16 year-old roofers on the horizon
Florida Senators Scott and Rubio call for improving NOAA’s response to hurricanes impacting fisheries, a Florida bill could allow workers as young as 16 to work roofing jobs with supervision, and developers are building new homes that are both storm-resistant and eco-friendly. It’s all in this week’s Disaster Management Digest.
Senators Push to Streamline Logistics at NOAA: We follow Florida’s economic engines of agriculture and aquaculture which both took a big hit in last August’s Hurricane Idalia. In response, the state’s two U.S. Senators, Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, wrote a letter to Janet Coit, the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries at NOAA. They are pushing to apply the Fisheries Resource Disasters Improvement Act (FREDI), which will help to streamline fishery responses to disasters like Idalia. This act comes after stakeholders and policymakers for fisheries voiced frustration with the current system, which did not track progress of requests, hold deadlines, or offer any transparency of the process for applicants. The new system was compared to the package delivery system, with clear checkpoints, updates, and user interfaces to help clarify the methodology of the organization. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) were also onboard, claiming the previous system was very subpar and urged for the changes to be fully implemented.
Young Roofers: A bill recently introduced in the Florida Legislature would allow OSHA-certified workers as young as 16 years old to be on roofing jobsites under supervision of older coworkers. Senator Corey Simon (R-Tallahassee) proposed SB 460 to provide exemptions from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, allowing 16 and 17 year-old workers to be on potentially hazardous worksites. The act also changes requirements to bring trades to career fairs, a clear effort to bolster the workforce in the wake of immigration reform recently passed by the legislature. These labor needs aren’t just affecting Florida. Arkansas, Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and New Hampshire all introduced legislation in the past year to loosen child labor protection in their own states. While many have raised concerns over the safety of the young workers, those championing the bill have stated that the need for skilled labor in the roofing industry is still growing, and the best way to get there is to start early.
Built to Last – Homes Made for Hurricanes: As years go by and extreme weather is more frequent, developers are searching for ways to make homes more resilient. A person’s home is one of the best ways for them to lessen their environmental impact, too. Some notable techniques from the last couple of years include: solar energy with panels fixed closer to the house’s roof to prevent high winds from getting underneath, preserving native vegetation and plant biodiversity to trap carbon in the ground, and even the use of recycled construction material. Efficiency and co-existing with the natural phenomena seem to be the most important pieces, as exemplified by Babcock Ranch, a hurricane-resilient community in Southwest Florida started by Syd Kitson back in 2006 that was built around the preexisting water flow in the area. As Kitson put so succinctly, “That water is going to go where it wants to go. If you’re going to try and challenge Mother Nature, you’re going to lose every single time.” You can read more about these new building techniques in this AP story.
LMA Newsletter of 1-8-24
