OSHA has eased a controversial policy issued last year for determining whether a chemical is present in sufficient concentrations to warrant regulating a facility under the agency's process safety management (PSM) rule, after a legal settlement with the chemical industry that excludes hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acid from the policy and postpones enforcement.
September 17, 2026
Industry plaintiffs challenging OSHA's new worker injury reporting rule are planning to expand their lawsuit to oppose the rule's reporting requirements in addition to seeking to block anti-retaliation provisions, an industry attorney says, adding that those retaliation provisions are ripe for claims they are interpretation or guidance rather than rule.
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A law firm that frequently represents industry clients is warning that a recently proposed rule that seeks to align EPA requirements for new uses of industrial chemicals with strict OSHA measures may be at odds with the recently enacted Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that took effect earlier this year.
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EPA's Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) is urging the agency to bolster proposed revisions to its facility accident prevention program to ensure citizens and first responders know the chemical hazards in their communities and how to respond to a release, backing advocates' criticism that the proposal does not go far enough to improve disclosure.
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Appeals court judges have approved requests from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and cement producers to intervene in the complex litigation challenging OSHA's final rule strengthening its silica standards, despite labor union opposition that the groups' involvement would inappropriately expand issues in the case.
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EPA has issued its first regulatory determinations under the reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), finding that four new chemicals are “not likely to present an unreasonable risk” to workers, the first set of affirmative safety findings the agency must now make before new substances may enter the marketplace under the new law.
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OSHA and the New York State Workers' Compensation Board have reached an agreement to improve investigations and share data on workplace violations, signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that appears to advance OSHA's goal of better using data to promote compliance with labor laws given limited resources for inspections.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is postponing significant revisions to the list of chemicals covered under its industrial facility security program, focusing its forthcoming proposed rule on other priorities, which may include streamlining standards and creating a process for companies to remove chemicals from the program.
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Top Democratic lawmakers are backing labor unions' petition urging OSHA to issue a workplace violence prevention standard that would require healthcare and social service employers to create violence prevention programs, arguing the rate of violence at the facilities is “high and rising,” and that current enforcement is ineffective.
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OSHA is implementing controversial anti-retaliation provisions of its new injury reporting rule through a legal settlement with a major employer even as industry groups are seeking a speedy court ruling to block the provisions before they take effect next month -- though the agency last week delayed enforcement of the requirement until November.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is dropping plans for a long-stalled rule regulating the sale of ammonium nitrate, an ingredient used in explosives and as fertilizer, and is instead asking the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to review substances that may be used in improvised explosives to support broader future oversight.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is launching an improved process for ranking the risk of industrial facilities under its Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program, saying the updated method for assigning risk levels to facilities will reduce time companies spend reporting and increase confidence in DHS reviews.
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House appropriators advanced a fiscal 2017 spending bill that continues efforts to block OSHA priorities for bolstering its process safety management (PSM) facility accident prevention rule, directing the agency not to enforce a 2015 policy memo tightening its PSM exemption for fertilizer retailers, and opposing efforts to regulate ammonium nitrate under PSM.
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OSHA advisors have issued guidance to help employers craft programs for protecting temporary workers from injuries and illnesses on work sites, and recommended that the agency pilot test the new methods at cooperating job sites to ensure the advice, which could inform OSHA's own guidance for protecting temporary workers, is effective.
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OSHA is delaying by roughly three months enforcement of the legally-contested provisions of its new worker injury and illness reporting rule, citing a need to conduct additional outreach to regulated businesses and complete enforcement guidance.
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Top Senate Democrats are urging conferees negotiating the fiscal year 2017 defense authorization bill to strip language from the two chambers' bills that would gut OSHA's plan for implementing President Obama's directive that federal agencies consider contractors' records of workplace violations in awarding procurement contracts.
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Unions representing healthcare and other workers are formally petitioning OSHA to issue a violence-protection standard that would require healthcare and social service employers to create violence prevention programs, including procedures for assessing and correcting hazards, arguing violence is increasing and OSHA enforcement is inadequate.
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A coalition of industry groups is seeking to block OSHA enforcement of portions of a new worker injury reporting rule, arguing that the agency has failed to show provisions that limit safety incentive programs and post-accident drug testing will reduce injuries, and that OSHA also failed to follow proper procedure in issuing the rule that exceeds its authority.
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EPA's Office of Inspector General (IG) is urging the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), which it oversees, to issue a rule requiring facilities to report chemical accidents to the board, and for the board to increase its investigations of those incidents, priorities the IG says dropped off as the board wrestled with internal strife.
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Public health advocates are raising doubts over EPA's ability to quickly ban asbestos using new authority under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform law, despite proponents saying the law's new powers could help the agency overcome regulatory barriers that stymied its first attempt to regulate the known carcinogen in the 1990s.
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