The federal Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is sending litigation over the Biden administration’s landmark TSCA rule phasing out uses of chrysotile asbestos to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit -- the same court that overturned the agency’s first attempt to ban asbestos more than 30 years ago when it drastically narrowed EPA’s authority to regulate existing chemicals.
September 17, 2026
EPA’s industry and Republican critics are warning of a wave of imminent litigation challenging the agency’s recently finalized risk management program (RMP) rule updates and seeking to block it from taking effect later this week, charging it exceeds the agency’s authority and places unnecessary burdens on covered facilities.
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Employer attorneys are stepping up efforts to prepare companies for the July 1 compliance deadline of California’s landmark, multi-layered workplace violence-prevention rules, while more broadly warning that other states will likely adopt similar standards based on the new policy.
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California lawmakers are advancing a bill that would prohibit, beginning July 1, 2026, the sale and use of firefighter personal protective equipment (PPE) containing intentionally added PFAS, and that would require state regulators to align worker-safety rules with a future national standard for PFAS-free firefighting gear.
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Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su told lawmakers at a May 1 House hearing that OSHA expects to release a “notice” advancing its long-awaited heat danger standard “later this year,” and will propose a workplace violence standard for healthcare facilities “soon” -- which would be a landmark step for a rule that has been in development since the Obama era.
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California lawmakers are advancing a bill that would require schools to exclude teachers and other employees with COVID-19 from the workplace with pay for a set period of time, amid opposition from state health officials who argue that such mandates should be based on their frequently updated pandemic guidance rather than rigid statutory mandates.
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EPA has finalized its TSCA risk management rule for the solvent methylene chloride that top officials say will be a model for future chemical policies under the reformed law, maintaining the strict workplace exposure limit in its 2023 proposal while lengthening phaseout deadlines for some uses and adding a de minimis threshold sought by industry.
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Two employer attorneys are pointing to several aspects of OSHA inspections where they say companies could either contest the agency’s approval of “third-party” worker representatives under a controversial new rule or limit their access to job sites, previewing potential case-by-case disputes that could run parallel to broader litigation over the policy’s legality.
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Top officials at the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) used the agency’s latest public business meeting to tout its recent progress on accident investigations, while previewing plans to make incident reports and related information more easily accessible to the public through improved online access and communication.
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California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) plans to exempt local and state correctional facilities from its sweeping new indoor heat worker-safety rules and resubmit the regulatory package to state administrators for approval, after state finance officials warned the agency they plan to reject the prior version over its economic impacts.
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EPA has issued its final TSCA “framework” rule governing risk evaluations of existing chemicals, aiming to broaden the scope of its reviews and codify several controversial Biden administration policies including its rejection of a Trump-era approach to considering workers’ use of personal protective equipment (PPE), despite several industry groups’ claims that the new method is unlawful.
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Mining-sector employers and unions alike are backing the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) newly tightened standards for respirable crystalline silica (RCS), but both say implementation remains a key question, with one union urging strict enforcement while a trade group says the agency should align its approach with OSHA’s own silica rule.
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Chemical industry groups, labor unions and a prominent public health group have filed separate petitions asking four different appellate courts to review EPA’s final TSCA risk management rule phasing out ongoing uses of chrysotile asbestos, setting up a high-stakes lottery to determine which court will ultimately hear the precedent-setting case.
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OSHA has posted online injury and illness tracking data from 2023 that employers provided as part of the first compliance cycle for its electronic recordkeeping and reporting rule earlier this year, a move the agency says will allow stakeholders to identify safety hazards though the agency is not yet providing its own analysis of the reports.
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has denied a Texas contracting firm’s bid to overturn an OSHA trench-safety citation under the “unpreventable employee misconduct” (UEM) doctrine, backing the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission’s (OSHRC) application of a four-part test for employers to invoke that defense.
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EPA has preliminarily determined that many activities that disturb legacy asbestos -- such as demolition of older buildings that were constructed with the material -- pose “unreasonable risk” to workers and others, potentially triggering new TSCA rules to protect them, according to a draft of the agency’s long-awaited “part 2” evaluation of the mineral.
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The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has released its final update to 50-year-old standards for respirable crystalline silica (RCS), with more stringent reporting and monitoring mandates compared to a 2023 proposal, although it also extends compliance deadlines for operators, particularly those at smaller mines.
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Environmentalists and their allies say EPA’s recently finalized updates to its Risk Management Program (RMP) rule leaves out many measures they believe are necessary to ensure it covers all facilities at risk of accidental releases, in particular because the agency rejected calls to expand the list of chemicals whose use at a site triggers RMP requirements.
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A bill advancing in the California Legislature would require California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) to amend its hospital violence-prevention rules to require that facilities maintain metal detectors at certain entrances, and implement a number of supporting security measures.
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Republican lawmakers are continuing their push-back against EPA’s draft risk evaluation of formaldehyde, with a new letter warning the agency that a potential workplace exposure limit is too stringent and could jeopardize a range of industrial sectors, while also raising concerns that any rule based on the review could conflict with Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) policies.
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