I used to look at New Year’s Day as just the first holiday of the year, and as a day of recuperation with non-stop football watching.  Just what is needed after a night of intense celebration culminating with the singing of Auld Lang Syne at midnight. 

I didn’t really consider how true singing about out with the old and in with the new really means to all of us here.

The striking of midnight on December 31st resets the rules by which all of us have to play. 

Multitudes of notices and reminders are issued regarding the change of some rule or regulation slated to go into effect on January 1st. 

For example, in a city in Alaska, for the first time ever, all vehicles will have to be registered and have insurance (wow! seems like that was always a requirement). 

Then, of course, the next series of regulations from our new health care law become effective on the 1st and the Federal Reserve’s new Regulation Z on consumer protection kicks in as well. 

There is also the redefinition of what wine is in the state of California (I think I will research that one a little more) and the fact that it will no longer be legal to text and drive in Canada.  There is going to be a new Marine Protected Area off the coast of Southern California and there are new live fishing bait rules in Kansas that become active on the first. 

Also, baseball bat marking rules are changing on this date as well.  The list just goes on and on.

On New Year’s Day we redefine, for better or worse, the way we will interact with each other and our environment. 

And so I submit that renaming this day to NEW REGULATIONS DAY will only help to reinforce the fact that when we venture back to work there will truly be a new rule set to learn about and to comply with. 

And thus, thanks to rule makers the world over who deliver all of these additions and changes, that we know our jobs are here at Citation for yet another year.

From all of us regulatory followers and bloggers at Citation Technologies as well as our guest contributors we wish you and yours,

A healthy, happy and prosperous NEW YEAR!

The United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP17/CMP7) was held in Durban, South Africa November 28 through December 9. 

Given the tough economic times that many countries are facing right now, most were apprehensive about the outcome of the conference and what changes it might bring to already struggling countries and economies. 

The need for some kind of change is imperative, though. 

The UN estimates that, given the current trajectory of world greenhouse gas emissions, 2020 emissions will exceed the target set by the Kyoto Protocol for keeping global warming under 2 degrees Celsius. 

What came out of the Durban conference was an agreement by the European Union to continue emissions abatement under the Kyoto protocol.  In return, all countries, including the highly polluting developing countries of China and India, will negotiate a new mitigation regime by 2015, with the goal of making it operational by 2020. 

Perhaps the biggest breakthrough of the conference was that this new emissions mitigation regime will be shared among all countries, developed or developing. 

This is important, given that developing countries are now responsible for 58% of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

The Durban deal also acknowledges that current mitigation efforts are not enough to keep global warming under 2 degrees Celsius.  Indeed, when it comes down to the people and businesses that actually need to make the changes, things are still not exactly clear. 

The head of sustainability and climate change at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Jonathan Grant, said, “The agreement reached was more of a victory for the UN process, than for the global climate, or in creating a new business imperative.”

“Business will shrug its shoulders over Durban and wait for direction from national capitals,” Grant said.
However, even with a lack of formal regulation, some businesses are making the choice to implement changes that help counteract global warming.  Many have discovered that some “green” investments, like energy efficiency and improved waste management, make commercial and financial sense. 

High oil prices mean that improved energy efficiency can end up saving a business a lot of money, with the “side” benefit of being better for the environment. 

According to the Carbon Disclosure Project, “59% of emissions-reducing investments made so far—mostly in energy efficiency or renewable energy—will pay for themselves in three years.” 

Renewable energy, such as solar and wind energy, is attractive because the electricity generated from solar panels or wind turbines goes directly back into the business. 

Businesses with operations in remote areas (such as some mining operations) can benefit from being able to provide their own electricity.  These businesses may be ahead of the game in other areas, as well. 

A business with the foresight to develop or use products that consume fewer natural resources will be ahead of the game both environmentally and monetarily when the supply of natural resources dries up.

Two derelict social media sites still display final messages from those who knew the account owners: "RIP, we will miss you."

The sites belonged to two teenagers who lost their lives while working in an Illinois corn bin owned by Haasbach LLC. The cause of death was described as "traumatic asphyxiation".

On July 28, 2010, Wyatt Whitebread, 14, Alex Pacas, 19, and Will Piper, 20, were working on a pile of corn 30-feet deep while the bin’s unloading system was in operation. The workers were "walking down the corn," breaking up clumps of damp grain to make it flow onto a conveyor.

Whitebread began to sink into the pile as Piper and Pacas attempted to rescue him. Within seconds, Whitebread was completely engulfed in the corn, followed by Pacas. Piper was able to keep his head above the corn and was rescued as another worker, age 15, escaped the bin and went for help.

On December 7, 2011, the Department of Labor (DOL) reached an agreement with Haasbach LLC in Mount Carroll, IL, resolving 25 citations issued by the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In addition, the Department's Wage and Hour Division assessed civil monetary penalties for child labor violations.

OSHA cited Haasbach for 12 willful, 12 serious and 1 other-than-serious violation of the agency's grain standards. Following the December 7th agreement, the company must pay $200,000 in penalties, an amount reduced from the original fines of $550,000, based on Haasbach's size and assets.

The company failed to provide the workers with proper equipment, precautions and training. In addition, the workers should not have been in the bin while machinery was running.

A separate investigation by the DOL's Wage and Hour Division found that Haasbach violated the Fair Labor Standards Act's child labor provisions by employing workers under age 18 to perform hazardous jobs. Under the agreement, Haasbach will pay $68,125. Haasbach employed at least 4 underage workers at the time of the accident.

The company also faces two wrongful death lawsuits from the families of the deceased, as well as a personal injury suit by Piper. All three suits seek damages in excess of $50,000.

Haasbach, previously owned by three large farming families in Warren, IL, is no longer in business and has sold its Mount Carroll property to another grain storage operation. Its officials have neither issued any public apology nor sent a message of condolence to the families or community.