Charging their members are currently shut out of data that could be crucial to their safety, labor unions are urging EPA to require employers turn over a wide range of information on their TSCA new-chemical applications and compliance orders and are proposing a framework based on OSHA policies they say would protect confidential materials.
September 17, 2026
Industry groups are calling on EPA to rework its proposed TSCA rule for the solvent perchloroethylene (PCE) but are split on what approach it should adopt, with some seeking a more flexible policy under the chemicals law while at least one is pushing the agency to drop its worker-safety proposals and advance them through a joint rulemaking with OSHA.
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The chairman of the House subcommittee with jurisdiction over OSHA’s worker-protection duties says that he intends to prioritize oversight of the agency’s rulemaking work in the coming years, and is specifically highlighting plans to press for more stakeholder involvement in the rulemaking process, especially from small businesses.
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A National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) peer-review panel has broadly endorsed EPA’s draft risk assessment of formaldehyde that adopted controversial research linking workplace exposures to the chemical with leukemia, potentially opening a door for rules based on those findings, but industry is challenging the review process in court.
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A group that advocates for restaurant workers is urging OSHA to include kitchens in its forthcoming standard for heat danger, escalating labor groups’ recent calls for the rule to extend beyond outdoor job sites and to mandate protections such as sufficient breaks, heat education and acclimatization plans for all employees.
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As expected, California OSHA (Cal/SOHA) officials’ latest update to proposed first-time employee-safety rules for heat illness prevention at indoor worksites rejects pressure from worker-safety advocates and some of the agency’s standards board members to tighten the draft by lowering temperature thresholds that trigger protective actions.
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The train operator involved in the Feb. 4 train derailment and chemical spill in East Palestine, OH, has reached a settlement with OSHA and its own union to resolve four citations issued regarding worker safety violations and hazards, agreeing to add new medical surveillance and emergency response training, among other commitments.
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An industry attorney is floating a wide range of legal critiques of EPA’s proposed TSCA rule for the solvent perchloroethylene (PCE or perc), including an argument that it is unlawfully regulating in an area that OSHA has already addressed -- even though the workplace safety agency says its chemical-exposure rules are outdated.
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Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is calling on EPA to “claw back” almost $100,000 of money “wasted” by former Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) chair Katherine Lemos, following a report from EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) that found she misspent board funds on travel and other expenses during her time as its sole member.
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A Georgia construction company will ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to review a case where an administrative law judge (ALJ) upheld an OSHA citation for fall-protection violations by a subcontractor under the firm’s control, based on a finding that it exercised “no care” as the controlling employer at its job site.
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The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is touting releases of 12 final investigation reports since July 2022, saying it has completed two thirds of the agency’s “enormous” backlog of work within the past year and is on track to “completely eliminate” the list by the end of 2023, as board staffing gradually improves following years of shortages.
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California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board has approved a petition asking the agency to develop an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to protect workers from exposure to crystalline silica in “engineered stone fabrication shops,” citing a current “crisis” where a growing number of workers are developing advanced silicosis, a serious lung disease.
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Republicans on the House COVID-19 committee have opened an investigation of OSHA’s development and implementation of its now-abandoned COVID-19 vaccination rule, probing how the standard came to be and requesting extensive documentation and communications from the agency to investigate “any wrongdoing by government officials.”
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EPA’s proposed TSCA rule on carbon tetrachloride (CTC) is drawing heavy criticism from environmentalists, with one key advocate saying the plan is fatally flawed because it proposes only worker protections rather than banning uses of the solvent, meaning it fails to protect fenceline communities whose exposures may increase under some safety measures.
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Employer and industry groups are making last-ditch efforts to convince California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) officials to ease key sections of the agency’s proposal to strengthen worker-safety rules for lead exposure in the construction sector and general industry, ahead of an upcoming vote by a divided standards board on the measures.
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Chemical industry groups are warning that thousands of facilities could face increased risk of terrorist attacks after the Senate adjourned for its summer recess without approving pending House legislation reauthorizing the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) chemical facility security program for two years before its authority expired July 27.
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Prompted by a White House call, the Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a heat hazard alert reminding employers they have a legal duty to protect workers from high heat while also re-upping pledges to step up enforcement of such measures but worker safety advocates say those actions do not go far enough and are renewing their calls for OSHA to issue an interim heat standard while it works on a permanent regulation.
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Facing a looming July 27 deadline, Congress appears poised to reauthorize the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) chemical facility security program for two years, after a key senator agreed to support a House bill that fell short of his push for a longer five-year extension.
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Senate health committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT), along with more than 100 Democrats, are pressing OSHA to quickly adopt a strict heat protection standard, arguing in part that such a measure is needed to preempt states like Texas that are curbing local efforts to protect workers from stifling heat, which has already resulted in several worker deaths.
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OSHA recently posted a slew of new regulatory interpretation letters offering responses to employers’ and industry professionals’ questions on matters such as the categories of chemicals considered “associated with” formaldehyde gas, occupational noise exposure standards, shipment of hazardous materials and silica dust exposure control methods.
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