With the backing of the Labor Department, major manufacturing and agriculture industry groups are asking a federal judge to resume their stayed litigation challenging OSHA's reporting and recordkeeping rule, with the industry groups signaling that the Trump administration rollback of the Obama-era measure they originally challenged did not go far enough.
Groups representing major industries are urging EPA to quickly finalize its rollback of an Obama administration rule that strengthened the Risk Management Plan (RMP) facility accident prevention program, fearing expected litigation over the rollback could extend beyond some of the existing RMP rule’s compliance deadlines.
House Democrats appear likely to step up their oversight of EPA’s implementation of the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) after the agency sidestepped their calls to ban workplace uses of methylene chloride in paint strippers, an action they said would not protect workers.
Facing widespread criticism that its first-time ban on consumer uses of paint strippers containing methylene chloride does not protect workers, the agency's top toxics official is leaving the door open to taking future action to limit workplace risks under the revised toxics law though she stopped short of pledging to ban the chemical's commercial uses that many critics are seeking.
A just-issued analysis of new OSHA data from a labor group shows a drop in the agency's “complicated and high-impact inspections” and a “historic low” number of inspectors even as workplace fatalities increased, suggesting a road map for lawmakers as they weigh the agency's budget request to hire nearly three dozen new inspectors and other personnel.
State and local emergency response officials are renewing their call for EPA to promulgate an accident prevention rule to address chemical spills under the Clean Water Act (CWA), criticizing the agency's decision to drop plans for such a rule as a dereliction of duty and arguing recently released EPA data does nothing to support the agency's decision.
Republicans and the chemical industry are rejecting Democrats' calls to require industry to share data with first responders under the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program, a step intended to fill the gap left by EPA's planned rollback of an Obama-era risk management plan (RMP) rule.
The Trump administration is requesting a slight increase for OSHA’s overall budget for fiscal year 2020, with some additional funds aimed at hiring new whistleblower and facility inspectors in high-hazard industries, a plan that is likely to ease concerns from Democrats, who have highlighted what they say is the agency's inadequate inspection force.
The Labor Department (DOL) is asking a federal court to stay litigation brought by state and citizen groups challenging OSHA's bid to delay provisions of the Obama-era recordkeeping rule for 2017 until after the court resolves the groups' separate challenge to the Trump administration's measure rolling back the rule's requirements.
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch in a new dissent claims there is “mounting criticism” of the Chevron principle that gives primacy to OSHA and other agencies’ interpretations of unclear laws, raising the stakes for pending cases that could give the court’s strengthened conservative majority an opening to narrow or scrap the doctrine.
Heather MacDougall, chair of the administrative commission that reviews OSHA penalties and citations, has announced plans to resign in the coming weeks, a move that will leave the panel without a quorum -- and unable to rule on several pending cases -- as another member's term is slated to expire.
In a precedent-setting decision, OSHA’s review commission has, for the first time, upheld the agency's use of General Duty Clause authority to address a fatal workplace violence incident, but the commission's chair, in a concurrent opinion, strongly urged the agency to promulgate a workplace violence standard, underscoring lawmakers' calls.
In a split decision, OSHA's review commission has reversed an agency citation issued under its General Duty Clause authority that sought to penalize a construction company whose employee died from heat stress, a ruling that labor advocates say raises the bar for such cases and shows the need for OSHA to develop a heat stress prevention standard.
The Justice Department (DOJ) is asking the Supreme Court to retain a limited form of judicial deference for OSHA and other agencies’ interpretations of their rules rather than scrapping the doctrine altogether as conservatives, industry groups and others have urged, warning that deference is needed to ensure “certainty and stability” for nationwide rules.
House Democrats are planning to quickly advance legislation setting deadlines for OSHA to craft a standard addressing workplace violence in the healthcare sector, but the legislation is facing stiff opposition from Republicans, suggesting that pending companion legislation in the Senate is unlikely to advance.
Democratic and Republican lawmakers, along with Trump administration officials, agreed during a Feb. 27 hearing on the need for a long-term reauthorization of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) chemical facility safety program but lawmakers appeared divided on whether to provide additional regulatory flexibility to industrial facilities.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is pledging to renew efforts to get the Defense Department (DOD) to weigh contractors' safety records before awarding contracts after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found a series of contractor violations as well as problems with OSHA and DOD tracking systems.
Environmentalists are charging that the Trump administration’s process for approving new chemicals under the recently revised toxics law without restrictions fails to adequately address risks to workers, building on long-standing opposition to the new chemicals review process as Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler has pledged revisions.
An Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) has upheld a penalty OSHA imposed on a healthcare facility under its General Duty authority for not adequately addressing workplace violence, highlighting the issue just as House Democrats prepare to push newly reintroduced legislation requiring the agency to craft a workplace violence standard.
Cal/OSHA officials are planning to convene an advisory committee this spring to provide advice on ways to permanently preserve the goals of the Obama administration's reporting and recordkeeping rule after determining that the Trump administration's rollback, which takes effect later this month, “substantially diminished” the requirements.