Daily News

A pending challenge to a Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) liver transplant policy in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit may be the first appellate case to test the reach of judicial deference courts grant OSHA and other agencies to interpret their regulatory authority under the high court’s recent ruling on the issue.

OSHA is publishing its request for information (RFI) seeking data on whether it should ease the Obama administration’s rule requiring protective equipment for construction workers exposed to crystalline silica, a measure that also opens the door to extending any deregulatory measures to standards covering maritime and general industry.

Federal appeals court judges appeared doubtful at recent oral arguments of citizen groups’ suit aiming to revive Obama-era rules from OSHA and other agencies the GOP scrapped using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) in the early days of the Trump administration, questioning claims that the CRA is unconstitutional and the repeals were unlawful.

Supreme Court observers expect lower courts to grant OSHA and other agencies narrower, agency-specific deference to interpret ambiguous regulatory language in the wake of the high court’s recent Kisor v, Wilkie ruling that generally preserved so-called Auer deference but reinforced limits on its use.

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has quickly competed its review of OSHA’s draft request for information (RFI) that could help open the door to easing implementation of the Obama administration’s rule requiring protective equipment for construction workers exposed to crystalline silica.

According to OMB’s website, the office completed its review of the draft RFI Aug. 8 after OSHA submitted it July 29, significantly more quickly than the 90 days such reviews are generally required to take.

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is dropping its appeal of a federal district court’s order for the board to issue by February a final rule requiring accidental release reporting from chemical facilities, reaffirming the board’s plan released this spring to comply with the order’s timeline.

Cal/OSHA is continuing to advance its proposal to set a much more stringent airborne lead exposure limit for construction and other workers, following a compromise among state lawmakers to set a Sept. 30, 2020, deadline for the agency’s standards board to adopt the new risk level.

The lawmakers’ compromise ended a bid by two legislators to establish an earlier deadline of Feb. 1, 2020, and to specify that a blood-lead level of 20 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dl) or higher is a serious violation triggering Cal/OSHA investigations.

AUSTIN, TX -- A top EPA waste official is vowing that the agency will soon send for White House pre-publication review its final rule to undo Obama-era changes that tightened facility safety risk management plan (RMP) requirements, a surprise move refuting environmentalists’ suggestions that the rollback was “dead in the water."

Labor and other advocates are strongly criticizing EPA’s risk evaluations for a common solvent and a largely phased-out flame retardant for what they say is a gross understatement of the risks that workers face from exposure to the chemicals, in part because the agency assumes workers will use protective equipment.

They are also criticizing the evaluations for downplaying risks to the environment and for failing to fully consider the exposure risks to the general public.

A former Labor Department (DOL) regional solicitor is blaming the U.S. opioid crisis in part on President George W. Bush’s backing of a Congressional Review Act (CRA) disapproval resolution that scrapped Clinton OSHA workplace ergonomics standards, saying the rules could have prevented many injuries that may have been treated with opioids.

House Democrats’ bill to ban uses of asbestos appears to be advancing after state officials opened the door to a longer phase-out period for chlorine producers, but few involved in talks on the bill are discussing prospects that implementing any ban will eventually drive the sector to use an alternate technology that uses perflourinated chemicals.

EPA is facing a possible suit from environmentalists after the agency rejected claims that a modified Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) significant new use rule (SNUR) for use of a specific chemical lacks adequate protections for oilfield workers that are exposed to the substance and any formaldehyde that may be associated with it.

After months of delay, OSHA has formally submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a draft request for information (RFI) that could eventually open the door to easing implementation of the Obama administration’s rule requiring protective equipment for construction workers exposed to crystalline silica.

According to OMB’s website, OSHA submitted the draft RFI July 29, launching an interagency review process that usually takes 90 days.

Following criticism that EPA was unnecessarily rushing to complete the first 10 risk evaluations required by the revised toxics law by the end of the year, the agency’s toxics chief says officials will use the additional six months the law allows to complete the studies but they are still aiming to complete all peer reviews by the December 2019 deadline.

In addition to delaying the risk evaluations, the agency has also put on hold a pending plan to reorganize the office that is leading efforts to implement the new law until it has met a series of looming deadlines.

Major industry groups including the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), U.S. Chamber of Commerce, several livestock sector organizations and others are fighting OSHA’s bid for a federal court to dismiss their suit alleging the agency’s recordkeeping policy rollback rule does not go far enough.

A pending suit over EPA’s denial of environmentalists’ petition seeking to require reporting of asbestos uses under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is testing plaintiffs’ ability to use remedies in both the toxics law and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) to challenge such denials, potentially expanding plaintiffs’ litigation options.

The Trump administration is asking a federal district court to dismiss consolidated lawsuits filed by Democratic attorneys general (AGs) and other critics of OSHA’s rollback of Obama-era electronic reporting and recordkeeping requirements, arguing the plaintiffs lack legal standing and the agency is allowed to “change its mind” on policies.

Federal and local officials are stepping up calls for the Trump administration to strengthen oversight of the use and storage of hydrogen fluoride (HF) by dozens of refiners in the wake of a series of industrial incidents at several facilities across the country that have raised safety concerns for employees and adjacent communities.

Cal/OSHA’s standards board has adopted first-time emergency rules to protect outdoor workers from wildfire smoke, which employers in California must implement by early August and which could serve as a model for other states that lack such measures and are also experiencing increasing numbers and intensity of fires due in part to climate change.

The board, Cal/OSHA’s seven-member body appointed by the governor to set program standards, adopted the emergency rules at a July 18 meeting in San Diego.

In a move that seeks to bolster the lagging deregulatory agenda at OSHA and other agencies, President Donald Trump has announced his intent to nominate Eugene Scalia, a former Labor Department (DOL) solicitor, to replace exiting Labor Secretary Alex Acosta.