A prominent industry attorney says OSHA is likely to include mandates for facilities to plan for extreme weather like hurricanes in any overhaul of the process safety management (PSM) standard, building on what is already a broad push by several other program offices and agencies to incorporate weather resiliency into regulatory programs.
September 17, 2026
The California Legislature has passed a scaled-back bill requiring employers to implement workplace violence-prevention plans on a faster timeline than a pending rule at California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) would impose, and sources say Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is expected to sign it into law before an Oct. 14 deadline.
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A broad coalition of industry trade associations is again pressing the Senate to reauthorize the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program by quickly passing a two-year bill that has already cleared the House, teeing up the issue again after lawmakers returned from their August recess.
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Lawmakers and witnesses at a recent Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee (EPW) hearing on extreme heat appeared open to a union official’s arguments that this summer’s record temperatures show the need for stronger worker protections, though several also expressed opposition to a “one-size-fits-all” nationwide policy.
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OSHA is taking a broad view of when a worker’s injury can be considered “work-related” in a new guidance letter holding that an unprovoked car crash and shooting on public roads still meets the test, and rejecting an employer’s suggestion that such “unforeseeable third-party criminal acts” can overcome the general presumption that any on-the-job incident falls under the agency’s recordkeeping mandates.
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OSHA has agreed to reform how it handles reimbursements to state plans for emergency supplemental funding following a report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) faulting several aspects of the process, though the agency is maintaining that some of the problems that report found with fund allocation were out of its control.
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Echoing chemical industry groups, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and J.D. Vance (R-OH) are pressing EPA to rework its proposed TSCA rule regulating methylene chloride to allow all uses of the solvent to continue as long as companies meet worker-protection mandates.
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Trade groups, congressional Republicans and attorneys are outlining arguments against OSHA’s proposal allowing third parties to accompany compliance officers on inspections even when they do not work for the company involved, ranging from claims that it is legally invalid to calling it the result of “regulatory voodoo.”
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The Biden administration is urging the Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court decision that held administrative law judges (AJLs) are unconstitutional and instead affirm long-time practices at OSHA and other agencies of relying on ALJs to adjudicate administrative enforcement proceedings that seek civil penalties.
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Trade groups and individual companies are starting to raise concerns on EPA’s draft supplement to the Trump-era TSCA evaluation of 1,4-dioxide, in particular an occupational exposure limit the agency quietly floated in early August, arguing in early comments that it may not be feasible along with several other broad concerns for the new review.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is calling on OSHA to improve how it investigates and records worker deaths in the oil and gas extraction (OGE) sector, saying the agency’s current practices and lack of a specific safety standard for OGE work have produced incomplete data as part of a report on fatalities in the industry.
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OSHA has reached a company-wide enforcement settlement with the discount-retail giant Dollar Tree that includes regular inspections of its stores and an immediate $1.35 million penalty, following a years-long series of citations for what the agency repeatedly said was a persistent pattern of safety violations across the company.
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A California state lawmaker is further scaling back his bill requiring employers to implement workplace violence-prevention plans in response to continued strong opposition from industry and employer groups, bringing its requirements closer to a pending draft regulatory proposal by California OSHA (Cal/OSHA), sources say.
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OSHA is proposing to reinstate and codify a controversial Obama-era guidance allowing third parties such as union representatives to accompany agency officials on inspections even when they do not work for the employer under review, saying the expanded approach will bolster worker representation in OSH Act enforcement.
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Labor and environmental groups are pressing EPA to tighten its proposed rule limiting industrial use of perchloroethylene (PCE) in part by banning more uses of the solvent or even phasing it out entirely, saying the agency is relying too much on personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect workers while also neglecting risks to fenceline communities.
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A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit has rejected a suit claiming OSHA’s authority to issue permanent safety standards is unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s non-delegation doctrine, but a dissent from the panel’s sole Trump appointee could preview continued litigation on the question, including a high court appeal.
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A chemical-sector trade group is laying out ways facilities can maintain their current recordkeeping and security practices even after Congress allowed the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program to expire, saying companies still have options to continue many of its protections as they wait for a reauthorization vote.
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Chemical industry groups are planning to resume their push to reauthorize the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standard (CFATS) program as soon as Congress returns from its August recess, over a month after lawmakers allowed it to lapse in July -- and likely with a two-year term rather than the five-year extension initially proposed by Senate leaders.
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OSHA has signed an enforcement settlement with the pharmacy giant Rite Aid that will require new worker protections against bloodborne pathogens at “approximately 370” stores in two states, after the agency found violations of that standard at a Niagara Falls, NY, location in 2022.
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The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is urging chemical facility officers to prepare quickly for what could be more frequent and more powerful hurricanes and other extreme wind events in the future and this season in particular, pointing to two recent reports as evidence of the dangers several hurricanes can pose to the sites.
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