Chemical manufacturers and water utilities are urging the White House to reject EPA's data request to support its proposed rule to overhaul its facility safety program, which if successful could significantly delay the revisions by forcing the agency to undertake lengthy new work on revising the information request that will underpin the rule.
September 17, 2026
Petrochemical industry groups have dropped their challenge to a controversial OSHA enforcement policy that required companies to use defined “recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices” (RAGAGEP) to comply with the agency's process safety management (PSM) standard after officials revised the policy.
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Chemical and other industry officials say the Justice Department's (DOJ) finding that arson caused the fatal West, TX, fertilizer facility explosion undermines EPA's plan to force stricter risk prevention planning at chemical plants, because the agency justified the regulation in part on claiming inadequate accident controls at the West facility.
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Top House lawmakers are offering tentative support for a Senate-crafted deal that will give states an additional year to regulate some substances before EPA could preempt their efforts under a Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform bill.
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Facing an almost certain legal challenge from industry groups, OSHA chief David Michaels is offering a broad legal and policy defense of the agency's new rule requiring facilities to report worker injury data, arguing the measure is legally justified and will encourage employers to provide safer workplaces, despite industry assertions that the publicizing such data will deter injury reporting.
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As lawmakers near a potential final deal on legislation to overhaul the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), chemical industry sources say significant questions remain on how an agreement might affect a host of key policies in the bill including preemption of state chemical programs, the scope of EPA risk assessments, and more.
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Labor and environmental groups are urging OSHA to withdraw a draft guidance for weighting scientific evidence in assessments of chemicals' workplace hazards, and instead provide chemical manufacturers and importers with clear, enforceable mandates for conducting such reviews when developing safety data sheets (SDS).
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Top House Republicans are warning that upcoming OSHA plans to overhaul its process safety management (PSM) program may overlap with EPA plans to revise its Risk Management Plan (RMP) accident prevention program, underscoring long-standing industry concerns that the two agencies' rules may result in competing requirements.
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OSHA has formally launched an effort to codify its controversial 2015 policy memo that for the first time subjects small facilities that sell fertilizer to the agency's process safety management (PSM) facility accident prevention program, a move that would put the policy on a more solid legal footing.
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The White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) has begun formal review of the Labor Department's (DOL) final guide for helping federal agencies determine whether contractors' OSH Act and other violations preclude them from awards, part of a plan that industry is calling an unlawful “blacklisting” rule that will face legal challenge.
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The Republican attorneys general of Louisiana and Texas are urging EPA to amend draft revisions to the agency's Risk Management Plan (RMP) facility accident prevention rule, arguing that some of the proposed new requirements, such as for independent audits and information sharing, are outside the scope of the Clean Air Act and fail to make facilities safer.
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NIOSH is facing competing calls from EPA and the Defense Departement over its draft review and proposed limit to protect workers against exposure to the solvent 1-Bromopropane (1-BP), with EPA backing the analysis, and DOD criticizing the review and seeking further data.
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OSHA appears poised to issue its controversial electronic recordkeeping and reporting rule, one of only two rules the agency is expected to issue before the end of the Obama administration, after the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) approved the measure April 29.
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As lawmakers grapple with the final issues holding up an agreement on a bill overhauling the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), they appear unlikely to back recent calls from health advocates seeking to strengthen regulation of chemicals used in oil and gas drilling operations.
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OSHA advisors are faulting the agency's draft guide for protecting whistleblowers from employer retaliation, saying the agency “omitted or severely diluted” advisors' recommendations, though agency officials during an April 26 meeting rejected calls for further discusion on the issue, saying they are focusing on written comments in preparing a final version.
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New federal health and safety data showing an increase in the number of workplace injury and deaths is prompting new calls from labor and other advocates for policymakers to strengthen OSHA's policies and practices, including issuance of long-awaited standards, increased enforcement and inspection funds and stepped up focus on immigrant, temporary and older workers, as well as those in the public and oil & gas sectors.
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OSHA advisors are crafting safety guidelines for the construction sector by clarifying and tailoring the agency's 2015 draft safety guidelines for all industry sectors, seeking a separate document that is unique and relevant to the construction industry's many small employers, often transient workforce, and multi-employer work sites.
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A federal court has rejected efforts by an oil and gas construction company to dismiss Clean Water Act (CWA) charges brought by federal regulators as a result of an industrial accident on an offshore rig, underscoring Justice Department efforts to use pollution control laws to bolster workplace safety enforcement.
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The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is declining to issue a novel limit to protect workers from exposure to nanosilver, citing insufficient data, though health advocates are urging the institute to strengthen its language on the issue, saying it could prompt regulatory agencies to require data that would eventually inform a future standard.
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Bolstered by calls from top Democrats and a long-awaited congressional investigation, a broad coalition of labor unions is preparing a formal petition asking OSHA to set a comprehensive workplace violence prevention standard to protect healthcare workers.
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