State attorneys general (AGs) from 19 states and the District of Columbia are urging OSHA to tighten and make binding its guidance for how to reduce COVID-19 exposure risks at meatpacking plants, warning President Donald Trump that his order to keep the facilities open will boost infections without stricter mandatory requirements.
September 17, 2026
Stakeholders are warning that OSHA faces a wave of impending whistleblower complaints about unsafe workplaces as businesses in some states begin to reopen after months of limited operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and they are urging the agency to devote more resources to processing virus-related complaints.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is rejecting calls by Republicans and the business community to give employers liability protection from suits stemming from harmful workplace exposures to COVID-19 while renewing efforts to enact new OSHA requirements, which she says will provide liability protection if employers comply.
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As EPA prepares to revise its rule governing fee requirements under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the agency is also considering proposals from industry and other stakeholders for additional waivers and flexibilities that go beyond the three categorical exemptions that the agency has made the primary focus of the rulemaking.
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EPA is clarifying that its plan to exempt “byproducts” from its Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) fee rule extends to formaldehyde that is produced as a byproduct, an action that could significantly narrow the universe of firms that the agency had preliminarily identified as having to contribute fees to cover the cost of its formaldehyde evaluation.
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House Democrats plan to make another push for an OSHA emergency infectious disease standard in their next round of COVID-19 legislation, with the top lawmaker on the labor committee arguing that a binding standard is necessary for states to responsibly reopen nonessential businesses.
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A federal district court judge has dismissed a lawsuit by worker safety advocates aiming to require a meatpacking plant to apply OSHA guidance for reducing exposures to COVID-19, but advocates are already pursuing a formal rulemaking petition seeking to force the agency to issue an emergency standard for such facilities.
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Citing the respondent’s bankruptcy, appellate judges have rejected as moot OSHA’s suit that sought to reverse a ruling from the agency’s independent review panel that raised the bar for citing companies for “repeat” workplace safety rule violations, though the judges also vacated the underlying review panel ruling.
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit is poised to hear oral argument May 6 in a closely watched suit over a decision by OSHA’s review panel upholding an enforcement action against an Oklahoma refiner for alleged process safety management (PSM) standard violations, which industry says unfairly expands the scope of the PSM.
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OSHA is ramping up its issuance of sector-specific guidelines for how a host of businesses including dentists, food and beverage providers, meatpacking plants and others can tackle workplace risks of COVID-19, though agency critics continue to push for binding emergency standards they say would better help reduce those risks.
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The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has had to pause “several” open investigations into industrial incidents due to concerns over potential COVID-19 exposures and a lack of investigators, though top officials say they are seeking to hire new investigators.
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Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia is rejecting the AFL-CIO’s criticism that OSHA is “missing in action” on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic because it has not issued an emergency temporary standard to protect health care workers and several other measures, with Scalia defending a host of voluntary OSHA responses to the crisis.
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President Donald Trump’s executive order (EO) using the Defense Production Act to keep meat and poultry processors operating to maintain food supplies during the coronavirus pandemic is prompting legal and political pressure to enforce OSHA’s voluntary guidelines for protecting workers at the facilities who are at high risk of exposure.
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EPA is moving ahead with a planned peer review of its just-released draft evaluation of the common solvent perclorothylene (perc or PCE), which finds multiple uses that present unreasonable risk to workers, consumers and the environment, though it is unclear if advisors will have a quorum to be available to review it.
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OSHA has issued guidance for how meatpacking facilities -- a major new source of coronavirus infections -- can help protect workers from exposure, including screening employees and using social distancing in the workplace, but critics say the guide is just the latest non-binding advice the administration is providing in lieu of necessary rules.
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OSHA has issued a non-binding “hazard bulletin” for grease traps that details how companies should protect workers against trap-related accidents, falling short of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) call for the agency to issue strict new rules for the traps after a child fell through a fast food venue’s grease trap cover and drowned.
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EPA’s first-time decision earlier this year to identify 20 chemicals as low priority for risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) faces a looming litigation test as the 60-day deadline for environmentalists or other entities to sue approaches on April 26.
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House and Senate Democrats have introduced companion bills that would force OSHA to quickly issue an emergency temporary standard mandating infectious disease exposure control plans in all workplaces to protect against COVID-19, expanding on an earlier bill that sought to establish the swift standard primarily for healthcare workers.
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EPA has postponed the upcoming meeting of science advisors scheduled to peer review its draft evaluation of asbestos because some of the advisors are no longer available, a change in course just weeks after officials denied requests from environmentalists and its advisors to delay the meeting because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Attorneys representing employers are warning California businesses to pay special attention to complying with Cal/OSHA rules implicated in the COVID-19 emergency, including those covering injury and illness reporting, “aerosol transmissible disease,” and general reporting, pointing out that the state’s rules often go beyond federal requirements.
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