Daily News

Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), the ranking Democrat on the Senate environment committee, is stepping up his oversight of Trump administration plans to cut funding for inspectors in EPA's facility safety program and its plans to delay strict new program rules after recent explosions at a Texas chemical facility that flooded as a result of Hurricane Harvey.

OSHA is proposing to delay for one additional year a deadline for crane operators to comply with certification requirements so the agency may finish a rule to address industry and operators' concerns with a 2010 update to its cranes standard, though Obama officials had expected to resolve the concerns this year and forgo the need for a delay.

The fire at a Texas chemical facility caused by Hurricane Harvey is sparking calls for tougher facility safety rules to prevent exposures to hazardous substances.

Environmentalists, for example, say the incident backs the need for the Obama-era rule strengthening EPA's facility accident prevention program with new requirements for hazard analysis and streamlined release of facility data, though an industry source says the existing rule is adequate.

Federal appellate judges have denied environmental and labor groups' request to stay or vacate the Trump EPA's final rule delaying an Obama-era overhaul of the agency's facility accident prevention program, saying groups have failed to meet “stringent standards” for a stay, though the court also rejected EPA's request to slow briefing.

As the Trump OSHA's deadline for public input on a proposal to weaken the Obama OSHA's final beryllium rule in the construction and shipyard sectors closes, the United Steelworkers (USW) is seeking a public hearing to oppose the plan, signaling an intensified debate over the measure.

Bergeson & Campbell, a law firm that specializes in chemical industry issues, is creating a coalition of companies to craft uniform comments to EPA on industry concerns that have arisen with the agency’s process for reviewing “new” chemicals before they enter the market, including that some new restrictions duplicate OSHA regulation.

A labor official is faulting the Trump OSHA for de-emphasizing worker deaths on its website after the agency narrowed criteria for publishing worker fatality data online and replaced a section of its homepage dedicated to worker fatalities with information on compliance assistance efforts.

Deborah Berkowitz, a senior Obama OSHA official, who now works for the National Employment Law Project, said the changes contradict OSHA's mission to protect workers.

A recent EPA enforcement action against a Rhode Island metals company shows agency inspectors delving deeper into facility processes, traditionally a focus of OSHA oversight, to bring complex cases, increasing civil, and potentially criminal liability, though it is unclear whether the Trump EPA will continue the approach, say attorneys who track enforcement of industrial facility safety rules.

Environmentalists that have brought the first legal challenges to new EPA rules issued under the recently revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) have filed separate suits that sidestep the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, likely due to concerns that the court, which hears most challenges to EPA rules, would be more receptive to agency arguments.

Environmentalists are amending their lawsuit challenging the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which Republicans used this year to repeal Obama-era worker safety policies, to add claims that it is unconstitutionally vague for the law to bar OSHA and other agencies from crafting new rules that are “substantially the same” as the repealed rules.

Public interest groups are fighting the Department of Justice's (DOJ) novel claim that showing harm to the groups' ability to comment on regulatory repeals is not enough to give them standing to sue over President Donald Trump's executive order (EO) directing agencies to identify two rules to repeal for every new rule they issue, countering that DOJ's argument would limit citizens' ability to challenge a host of constitutional violations.

OSHA is investigating a “potential compromise” of its electronic portal for accepting companies' worker injury and illness data under the Obama administration's controversial record-keeping rule, highlighting companies' fears over data disclosures under the rule.

A panel convened to inform a future EPA rule for reducing reporting for certain chemicals' uses is split on whether to eliminate long-standing exemptions for certain uses, with industry arguing the move would duplicate OSHA oversight and environmentalists saying the exemptions lack scientific basis, though EPA is seeking compromise to sustain talks.

EPA has denied an industry request to delay the effective of date of the Obama administration's Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reporting rule for nanomaterials in commerce, but the agency has updated implementing guidance to better clarify “reportable substances” and is promising to answer additional questions in future updates to the guide.

EPA Aug. 14 issued a “Working Guidance on EPA’s Section 8(a) Information Gathering Rule on Nanomaterials in Commerce” that describes substances covered by the Obama EPA's controversial final rule that took effect the same day.

Several environmental groups have filed multiple suits over two of EPA's initial rules for implementing the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), pursuing challenges in several federal appellate courts claiming that the regulations violate the provisions of the updated toxics law and the Administrative Procedure Act.

Washington state firefighters are urging Democratic senators to halt development of a novel dispersion modeling approach for assessing risks from toxic gas releases, arguing the federal agency and industry collaboration underestimates risks to the public in filings with EPA and other agencies, though an industry group says the method is based on sound science and may still be revised.

Environmentalists and Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) are faulting EPA's “operating principles” for streamlined review of new chemicals under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), saying it fails to adequately address “reasonably foreseen uses” -- the same narrow approach EPA is using for existing chemicals that critics say is unlawful.

The federal judge hearing litigation challenging President Donald Trump's executive order (EO) requiring OSHA, EPA and other agencies to repeal two rules for every new measure issued appeared to criticize the measure during Aug. 10 arguments charging it functions as a “shadow” regulatory review process that would not have a transparent effect.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is urging the Labor Department (DOL) to address two Obama OSHA priorities, calling for DOL to determine whether new regulation is needed to address workplace violence in the health care sector and to reduce risks of accidents at facilities that handle toxic chemicals such as ammonium nitrate.

EPA is diverting full-time equivalent (FTE) staff to help implement an updated process to streamline risk reviews for “new” chemicals as required by the overhauled Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), outlining a set of “operating principles” for the effort and vowing to release draft documents this fall offering further details.