Integrating Safety and Environmental Regulation of Construction Industry

Many construction safety issues are closely connected to environmental problems. The consolidation of safety and environmental regulation at federal and state levels, either partially or totally, would provide the construction industry with a single agency that would provide uniform and accurate guidance, avoid unnecessary duplication of guidance and information, and virtually eliminate conflicts that are currently caused by multiagency oversight. In addition to benefits to the industry, there are also significant cost savings that could be attained by the various levels of government involved in monitoring the construction industry by combining their various safety and environmental regulatory functions. Combining certain Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) functions would increase efficiency and provide a good model for the contemporary movement to reinvent government. The resulting consistency of regulation would decrease conflicting guidance from agencies that are regulating similar issues and, at the same time, increase the quality of worker safety and environmental protection. In addition to the regulation of hazardous materials by both agencies, there are significant additional opportunities for consolidating operations and regulation of the construction industry.