIVE: 40% of homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy still not fixed after de Blasio promised to repair all by end of 2016,” by Erin Durkin). “Some New Jersey homeowners are being ordered to repay tens of thousands of dollars in Sandy grant money after they accepted government-backed loans that the Federal Emergency Management Agency encouraged them to apply for,” reported News12 New Jersey (see: “Kane In Your Corner: Superstorm Sandy victims told to repay federal grant money,” by Walt Kane). And the Press of Atlantic City reported on safety and performance concerns in the house-raising industry in New Jersey in the Sandy recovery (see: “House raising, booming since Sandy, a dangerous and expensive industry,” by Jack Tomczuk)
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