Welding Journal - April 2012 - (Page 6)

WASHINGTON WATCHWORD BY HUGH K. WEBSTER AWS WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS OFFICE and agreed to file all of its outstanding lobbying reports. OSHA Continues Progress on Injury and Illness Prevention Program The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced plans to convene a small business review panel to explore the establishment of an Injury and Illness Prevention Program standard. This standard would require employers to develop and implement a process that identifies hazards in the workplace, and then establish a plan to eliminate those hazards. The panel, whose members will be appointed by the Small Business Administration, is the first step toward implementation of this proposed new rule. Ban on Campaign Participation by Foreign Nationals Upheld In February, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a federal statute that prohibits foreign citizens who are legally living in the United States from spending or contributing money in connection with U.S. elections for any government office. Under the federal Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, foreign nationals are prohibited from making expenditures or campaign contributions to political parties, candidates, or political action committees. Federal Regulatory Portal Redesigned Regulations.gov, the federal government Web site intended to make regulatory activity more accessible to the public, has undergone a major redesign, with improvements in functionality, search capabilities, and organization. In particular, for the first time, users are now able to browse by categories of regulations, such as aerospace, defense, labor, and education. Agencies Continue Plain Language Efforts After the passage of the Plain Writing Act of 2010, federal agencies began efforts to produce regulations, or at least versions of regulations, that are written in a more understandable manner. Many agencies now have Web sites dedicated to plain language. Building on these efforts, in January, the federal Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs directed agencies to provide straightforward executive summaries of all rules, including separate descriptions of all key provisions and policy choices, as well as an explanation of the need and legal basis for all rules. Federal Lobbying Expenditures Decrease for First Time in a Decade More than $3.27 billion was spent on lobbying Congress in 2011, according to lobbying reports filed with the House and Senate, down from $3.5 billion in 2010. This makes 2011 the first year in a decade that such lobbying expenditures have decreased from the prior year. The number of federally registered lobbyists also decreased, but this continues a trend that began in 2008. There were more than 12,500 registered lobbyists in 2011, compared to a high of nearly 14,900 in 2007, the year before new regulations and restrictions on lobbyists were implemented. The top-spending industries in 2011 were the pharmaceutical/health products industry (at least $236 million), the insurance industry ($158 million), the oil and gas industry ($146 million), and electric utilities ($144 million). The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reported spending more than $66 million on lobbying, more than any other organization or company. Government Issues First Competitiveness and Innovation Report The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 mandates that the Secretary of Commerce complete a study that addresses the economic competitiveness and innovative capacity of the United States and, in January, the Department of Commerce issued that report. It is available at the following link: www.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2012/january/competes_010511_0.pdf. The report concludes that “some [key] elements of the U.S. economy are losing their competitive edge, which may mean that future generations of Americans will not enjoy a higher standard of living than is enjoyed in the United States today.” Observing that “innovation is the key driver of competitiveness, wage and job growth, and long term, economic growth,” the report identifies the three “pillars” of innovation to be federal support for basic research, education, and infrastructure. R & D Tax Credit Featured in Administration Proposals Both the president’s 2013 budget and his separate corporate tax proposals would not only renew the expired federal researchand-development tax credit, but also make it permanent, and increase the credit’s lower option of a 14% rate in excess of a base amount to 17%. This generally has bipartisan support. Export-Import Bank Offers Revolving Credit for Small Business Exporters Through a newly established initiative, “Global Credit Express,” small business exporters may be eligible for a revolving line of credit from the U.S. Export Import Bank, at amounts of up to $500,000 for 6 to 12 months. During the program’s pilot phase, an initial $100 million in financing will be made available through a select number of lenders nationwide. Following the pilot, the bank will evaluate the results of this direct loan program and determine whether to increase the available amount. The product is specially designed to finance the business of exporting rather than specific export transactions.♦ Contact the AWS Washington Government Affairs Office at 1747 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20006; e-mail hwebster@wc-b.com; FAX (202) 835-0243. First Prosecution Ever under Federal Lobbying Statute In January, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced that it had entered into a negotiated settlement under the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act. This is the first enforcement action since passage of the act in 1995. In 2007, the act was amended to significantly increase civil penalties and impose criminal sanctions for violations. The Department of Justice alleged that a lobbying firm failed to timely file its quarterly lobbying activity and semiannual contribution reports. The firm reportedly settled the case for $45,000 6 APRIL 2012 http://www.Regulations.gov http://www.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2012/january/competes_010511_0.pdf http://www.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2012/january/competes_010511_0.pdf http://www.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2012/january/competes_010511_0.pdf

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Welding Journal - April 2012

April 2012 - TOC Listing
Unlocking Your Gas Metal Arc Welding Potential - A study sponsored by the National Shipbuilding Research Program investigated low-cost modifications to equipment or parameters that improved welding performance - P. A. Blomquist
Community College Welding Program Update - Many community colleges around the country are equipping future workers with the skills manufacturers need D. Postlethwaite
Modern Power Source Technology Drives Process Improvement - New technology in weld monitoring is making it easier to access the data by all the appropriate personnel and understand how it should be applied to benefit weld quality - T. McEllis
Building a Welding Career from the Ground Up - A thirty-two-year career welder shares her passion for the profession with others in hopes of inspiring them to expand their skills and knowledge
How Today’s Power Sources Aid Pulsed GMAW - The advanced welding machines of today can deliver power to the arc in almost any form and can react with split-second timing to avoid adverse arc phenomena - L. Barley
Fiber Lasers Perform Precision Cutting for Medical Devices - There are many methods to cut thin tubular structures often used in medical devices, but fiber lasers are emerging as the precision machines of choice
Arc Characteristics in Pulsed-GMA Welding with Acute - Groove Angles The characteristics of a joint tracking sensor were monitored under conditions of different groove angles and root openings - R-H. Kim et al.
Design of Experiment and Goal Programming Application for the GMAW Process - This study was conducted to determine critical gas metal arc welding variables and ways to optimize them - Y. T. Iç et al.
Predictive and Measurement Methods for Delta Ferrite Determination in Stainless Steels - The advantages and limitations of predictive measurement methods for δ ferrite are outlined - M. A. Valiente Bermejo
Susceptibility of IN740 to HAZ Liquation Cracking and Ductility-Dip Cracking - Conditions that lead to cracking susceptibility of nickel-based IN740 were simulated to determine an action for its prevention - J. E. Ramirez
Editorial
Washington Watchword
Press Time News
News of the Industry
Aluminum Q&A
Brazing Q&A
Product & Print Spotlight
Coming Events
Certification Schedule
Welding Workbook
Society News
Interpretations D1.1
Guide to AWS Services
Personnel
Welding School Profiles
Classifieds
Advertiser Index

Welding Journal - April 2012