Industry officials may ask the Trump administration to provide greater clarity on how EPA reviews facilities' analysis of the potential impacts of accidental “off site” releases as agency enforcement officials are maintaining the Obama EPA's stepped up scrutiny of the analyses, an industry attorney says.
EPA's Risk Management Plan (RMP) facility accident prevention rule requires companies to conduct an off-site consequence analysis (OCA) of a worst-case release of hazardous substances.
Labor union officials and a key Senate Democrat are offering a tepid response to the Trump administration's intended nomination of Scott Mugno, a FedEx vice president, to lead OSHA, seeking a “vigorous and thorough” vetting on key issues but not outright opposing the choice.
Construction industry groups have been lobbying Congress to block implementation of the Obama OSHA's final rule strengthening the limits for worker exposure to silica for the first time in decades, through a budget rider that would gut funding for enforcement, though the Trump OSHA is moving ahead with enforcing the rule in construction.
A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general (AGs) are citing injuries to firefighters who responded to a chemical fire sparked by Hurricane Harvey flood waters to challenge the Trump EPA's nearly two-year delay of an Obama-era facility accident prevention rule, arguing that the delay puts such first responders at risk and is unlawful.
The Trump administration is moving forward with enforcing the Obama OSHA's stricter crystalline silica standard for the construction industry, issuing an interim guidance for enforcement as the agency reviews a permanent compliance directive and a federal court weighs recent arguments in an industry challenge to the rule.
Sens. Michael Enzi (R-WY) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) have re-introduced legislation to codify OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) even as the Trump administration works to overhaul the program administratively to address declining resources.
Correction Appended
The chairman of a key House subcommittee charged with overseeing OSHA says that without worker safety priorities from the Trump administration, the panel is gearing up plans for 2018, including bolstering compliance through training, and continuing to support the Trump administration's deregulatory efforts.
Labor groups are urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to deny an industry request to increase line speeds in poultry plants, while also opposing a proposed rule expected to increase speeds in pork processing, arguing both changes would increase risks to workers and reiterating arguments from past petitions for OSHA line-speed limits.
EPA's career toxics chief is requesting input from staff within the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) regarding a trio of proposals he has floated for reorganizing the office, options under consideration as part of the office's ongoing efforts to implement the one-year-old statute reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
In a Sept. 22 memo obtained by Inside EPA, OPPT Director Jeff Morris explains the rationale behind the contemplated office reorganization and seeks staff input on the different proposals by Dec. 1.
Correction Appended
A Republican congressional staffer is raising concerns that a lack of a Trump administration appointee to head OSHA leaves lawmakers with a lack of clear priorities, highlighting uncertainty that has prompted agency officials to stop work on new initiatives and led Senate Democrats to question the administration's commitment to worker safety.
The chlorine industry has dropped a controversial guidance based on a novel dispersion modeling approach for assessing risks from toxic gas releases in response to an EPA directive to withdraw it because it “significantly under-predicts” off-site consequences of releases and to advise facilities not to use the method for complying with its Risk Management Plan (RMP) facility safety rules.
The United Steelworkers (USW) has withdrawn its request for the Trump administration to hold a public hearing on its plan to limit the reach of an Obama OSHA rule bolstering protections for workers' exposure to beryllium, drawing concern from industry producers of alternatives to beryllium-containing products who support the Obama-era rule and fear the loss of a key ally.
A key House Democrat is pressing the Trump administration's OSHA to ensure that the agency fully staffs open inspection positions now that a federal hiring freeze has ended, reiterating concerns of Senate labor committee Democrats who have called for adequate funding for inspections and questioned the administration's commitment to worker safety.
United Steelworkers (USW) is highlighting its facility accident prevention program and calling for greater employee involvement in companies' process safety decisions, offering the principles as a potential model for overhauling OSHA's process safety management (PSM) rule even though the Trump administration has stalled a ny update.
On Oct. 2 USW re-issued its Triangle of Prevention (TOP) workplace safety program, which calls for greater worker collaboration with management in investigating workplace accidents and “near-misses,” as well as on worker training.
OSHA officials in a new court filing say they have completed a draft rule revising the Obama administration's worker injury and illness reporting rule, days after a Trump Commerce Department (DOC) report urged OSHA to scrap provisions on publicizing the data and restricting employer programs, though the filing does not detail the revisions.
The Trump administration in a new report quietly issued by the Commerce Department (DOC) is targeting two major Obama OSHA rules for revision, backing industry arguments that the 2016 measures updating silica and worker injury reporting rules include unnecessary provisions that harm domestic manufacturing and should be revised.
Former OSHA official and EPA science advisor Adam Finkel is urging EPA to list the chemical n-propyl bromide (nPB) as a Clean Air Act hazardous air pollutant (HAP), citing data from OSHA and elsewhere on nPB's risks to workers that he says warrants the listing and rules to curb nPB emissions.
In written comments on the proposed listing, Finkel is also urging EPA to exclude agency toxics appointee Nancy Beck from any role in a final decision because of her prior work on behalf of the chemical sector regarding the chemical, which is also known as 1-bromopropane (1-BP).
Following a chemical release in his state, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), is pressing EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and other officials to commit to implementing the Obama EPA's overhaul of the agency's facility accident prevention program, though a Trump nominee sidestepped the call in a recent hearing.
A House committee has approved on a party-line vote a bill that would override a controversial 2015 ruling that expanded the definition of a “joint employer” subject to enforcement of labor and worker safety measures, prompting concerns from Democrats that the legislation would hamper worker protections, including workers' recourse for safety hazards.
“Under this bill workers cannot hold employers liable for wage theft, overtime violations, safety hazards or other unfair labor practices,” Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) said Oct. 4.
Correction Appended
A coalition of groups convened by NIOSH is backing several Obama-era workplace safety priorities, unveiling a draft research agenda for construction workers that supports the prior administration's controversial 2016 silica rule, which industry has urged the Trump administration to scale back, as well as other Obama priorities, including strengthening protections from electrical hazards and reducing disincentives to injury reporting.