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.
September 17, 2026
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) is countering the latest legal argument against President Donald Trump’s “2-for-1” deregulatory order that requires OSHA and other agencies to repeal two existing rules for every new measure, arguing that labor and other plaintiffs suing over it have failed to show any concrete evidence that it caused any regulatory delays or other “harms."
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EPA is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to transfer industry’s challenge over the agency’s recent ban of consumer sales of the paint-stripping chemical methylene chloride to the 2nd Circuit, where environmentalists and labor groups previously filed their own challenges to EPA’s rule.
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Bolstering prospects for a bill banning the manufacture and use of asbestos, a group of Democratic attorneys general (AGs) is supporting the bill while agreeing with GOP lawmakers and industry groups that the legislation may have to give more time for producers of chlorine used for water treatment to transition to non-asbestos methods.
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Cal/OSHA is advancing for formal rulemaking first-time regulations to prevent indoor heat illness among workers across an array of job sectors, drawing concerns and recommendations from both labor representatives and employers, who suggest that other states could eventually follow California’s lead.
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Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta’s July 12 resignation creates new uncertainty for the Trump administration’s deregulatory agenda at OSHA, further disappointing industry groups who have long been concerned at the agency’s failure to roll back a series of Obama-era measures or scale back its enforcement, along with other policy issues.
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House Democrats, backed by a coalition of labor, public interest and other groups, are pushing a bill requiring OSHA to protect workers from heat-related injuries and illnesses, though it is facing stiff opposition from Republicans, who say it imposes standards without allowing for adequate regional flexibilities, among other things.
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Three years after Congress reformed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), handing EPA a host of new authorities to regulate industrial chemicals, agency staff are struggling to meet the law’s deadlines, many rules face litigation, and states and retailers continue to lack confidence that the new regime will provide the certainty they are seeking.
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Backed by a host of labor and other groups, House Democrats are preparing to push legislation that would require OSHA to quickly craft a standard requiring employers to protect their employees from excessive heat, a measure that if enacted would preempt a pending petition many of the groups have filed asking the agency to craft such a standard.
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A key House Democrat plans to introduce legislation to advance a progressive regulatory reform agenda that includes neutralizing “corporate capture” at OSHA and other agencies, aiming to start debate on a counterpoint to GOP and industry calls for regulatory reform bills that might hinder efforts to pursue novel regulatory policies.
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Nearly a dozen Democratic senators are stepping up pressure on the Trump administration to address allegations of workplace violence at McDonalds, putting pressure on OSHA to toughen its scrutiny of the company even as they struggle to advance legislation requiring the agency to quickly set a standard for the health sector.
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California Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) has made a series of amendments easing her controversial bill that would lock into state law Obama-era worker safety and other rules, but the changes are failing to fully address industry opposition, setting up the potential for more talks and further changes.
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Long-running divisions between OSHA and other agencies over how to assess the risks of the ubiquitous solvent trichloroethylene (TCE) have been thrown into stark relief as a federal health agency is backing EPA’s 2011 assessment setting strict risk values for the chemical.
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Cal/OSHA is scheduled later this month to approve first-time emergency rules to protect outdoor workers from wildfire smoke, 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.
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