A petrochemical industry official serving on a panel convened to inform a future EPA Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) rule limiting reporting requirements on certain substances is urging the agency not to encroach on OSHA's authority to protect workers and suggesting reduced reporting for substances with no consumer exposure.
September 17, 2026
President Donald Trump's fiscal year 2018 budget request, due for release May 23, calls for cutting OSHA funding by less than 2 percent from 2017 levels, a cut that is less than some agencies are facing though a former deputy OSHA chief says any cut “can be devastating for workers” given the agency's flat or declining budget since 2010.
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EPA is floating draft guidance clarifying its final nanomaterials reporting rule, including definitions of reportable and exempt materials, though the draft appears unlikely to prevent a lawsuit from nanomaterials producers and users over their claims that the final rule unlawfully failed to give them a chance to weigh in on the definitions.
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OSHA is struggling to implement the Obama administration's rule overhauling the agency's worker injury and illness reporting program, facing hurdles in enforcing anti-retaliation provisions and lacking a portal for electronic reporting, potentially providing fodder for the Trump administration to scale back the rule, an industry attorney says.
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Construction and manufacturing groups are urging the Trump OSHA to stay and significantly revise the Obama administration's landmark final rule limiting worker exposures to silica dusts, arguing that companies are unable to comply with the rule and that reconsideration will allow the agency to fix defects in the issuance of the rule.
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EPA and the chemical sector are sparring over the agency's claim that a panel convened to inform a future Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) rule limiting certain reporting requirements must reach “consensus” before crafting a rule, with industry arguing the rule is mandated and that legal options may be necessary to force it.
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The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) in a blueprint for OSHA reform is urging the agency to shift focus away from ensuring compliance with its rules to requiring companies to create and implement internal safety and health programs, arguing that the change would reduce the need for burdensome regulations and save agency resources.
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Labor and public interest groups are urging White House officials not to weaken or further delay the Obama OSHA's final rule strengthening protections for worker exposure to beryllium, arguing that workers face significant risks from exposure to the substance, including in the construction and maritime sectors that industry is seeking to strip from the rule.
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EPA is delaying the effective date of an Obama-era nanomaterials reporting rule from May 12 to Aug. 14 while it considers crafting guidance on how to implement the rule, handing a win to the chemical sector that has called for the agency to repeal the rule in part because it fails to provide sufficient clarity on which substances are subject to its mandate.
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EPA's pesticides office is considering adoption of an international labeling protocol, already used by OSHA and other agencies, in order to make it easier for the agency to adopt new non-animal toxicity testing methods -- an effort usually cheered by industry though in this instance, pesticide manufacturers are raising concerns about the move.
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Environmental and labor groups are urging a federal court in New Jersey to compel state and local officials to publicly disclose industrial facility emergency response plans (ERPs) in a lawsuit industry attorneys say highlights the need for the Trump EPA's plan to revise an Obama administration facility safety rule though it could bolster efforts to preserve the rule.
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Chemical sector officials and environmentalists are sparring over the fate of several major EPA toxics policies that the agency is reviewing as part of President Donald Trump's order on regulatory reform, with industry seeking to revise or repeal some Obama-era rules while environmentalists are pushing to defend the existing regulations.
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New guidance implementing President Donald Trump's deregulatory order underscores how difficult it will be for OSHA to issue new rules without immediate statutory or judicial deadlines, while facing repeated White House consultations, new regulatory assessment burdens, complex cost offset requirements and other hurdles, sources say.
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A coalition of beryllium producers and users is petitioning OSHA to delay and reconsider its final rule strengthening limits for worker exposure to the substance blamed for health risks, including lung cancer, pending the outcome of legal challenges to the regulation, though the Trump OSHA has already sent potential revisions for White House review.
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The spending deal that funds OSHA and other agencies through the rest of fiscal year 2017 maintains level funding for the agency compared to FY16 levels, undercutting Trump administration cuts slated for FY18 and underscoring Democrats' leverage over congressional spending priorities.
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The American Chemistry Council (ACC) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) are both calling on the Trump EPA to push ahead with implementation of the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), but ACC says the agency must craft implementing rules that heed President Donald Trump's order on reducing regulatory “burdens.”
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Labor supporters are calling President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office “a gut punch to all workers,” arguing that the administration's repeal and delay of Obama-era safety rules, planned budget cuts for the Labor Department (DOL) and its new Labor Secretary and Supreme Court appointment send a message of “active hostility” to workers.
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A labor group is calling for OSHA to continue focusing enforcement on the poultry processing sector because agency data shows poultry workers suffer a disproportionately high rate of severe injuries, backing the need for a continued enforcement emphasis on the sector, despite fears that looming budget cuts -- and a pending court case -- will gut the program.
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Trump administration plans to cut funding for the Labor Department and OSHA in fiscal year 2018 are drawing push back from a coalition of local safety and health groups, as well as a senior Obama-era OSHA official, who are urging lawmakers to preserve funds for OSHA inspections and enforcement.
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The Justice Department (DOJ) is renewing its bid to have an appellate court reverse a lower court's quashing of an OSHA warrant seeking to inspect a facility beyond the circumstances of a reported incident, charging that the company's worker injury and illness records provide enough data to support a “reasonable suspicion” that a violation has occurred.
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