Industry groups and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) have begun discussions about a possible settlement of consolidated litigation challenging the Biden-era silica dust rule following the Trump administration’s pause on enforcing the rule and a federal appeals court’s stay of the rule’s compliance deadlines.
November 15, 2026
Small business advocates are urging OSHA to withdraw the Biden-era proposed heat standard and start over, pointing to the proposal’s failure to address multiple issues raised by a federal review panel, though they say if the agency decides to propose a new rule, it should use performance-based outcomes rather than prescriptive mandates.
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Environmental and labor groups are expected to reiterate their strong support for the Biden-era proposed heat illness and injury standard during an upcoming public hearing while urging OSHA to make additional changes to the regulation that they argue will strengthen it and prevent even more deaths as extreme heat becomes more common.
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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups are urging OSHA to shift the Biden-era proposed heat safety standard from a one-size-fits-all prescription to a performance-based standard, similar to recent Nevada requirements, a message they are expected to deliver at an upcoming hearing on the proposal.
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Top Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are pressing Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. to provide details on the department’s staffing and program cuts -- including a study of cancer rates in firefighters -- questioning the department’s authority to make such changes.
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The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and industry groups are urging the 8th Circuit to again reject unions’ attempt to intervene in consolidated litigation over the agency’s silica dust rule, arguing the unions have provided no new evidence that the court should reverse its prior denial.
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The Trump administration is continuing its push for a federal court to dismiss a West Virginia coal miner’s lawsuit challenging staffing cuts at a key federal health agency, raising standing and sovereign immunity defenses to argue there is nothing for the court to decide.
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The Trump EPA has informed the 5th Circuit that it is dropping its defense of two key issues related to assessing risks to workers in a consolidated challenge to the agency’s TSCA risk management rule for methylene chloride, noting the issues are the subject of the agency’s “framework” rule that is being revised.
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The Trump administration’s decision to eliminate nearly all aspects of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is likely to hamper OSHA’s ability to develop new regulations and ensure they are legally defensible as well as generally increase risks to workers, OSHA experts say.
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A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit appeared skeptical during recent oral argument of a construction company’s arguments that OSHA’s multiemployer citation policy is unreasonable on its face and that the agency’s “selective” enforcement of the policy is also unreasonable.
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