On May 1, 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration released a Final Rule addressing Confined Spaces in Construction (29 CFR Part 1926). This new subpart will be a comprehensive standard comprised of a permit program aimed at protecting employees from associated work hazards in confined spaces, such as atmospheric and physical. Furthermore, the Final Rule includes "several provisions addressing construction-specific hazards, accounts for advancements in technology, and improves enforceability of the requirements." The new comprehensive subpart standard will replace OSHA's one training requirement for confined spaces.

Last month, the National Transportation Safety Board issued four recommendations to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration after extensively reviewing four independent accidents involving rail cars. These accidents occurred between February and March of 2015 on trains that were transporting Class 3 Flammable Liquids, such as crude oil or ethanol, and contained a total of 28 "CPC-1232 compliant" tank cars that terminally failed.

Therefore, "these [NTSB] findings suggest that, contrary to model predictions that tank shell thermal resistance and the capacity of pressure relief devices for bare shell CPC-1232 cars are sufficient to prevent shell rupture within a relatively short period when exposed to a large flammable liquid pool fire." To remedy the deficiencies identified by the findings, the NTSB has made the following four recommendations, quoted directly from the official NTSB Safety Recommendation.

In May of 1942, seventeen eastern states voluntarily began rationing gasoline to support the United States war efforts during World War II. By the end of 1942, President Roosevelt enforced mandatory gasoline rationing for all 50 states.

Beginning with the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States actively entered into World War II and officially declared war on Japan three days later. Almost immediately, changes came to support the American war efforts. All efforts were focused on supporting the war. Men began to enlist. Factories shifted to war production and reduced, or eliminated, the production of consumer goods. Therefore, fewer consumer goods were available leading to rationing of goods, such as rubber, gasoline, sugar, alcohol, and cigarettes. However, the rationing of one consumer good led to the rationing of another beginning with rubber.