Health groups are suing the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) for failing to promulgate rules requiring industrial facilities to report their chemical releases following an incident, citing in part concerns that first responders were harmed after exposure to the Arkema, Inc. fire in Houston following Hurricane Harvey due to inadequate reporting data.
September 17, 2026
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is urging OSHA and other agencies to strengthen their oversight over the meat processing industry after finding significant health and safety concerns and inadequate enforcement, prompting new calls from Democrats for Trump administration officials to clamp down on the industry.
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EPA officials are undecided on whether to assess exposures to, and manage risks of, legacy uses and disposal of persistent and biaccumulative chemicals under the reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), opening the door to a limitation that is already a feature of litigation over the Trump administration's rules governing TSCA assessments and chemical prioritization processes.
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Scott Mugno, the FedEx safety executive who the Trump administration has tapped to lead OSHA, provided senators with little details of his policy plans and offered few new commitments at his Dec. 5 confirmation hearing, frustrating Democrats who were already concerned that the nominee's record favors employers.
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OSHA is pledging to provide enforcement discretion to general industry employers who fail to comply with portions of the Obama administration's slips, trips and falls rule governing Rope Descent System (RDS) anchorage requirements by the Nov. 20 compliance deadline, backing industry calls for a further delay as employers didn't have enough time to comply.
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Public Citizen, the consumer watchdog group, is bracing for OSHA and other agencies to announce plans to withdraw a host of existing rules and pending rulemakings when the Trump administration releases its upcoming fall regulatory agenda, which is expected to be issued soon.
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The Labor Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) is preparing a new audit examining whether penalties OSHA imposes on violators are having a deterrent effect and whether the agency is adequately publicizing penalty results, putting new pressure on the agency to strengthen its enforcement just as many in industry are hoping the agency will ease its enforcement efforts.
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Labor groups are urging OSHA to bolster inspections and training aimed at limiting harms to disaster relief workers after a study they conducted found that 85 percent of day laborers who worked in hurricane-impacted areas reported receiving no training for the worksites they were entering and more than a third of all workers in post-Harvey Houston reported being injured on the job.
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Labor groups are calling for further clarity in a draft federal safety research agenda for construction workers, arguing in comments that the agenda does not identify strategies to address concerns or which research efforts should be prioritized -- especially for fall prevention -- and that further research worker safety practices during disasters should be included.
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Even as he works to implement the Trump administration's deregulatory agenda, Labor Secretary (DOL) Alexander Acosta says he backs “common sense” safety and health regulations have an “important place in protecting Americans” and will not be eliminated, throwing a bone to labor advocates who seem to be warming up to the secretary.
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EPA is proposing for public comment multiple approaches to prioritize existing chemicals to enter the pipeline for high- or low-priority designation and potential risk evaluation as part of its new responsibilities under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), with some of the proposals reflecting ideas that have enjoyed past industry support.
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Senate Democrats have introduced a bill seeking to ban asbestos -- even as EPA is working on a precedential risk evaluation of the substance under new responsibilities in the reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) -- in part because of concerns that President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the agency's toxics office wouldn't ban use of the substance often blamed for risks to workers.
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An industry attorney expects that the Trump OSHA, in a future proposed rule, will seek to limit reporting requirements under the Obama administration's worker injury and illness reporting rule, by scaling back required documentation companies must submit and narrowing the scope of industries that must report certain data.
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A pair of Democratic lawmakers are urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to deny an industry request for faster line speeds at poultry plants, backing labor arguments that poultry workers already suffer a higher rate of injuries in a sector where labor groups have long sought greater OSHA protections.
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The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is backing parts of the Obama EPA's facility safety prevention rule to help facilities better prepare for worsening risks from flooding, saying companies should reassess their emergency planning and coordination with first responders and communities to ensure adequate planning for extreme weather.
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Labor Secretary (DOL) Alex Acosta largely sidestepped calls from House Democrats to continue Obama OSHA worker safety priorities, including a possible rule addressing workplace violence in the healthcare sector and preserving an injury and illness reporting rule, though he reiterated a pledge of strong enforcement against worker safety violations.
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A construction workers' union is backing the Trump OSHA's push to preserve its authority to cite controlling employers for violations affecting other companies' workers, arguing in an appeals court filing that legal precedent and industry practice support the agency's Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act authority to cite controlling employers.
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The Department of Labor (DOL) in a new draft strategic plan is vowing that OSHA will “maintain a strong, effective enforcement program,” despite labor officials' concerns that enforcement will drop off as part of the Trump administration's broad deregulatory agenda.
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New Jersey officials say the Department of Justice's (DOJ) input may be warranted after their criticism of an EPA-administered reporting law in the state's defense against environmentalist and labor groups' lawsuit seeking release of industrial facility data, in a case that could have broad implications for public disclosure of facility data.
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OSHA has delayed for one additional year, until Nov. 10, 2018, a deadline for crane operators to comply with certification requirements so the agency may finish a rule to address industry and operators' concerns with a 2010 update to its cranes standard, despite criticism the delay poses safety risks and employers have had sufficient time to comply.
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