After more than a year of extensive debate, the House voted Sunday night to pass the most significant health reform legislation this country has seen in decades, according to a blog post by Dan Pfeiffer is White House communications director. After the Senate signs off on the bill, President Obama is scheduled to sign it in a White House ceremony Tuesday (3/23) afternoon.
Excerpts from President Obama’s speech to the nation following passage of healthcare reform legislation Sunday night in the House of Representatives. The Senate is expected to pass the bill on Tuesday, followed by a White House signing ceremony.
In a speech today at the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) annual conference in Washington, D.C., U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced the agency is developing a broad new set of strategies to strengthen public health protection from contaminants in drinking water, according to an EPA press release. The aim is to find solutions that meet the health and economic needs of communities across the country more effectively than the current approach. EPA is also announcing a decision to revise the existing drinking water standards for four contaminants that can cause cancer.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced in a recent press release that Genesis Inc. has agreed to a settlement of $548,865 for citations and penalties issued as a result of inspections prompted by hazard complaints registered on the heels of a mining fatality.
The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) has unveiled a new electronic enhancement to its online treatment guidelines for occupational injuries and illness that allows improved ease of use of treatment-related recommendations, according to an ACOEM press release.
Due to a significant increase in adverse incidents, EPA is taking a series of actions to increase the safety of spot-on pesticide products for flea and tick control for cats and dogs. Immediately, EPA will begin reviewing labels to determine which ones need stronger and clearer labeling statements. Next, EPA will develop more stringent testing and evaluation requirements for both existing and new products. EPA expects these steps will help prevent adverse reactions. In dogs and cats that can include skin effects, such as irritation, redness, or gastrointestinal problems that include vomiting or diarrhea, or effects to the nervous system, such as trembling, appearing depressed or seizures—from pet spot-on products.
OSHA has established a new National Emphasis Program (NEP) focused on identifying and reducing or eliminating the health hazards to workers posed by occupational exposure to hexavalent chromium (CrVI) and a number of other toxic substances often found together with it, according to a post on the web site of ORC Worldwide, an EHS global consultancy based in Washington, DC.
OSHA has ordered Tennessee Commerce Bank in Nashville to reinstate a former corporate officer and pay more than $1 million in back wages, interest, attorney's fees, compensatory damages and other relief, according to an agency press release. The department found the bank had fired the individual in violation of the whistleblower protection provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.