August 2017 Executive Director’s Blog

Hello CSSGA members.

August is here.  I hope your summer continues to be a good one!  Here is the latest news of your CSSGA trade association.

• I am making one final push for everyone to attend the MSHA/CSSGA Roundtable event to be held at the CSSGA office at 10 am on August 17.  Top MSHA Regional leadership are scheduled to attend, including David Weaver, newly appointed Rocky Mountain Region District Manager, Dustan W. Crelly, Assistant District Manager, and Shane Julien, Denver Supervisor.  These open format discussions are a great way to have positive interaction with MSHA officials as we all strive to make our operations as safe as possible.  Hopefully senior personnel from the mining side of the industry are able to attend.
• Soon after the MSHA Roundtable, we are scheduled to conduct our annual Industry Tour which will take place this year in Grand Junction on August 22.  We will visit the Oldcastle and Whitewater sites.  We have several key elected and regulatory officials scheduled to participate.
• Regarding events, hopefully everyone can join us for the Fall Networking Event to occur on Sept 19 in Fort Collins.  Registration, details, and sponsorship.
• On another positive front, in July the Trump administration released the 2017 Update to the Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions to reduce the regulatory load on both OSHA and MSHA regulated businesses.   This update states “[b]y amending and eliminating regulations that are ineffective, duplicative, and obsolete, the Administration can promote economic growth and innovation and protect individual liberty.”**  The Agenda mandates significant regulatory changes on fourteen OSHA and three MSHA initiatives that are under active consideration for the upcoming year.  CSSGA member Jackson Kelly is helping lead this initiative.  Use this link to find additional information on their website.
• CSSGA continues to support higher education with the Annual Gayle Lyman Memorial Scholarship.  Gayle was a huge proponent of helping youth and would be pleased with this year’s recipients.   They include William Behre from the Colorado School of Mines and Kathy Junglen from CU Boulder.  Best wishes to them and their careers!  Read more about each recipient.
• I encourage everyone to help with the Action Alert regarding the WOTUS.  The EPA has noted they plan to pull back on their previous decision to expand their governing boundaries.  This Action Alert can help push them over the finish line and make it official.  This is very critical for our industry and we need your help.
• Lastly, I would encourage your attendance at the CSSGA/CRMCA Annual Conference on November 16-17 in Colorado Springs.  This is a great opportunity to network and keep up to speed on industry and association news.  Registration will be available early fall.  I hope to see you there.

I hope everyone’s summer continues to be safe.  Don’t forget to check us out our social media sites.  Thanks for supporting your CSSGA!

Todd R. Ohlheiser

Executive Director

** Retrieved from JacksonKelly.com (July 27, 2017) Safety/Health