Daily News

Labor and public interest groups are urging White House officials not to weaken or further delay the Obama OSHA's final rule strengthening protections for worker exposure to beryllium, arguing that workers face significant risks from exposure to the substance, including in the construction and maritime sectors that industry is seeking to strip from the rule.

EPA is delaying the effective date of an Obama-era nanomaterials reporting rule from May 12 to Aug. 14 while it considers crafting guidance on how to implement the rule, handing a win to the chemical sector that has called for the agency to repeal the rule in part because it fails to provide sufficient clarity on which substances are subject to its mandate.

EPA's pesticides office is considering adoption of an international labeling protocol, already used by OSHA and other agencies, in order to make it easier for the agency to adopt new non-animal toxicity testing methods -- an effort usually cheered by industry though in this instance, pesticide manufacturers are raising concerns about the move.

Environmental and labor groups are urging a federal court in New Jersey to compel state and local officials to publicly disclose industrial facility emergency response plans (ERPs) in a lawsuit industry attorneys say highlights the need for the Trump EPA's plan to revise an Obama administration facility safety rule though it could bolster efforts to preserve the rule.

Chemical sector officials and environmentalists are sparring over the fate of several major EPA toxics policies that the agency is reviewing as part of President Donald Trump's order on regulatory reform, with industry seeking to revise or repeal some Obama-era rules while environmentalists are pushing to defend the existing regulations.

New guidance implementing President Donald Trump's deregulatory order underscores how difficult it will be for OSHA to issue new rules without immediate statutory or judicial deadlines, while facing repeated White House consultations, new regulatory assessment burdens, complex cost offset requirements and other hurdles, sources say.

A coalition of beryllium producers and users is petitioning OSHA to delay and reconsider its final rule strengthening limits for worker exposure to the substance blamed for health risks, including lung cancer, pending the outcome of legal challenges to the regulation, though the Trump OSHA has already sent potential revisions for White House review.

The spending deal that funds OSHA and other agencies through the rest of fiscal year 2017 maintains level funding for the agency compared to FY16 levels, undercutting Trump administration cuts slated for FY18 and underscoring Democrats' leverage over congressional spending priorities.

While the bill preserves funds, it appears to provide an early downpayment on an expected prioritization of funds for OSHA compliance assistance efforts over the Obama-era's enforcement emphasis.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) are both calling on the Trump EPA to push ahead with implementation of the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), but ACC says the agency must craft implementing rules that heed President Donald Trump's order on reducing regulatory “burdens.”

Labor supporters are calling President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office “a gut punch to all workers,” arguing that the administration's repeal and delay of Obama-era safety rules, planned budget cuts for the Labor Department (DOL) and its new Labor Secretary and Supreme Court appointment send a message of “active hostility” to workers.

Industry and labor representatives have long expected Trump's election would significantly shift OSHA from the enforcement heavy approach of the Obama era toward greater compliance assistance.

A labor group is calling for OSHA to continue focusing enforcement on the poultry processing sector because agency data shows poultry workers suffer a disproportionately high rate of severe injuries, backing the need for a continued enforcement emphasis on the sector, despite fears that looming budget cuts -- and a pending court case -- will gut the program.

Trump administration plans to cut funding for the Labor Department and OSHA in fiscal year 2018 are drawing push back from a coalition of local safety and health groups, as well as a senior Obama-era OSHA official, who are urging lawmakers to preserve funds for OSHA inspections and enforcement.

They say that slashing OSHA inspections and enforcement would significantly increase business costs and worker deaths.

The Justice Department (DOJ) is renewing its bid to have an appellate court reverse a lower court's quashing of an OSHA warrant seeking to inspect a facility beyond the circumstances of a reported incident, charging that the company's worker injury and illness records provide enough data to support a “reasonable suspicion” that a violation has occurred.

Manufacturers that use nanomaterials in their products are urging the Trump administration to repeal the Obama EPA's Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) rule that requires reporting on their use of the materials, charging it is burdensome and unclear and appears inconsistent with the EPA's plans for allocating limited resources and assessing risks under the revised TSCA.

Chemical and other manufacturers are urging the Trump administration to rescind or revise numerous Obama-era OSHA policies, ranging from an overhaul of limits for worker exposure to silica to a Justice Department (DOJ) plan strengthening enforcement of worker safety laws, arguing the policies harm businesses or are unnecessary.

The Justice Department (DOJ), backed by 14 state attorneys general (AG), is seeking to dismiss labor and environmental groups' lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's executive order (EO) that requires OSHA and other agencies to repeal two rules for every new one, though plaintiffs are publicly faulting the administration's arguments.

Even as EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt seeks to delay implementation of the Obama-era facility safety rule, a coalition of local emergency planners is urging the agency to quickly implement provisions of the rule, arguing new requirements for coordinating with and disclosing data to local planners protect first responders and will not cause the broad public disclosure industry fears.

NIOSH is seeking comment on a draft guide detailing a chemical classification system that allows users to assess workers' risks to substances that lack exposure limits and regulators have only limited data, an approach that could serve as an alternative to OSHA's enforceable limits given the difficulty in setting such standards.

A federal appeals court has granted chimney sweepers' request for a two-month delay of their lawsuit challenging the Obama OSHA's final rule aimed at limiting workers' slips, trips and falls to allow for settlement discussions and Trump administration review, though another group's effort to settle its challenge to the rule has not succeeded.

OSHA enforcement officials are lying low as the Trump administration ramps up plans for cutting government programs and staff at the Labor Department (DOL) and other agencies, sources say, declining to test novel enforcement approaches or issue citations for alleged violations of the Obama OSHA's worker injury reporting rule.