David Reynolds

A public interest group is calling for stepped up enforcement of EPA administered industrial facility safety rules that require disclosure of facilities' data after a federal court expedited compliance with an Obama-era rule strengthening the agency's accident prevention program, even as the Trump administration seeks to roll the rule back.

Appellate court judges have again granted environmentalists' request to force quick implementation of an Obama-era rule tightening facility safety requirements, expediting its ruling that struck down a Trump administration effort to delay the rule's effectiveness by almost two years while the agency considers whether to undo the stricter mandates.

As floodwaters from Hurricane Florence threaten industrial facilities in the Carolinas, the City of Houston, House Democrats, and former EPA staff are strongly opposing the Trump administration's rollback of an Obama-era rule strengthening EPA's facility accident prevention program, arguing it would make facilities more vulnerable to flooding.

A divided National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is proposing a rule that would raise the bar for determining when contractors, franchisers and other entities are considered “joint employers,” opening the door to subjecting them to workplace safety and other requirements, arguing the rule will clarify existing confusion.

A plastics industry attorney expects that the Trump administration will not advance an Obama-era plan to expand when OSHA's safety standard applies to power equipment that is shut off during repair work, noting that OSHA did not hold a required hearing on the change, and that the agency may instead seek changes to ease the burdens of the existing rule.

The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) is seeking public input on a variety of possible changes to its rules of procedure, including broadening the definition of an “affected employee,” which labor groups have long sought and that could expand the scope of cases stemming from multi-employer job sites.

Senate Republicans have introduced a bill to reauthorize a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) facility safety program that would streamline compliance for certain facilities, but rejects calls from House Democrats and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to bolster the disclosure of facility data to first responders.

Public Citizen is advancing a pair of lawsuits seeking to compel the Trump administration to implement an Obama-era worker injury and illness reporting rule, urging a district court to order OSHA to start collecting employers' detailed data on worker injuries and illnesses, while also seeking summaries of that data the agency has already collected.

EPA, chemical manufacturers, and GOP-led states are urging a federal appellate court to reject environmentalists' request to compel the agency to quickly implement an Obama-era update to the agency's facility accident prevention rule, arguing petitioners have failed to show the rare move is needed and that a prior RMP rule reduces risks.

A federal appellate court has withdrawn its order striking down the Trump EPA's delay of an Obama-era rule tightening facility safety requirements, saying it “inadvertently” issued its mandate, a procedural step finalizing its ruling, following environmentalists' request and will give EPA and other litigants one day to oppose advocates' request.