Employers in sectors such as manufacturing, energy and agriculture faced with significant shortages of skilled labor, received a major boost from Congress last week. The long-awaited job training program reform bill “Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act” received bipartisan approval. President Obama has expressed support for the legislation and is expected to sign it into law later this week.

Proposed House bill 4727 would create a so-called “national hiring standard” for motor carriers which would preclude states from imposing liability on anyone arranging for transportation of goods, i.e. transportation intermediaries such as shippers, brokers and freight forwarders. The bill requires that no more than 35 days prior to pickup of an arranged shipment, such entities verify that a selected carrier: (1) is registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to operate as a motor carrier or household goods carrier; (2) has the minimum insurance coverage required by Federal regulation and (3) does not have an unsatisfactory safety rating issued by FMCSA in force at the time of the verification.

The last year or so has not been a good one for the NLRB.  Time and time again the courts have shot down the Board in a number of matters, including the Board’s notice posting rule, its attempt to modify its own election rules for processing representation petitions, as well as D.R. Horton being denied enforcement and otherwise ignored by every court of appeals which has reviewed the issue.

In a split decision announced earlier today (Utility Air Regulatory Group v.  Environmental Protection Agency, No. 12-1146, slip op. (June 23, 2014)) the United States Supreme Court ruled the Environmental Protection Agency exceeded its authority in requiring sources of air pollution to comply with the Clean Air Act’s prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) and Title V major source permitting programs solely because of a source’s greenhouse gas emissions.  Further, the Court held that EPA is permitted to include greenhouse gas emissions in determining best available control technology (BACT) for sources that would be subject to PSD on the basis of emissions other than greenhouse gas emissions is a permissible interpretation of the Act.

Next Monday, June 2nd is the deadline for all companies subject to the SEC’s conflict minerals rule to file their Form SD and, if necessary, their conflict mineral report.  We surveyed the filings made through May 28 and this blog highlights some of the good examples, and some less than optimal disclosure. A number of filings were made early today after our review, but if you are not one of the early filers, we hope you find our analysis helpful.

While pressure mounts for the FAA to issue regulations to incorporate unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into national airspace systems and the challenges to the FAA’s current positions on UAS are in judicial limbo [see Commercial Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems? Are they legal? and FAA Faces Recent Challenges Over Restrictions on Operation of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)] the FAA continues to move forward with the mandates set forth in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012.