OSHA has reworked weeks-old guidance for waste companies where workers could handle material contaminated by COVID-19 to say that the virus “does not require special precautions” other than those usually needed for waste handling, reinforcing claims by waste firms that their workers are already protected.
September 17, 2026
Two top House Democrats are urging Vice President Mike Pence to protect health care workers from coronavirus risks by immediately appointing a senior Trump administration official to coordinate the supply and distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the workers who are at high risk of exposure.
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Senators are looking to a third coronavirus relief bill to attach a three-month extension of the Department of Homeland Security’s facility safety program that is set to expire April 18, aiming to buy more negotiating time on separate legislation that would reauthorize the program but potentially also make substantive changes to it.
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EPA has issued its updated Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule for data collection that is set to begin this June, with a number of changes from the prior version intended to ease reporting for companies and better align data with changes in EPA’s toxics program following Congress’ 2016 reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
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OSHA has issued temporary guidance for discretionary enforcement of its respiratory protection standard that eases some requirements in order to boost access to adequate filtering facepiece respirators for healthcare workers during the coronavirus pandemic, but the guide falls short of Democrats’ calls for an emergency healthcare standard.
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The House early on March 14 approved by unanimous consent a bill to reauthorize the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) facility security program for 18 months, moving the measure to the Senate where some members favor replacing the CFATS program with a voluntary program similar to a plan suggested by the Trump administration.
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The Trump administration has blocked language in Democrats’ proposed coronavirus response bill that would force OSHA to set a temporary “emergency” standard to supply healthcare workers with protective gear, and the hospital industry is warning that the gear is not available in the quantities an OSHA rule would require.
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Federal agencies are scrambling to protect the U.S. workforce from the coronavirus threat, with EPA announcing that its staff should be prepared to soon start teleworking to reduce exposure risks and OSHA detailing a range of voluntary steps companies can take to reduce employees’ risks depending on their potential exposure.
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With the federal chemical security program’s power slated to expire next month, its future is in doubt as lawmakers are at an impasse over whether to eliminate and replace it with a voluntary effort that the Trump administration and some Senate Republicans favor, or temporarily extend it as House Democrats and some industry groups prefer.
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House Democrats are pushing legislation that would force OSHA to issue an emergency temporary standard to protect healthcare workers caring for patients suffering from coronavirus, noting there is no such mandatory federal policy and that Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance to protect the workers is not binding.
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The National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health (NIOSH) is launching a pilot study to evaluate workplace hazards facing landscapers and groundskeepers and to develop “appropriate” controls for one of the highest-risk sectors, seeking participants to take part as NIOSH eyes options for reducing workers’ exposures to substances like silica.
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A key House Democrat is questioning EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler over the regulatory impact of the administration’s decision to drop as the basis for its evaluation of trichloroethylene (TCE) studies showing in utero exposure can cause cardiac birth defects, asking whether this may allow the agency to avoid banning the chemical.
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Congress’ supplemental $7.8 billion funding bill to tackle the spread of the coronavirus includes $10 million for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to pursue worker-based training to prevent and reduce exposures to the virus of hospital employees, emergency first responders, and other workers at risk.
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OSHA and labor unions are opposing building industry groups’ call to sever and transfer the sector’s lawsuit over agency beryllium standards from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit to the 8th Circuit, which has stayed a long-pending challenge from other industry groups over the agency’s standards.
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A federal appeals court has rejected a hospital’s challenge to a penalty OSHA imposed under its General Duty Clause authority for not adequately addressing workplace violence, while sidestepping the hospital’s claim that the agency should instead have issued a rulemaking to address workplace violence rather than a citation.
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A court-appointed attorney is backing a finding by OSHA’s independent review panel that raised the bar for when the agency can cite a company for “repeat” violations for workplace safety rules and impose strict penalties, rejecting an agency challenge to the finding as ignoring the facts of the case and as moot because no remedy is possible.
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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has finalized a rule narrowing its definition of when contractors and franchisees are “joint employers” subject to labor safety and other laws, over the objections of worker safety advocates who fear the plan could increase risks to many employees by hindering OSHA's ability to enforce safety requirements.
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Building industry groups are urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit to grant their request to shift pending litigation over OSHA’s beryllium worker exposure rule to the 8th Circuit, arguing that their claims in the suit are substantially similar to other industry challenges to the rule in that circuit.
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EPA toxics officials are considering extending the deadline for companies to self-identify to the agency that they manufacture, process or import one of 20 chemicals the agency plans to assess in the coming months as officials grapple with how to divvy up the $1.35 million assessment fee in the face of industry confusion and concern.
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The California Chamber of Commerce is warning employers that state regulators are poised to adopt likely expensive and burdensome new worker safety regulations in the coming year, including tighter lead-exposure standards, more stringent wildfire smoke protections, and first-time indoor heat protection measures.
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