The Biden EPA has released for public comment a draft scoping document that outlines its plans for what uses of -- and occupational exposures from -- vinyl chloride the agency’s TSCA evaluation will consider, although the incoming Trump administration will craft the evaluation and may have different ideas of how to do so.
Russell Vought, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to again head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is defending his plans for a dramatic overhaul of key federal budget, regulatory and workforce practices at OSHA and other agencies.
OSHA is touting the Biden administration’s focus on increased enforcement as a key factor in a decrease in fatal occupational injuries in 2023, noting especially the administration’s focus on recognizing the disproportionate impact of work hazards on workers of color.
Worker-safety advocacy groups are elevating their press on California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) officials to advance an indoor heat protection rule for prisoners and jail staff, as the national debate over heat standards becomes more focused on states due to the incoming Trump administration’s likely deprioritization of national heat standards.
OSHA is dropping its plan to develop a final rule on occupational exposure to COVID-19 in healthcare setting, noting the lack of a public health emergency and saying any ongoing risk would be better addressed by a rulemaking addressing infectious diseases more broadly.
The ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles County are prompting California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) to alert employers to abide by worker-safety rules aimed at protecting employees from unhealthy air due to wildfire smoke, with fears rising that the threat could spread even farther.
OSHA and EPA have released an agreement months in the making that outlines how the two agencies will share information and coordinate when EPA is reviewing workers’ safety in its TSCA existing chemical evaluations and enforcing risk management rules, while reiterating the two agencies’ unique authorities and responsibilities.
North Dakota is suing the Department of Labor, claiming the federal agency breached the state’s sovereign immunity and violated the state’s constitutional rights by investigating a whistleblower complaint filed by a former state environment department employee.
The Department of Labor (DOL) is announcing a 2.6 percent increase to the minimum and maximum OSH Act penalties for violations cited in 2025, reflecting an annual inflation adjustment that is less than the previous year and triggering a regulatory mandate for state plans to apply a matching adjustment to their own penalties.
OSHA has appointed three new members to the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH) and reappointed a fourth, ensuring the 12-member panel is fully staffed although it is uncertain whether the incoming Trump administration will utilize the committee tasked with crafting policy recommendations.
An EPA draft evaluation of a phthalate known as DCHP finds that inhalation exposure to the widely used plasticizer presents unreasonable risks to worker’s health, a finding that if finalized would require the agency to write risk management rules to address risks stemming from nine “conditions of use” (COU) that contribute to the finding.
Employers are growing apprehensive about ensuring they are complying with California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) stringent new worker-safety standard for lead exposure in the construction and general industry sectors because they say the agency has not yet issued key guidance documents, even though the new rules went into effect Jan. 1.
EPA’s final TSCA evaluation for the phthalate DIDP finds that six of the chemical’s uses pose “unreasonable risk” to workers warranting regulation -- a significant departure from its earlier draft that found risk from just one use -- likely teeing up attacks from industry groups that requested the review, and could now ask the incoming Trump administration to redo it.
EPA’s long-awaited final TSCA evaluation of formaldehyde concludes that the ubiquitous chemical poses unreasonable risk to workers in a wide variety of sectors, and to consumers, but significantly loosens the occupational exposure standard after members of Congress and industry critics called the draft value a “de facto ban” on its use.
Federal appellate judges are ordering the Mining Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and an employer to explain why their bid to overturn an administrative law judge’s (ALJ) decision blocking an enforcement settlement should not be dismissed, while signaling that the ALJ body may be allowed to defend its ruling directly if the case proceeds.
EPA is denying a petition from GOP states and chemical industry groups seeking reconsideration of its final risk management program (RMP) rule, a move that will restart paused litigation over the rule though the incoming Trump administration is expected to ask the court to remand the measure to revise it along the lines of its prior rulemaking.
An agriculture firm is arguing that OSHA’s long-standing guidance on how it divides enforcement authority over “rolling stock” with the Department of Transportation is too “vague” to support a 2021 citation that claims the employer “willfully” failed to comply with fall safety standards during railcar loading operations.
EPA is defending the legality of its landmark rule banning many uses of the solvent methylene chloride and imposing strict worker-protection mandates on those that continue, saying the policy is “reasonable” and grounded in statutory language -- even as the incoming Trump administration could drop those positions next month.
California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board has adopted final, permanent standards to protect fabricated stone workers from exposure to crystalline silica despite continuing pushback from industry leaders, who claim that dozens of onerous new requirements and likely uneven enforcement will penalize businesses that are adequately protecting employees.
OSHA has reached a settlement with Amazon over working conditions at its warehouses nationwide, requiring ergonomics improvements across the e-commerce giant’s operations following a years-long enforcement push by the agency -- and just days after Senate Democrats accused the company of unlawfully concealing injuries at the facilities.