Items Tagged with 'government regulation & legislation'

Insight into pertinent issues affecting stone industry professionals dominated the panel discussion presented by members of the Natural Stone Institute executive committee during Coverings 2026.

The U.S. International Trade Commission voted 2-1 in the affirmative in a key decision affecting the quartz surface products market, setting the stage for a follow-up hearing on April 14 to consider potential remedies.

A major investigative report published on March 12, 2026 by KFF Health News and CBS News has drawn renewed national attention to the silicosis epidemic among engineered stone countertop fabrication workers and to a federal bill that would shield slab manufacturers from worker lawsuits.

The International Surface Fabricators Association (ISFA) presented a shop licensing and certification program to California workplace safety regulators, positioning the industry-led proposal as a practical alternative to a physician-backed petition calling for an outright ban on engineered stone fabrication in the state.

California's Silicosis Training, Outreach and Prevention (STOP) Act, the most aggressive state-level regulation targeting silica exposure in the stone countertop fabrication industry, took full effect on January 1, 2026, after Governor Gavin Newsom signed it into law on October 13, 2025.

On Friday, February 20, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the bulk of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff regime, ruling 6-3 that he exceeded his authority by using a 1977 emergency law to unilaterally impose import duties on nearly every American trading partner, a decision with immediate implications for industries reliant on imported raw materials, including the more than 20,000 stone fabrication and installation companies across the country.

In recent years, a wave of litigation has emerged nationwide alleging that manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of certain stone slab products bear liability for occupational silicosis suffered by downstream fabricators.

What stone fabricators and importers need to know about the decision and what comes next.

A federal bill introduced in Congress would protect manufacturers and sellers of engineered stone products from civil lawsuits brought by workers who develop silicosis, shifting liability squarely onto fabricators who fail to follow safety regulations.

Fabricators stand to benefit from several tax credits and deductions under the recently passed federal tax legislation, including some provisions that apply retroactively to previous tax years.