Daily News

Representatives of labor unions representing auto manufacturing workers and at least two California air board members are praising a draft policy by air board and labor department staff that aims to ensure companies participating in the board's zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) purchase rebate program treat workers in a “fair and responsible” manner.

EPA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in a critical new report is detailing challenges facing the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), including that leadership lacks authority to address board members' policy violations, and that the Trump administration's proposals to eliminate CSB are harming efforts to attract and retain employees.

EPA is further narrowing its approach for assessing the risks of the first 10 “existing” chemicals it is reviewing for possible regulation under the new Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), issuing problem formulation documents that preclude consideration of risks that programs administered by other agencies, such as OSHA, are already addressing.

The move is drawing strong criticism from environmentalists who charge the approach is unlawful and will exclude millions of pounds of chemicals from EPA's assessments.

After years of additional study and scientific review, EPA has again preliminarily found that formaldehyde poses leukemia and other cancer risks, according to three Democratic senators who also say the draft finding has prompted Trump EPA appointees to block release of the assessment and they are urging Administrator Scott Pruitt to quickly release it.

Lowe's hardware store chain is planning to phase out paint strippers containing methylene chloride and N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) from its global product selection by the end of the year, an announcement that comes days after EPA reversed course and pledged to complete a landmark Obama-era rule regulating similar uses of the chemical.

States and industry attorneys are instructing employers who operate under OSHA-approved state plans to ignore a recent enforcement directive from federal OSHA that stated that the employers are required to submit their injury and illness data as required under the 2016 Obama-era recordkeeping update rule by July 1.

Even as the Trump administration works to roll back Obama-era measures strengthening facility safety rules, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is urging EPA and OSHA to strengthen their requirements after its investigation of industrial incidents sparked by Hurricane Harvey flood waters found that the agencies do not adequately address risks.

The Trump administration plan to scrap the Obama-era rule strengthening EPA's facility accident prevention program and wait for the OSHA to advance a similar rulemaking could stall changes to facility oversight for the foreseeable future, as OSHA has shelved plans to update its companion rule.

“Saying you're waiting for OSHA is saying you're killing it once and for all,” says Jordan Barab, OSHA's deputy chief under the Obama administration.

Supporters of the Trump administration's deregulatory agenda are urging lawmakers to codify President Donald Trump's executive order (EO) forcing OSHA, EPA and other agencies to repeal two existing rules for every new measure, though their call is drawing strong pushback from Democrats who say it will undermine protections by limiting rules' estimated benefits and devalue human lives.

Vanessa Allen Sutherland, who the Obama administration appointed to lead the federal board that investigates industrial chemical accidents, announced unexpectedly May 21 that she will be resigning from the board next month, though it is not clear if or who President Trump will select to fill two vacant slots on the panel given his administration's push to eliminate it.

Democrats are taking the rare step of using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) -- the law that eases Congress' ability to repeal federal rules -- to block a Trump administration rule rolling back Obama-era 'net neutrality' mandates, despite criticism from safety advocates that it legitimizes use of a poorly-written law that Republicans and industry have long-used as a deregulatory tool and which they are seeking to repeal.

The House Farm Bill includes language that would codify OSHA's Process Safety Management (PSM) rule's exemption for retail facilities, an issue that roiled the Obama administration, but the measure's fate is uncertain after House lawmakers failed to approve the underlying bill May 18.

The Trump administration is proposing to scrap most requirements of the Obama-era final rule updating EPA's facility accident prevention program, rescinding numerous new safety requirements in response to industry and state petitions, and arguing that EPA failed to adequately coordinate with other agencies in issuing the costly changes.

But the proposal is likely to draw significant opposition from environmentalists and citizen groups, which have long criticized the planned rollback for limiting community protections.

The Labor Department (DOL) is appealing an OSHA review commission ruling that struck down a citation against a ship repair company for failing to conduct a hazard assessment to determine whether employee respirator use is “necessary,” a move that underscores the agency's long-standing effort to expand enforcement oversight of employee chemical exposures.

Officials in the Agriculture Department’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) are defending its proposed swine slaughter rule from Democrats' and labor groups' charges that the measure's plan to increase line speeds and ease inspections jeopardizes workers' safety in an already high-risk industry.

Labor and food safety advocates are urging the Agriculture Department’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to drop its proposed rule that seeks to ease regulations and alter inspection procedures at swine processing facilities, charging the measure would increase risk of contamination and worker injuries and is likely unlawful.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) recent guidance calling for product labels to warn of acute inhalation hazards of paint strippers containing methylene chloride could give EPA an alternative to calls for a first-time ban on some uses of the substance, such as industry calls to promote risk management options.

“They're not bound to go back and adopt the proposed regulatory text” that called for banning the use of the methylene chloride in paint strippers, says one industry source.

The Trump administration has moved several Obama-era initiatives that it had previously shelved back onto OSHA's regulatory priorities list, including measures aimed at limiting harms to healthcare workers, first responders, and tree and landscape workers, as well as a chemical hazard communication standard.

The plan is drawing “surprise” from labor advocates who say the news is “not totally bad,” though they are skeptical that the agency will have the time or resources to stick to the agenda's steep schedule.

Amid lobbying by families of consumers and workers killed from exposure to the paint-stripper chemical methylene chloride, EPA has reversed course, saying it now intends to soon finalize an Obama-era rule expected to ban certain uses of the substance, though environmentalists are cautioning that the final rule should preserve the proposed ban.

Congress has approved a first-time Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution repealing a years-old agency guidance, a measure that appears likely to bolster efforts by deregulatory opponents, who are currently seeking a precedent-setting court ruling that would allow them to enforce the law's mandate that agencies submit such documents to Congress for approval or disapproval.