FMCSA to codifyshort-haul exemption for 30-minute break in HOS rule

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will not apply the provision under its revised hours of service (HOS) rule requiring drivers to take a 30-minute break for every eight hours of consecutive driving on short-haul routes, and will initiate a rulemaking to include text that effect in the rule.

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Labor chief assesses drop in workplace fatality rate

Preliminary Bureau of Labor Statistics/National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries results show a reduction in the number of 2012 fatal work injuries compared with 2011. Last year, 4,383 workers died from work-related injuries, down from 4,693 the prior year. The rate of fatal workplace injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers was 3.2 in 2012 versus 3.5 in 2011.

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Feds fund project to integrate carbon metrics in building material databases

Researchers at Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, have been awarded a $600,000 National Science Foundation grant to develop measurement and assessment tools to be integrated with building material databases and architectural design software to provide real-time, “on-the-fly” carbon footprint metrics.

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Senate Confirmations Lift Clouds From National Labor Relations Board

The National Labor Relations Board reported last month that it has a full complement of five Senate-confirmed members—for the first time in 10 years. Four new members, all nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed in July by the U.S. Senate, were sworn into office; the upper chamber also confirmed NLRB Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce for an additional five-year term, ending August 2018. The agency released these Member profiles:

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Good Faith Bargaining Averts Detroit-Grade Contract Terms

The Big Dig remains a gift that keeps on taking from Bay State taxpayers and Boston area motorists using Massachusetts Turnpike Authority routes. A project whose initial cost was pegged in the early 1980s at $2.5 billion could carry an ultimate price north of $20 billion, by Boston Globe calculations.

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