The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is warning that a draft EPA rule allowing a new use of an existing chemical fails to adequately assess risks to workers and is “legally vulnerable,” suggesting a new chemical-specific path for groups to challenge EPA's approval of new chemical uses under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
Six states operating under OSHA-approved state plans have yet to adopt their own rules to implement the Obama OSHA's March 2016 regulation updating limits for exposure to silica, raising legal questions and warnings from observers that it poses a significant “compliance dilemma” and jeopardizes workers' safety.
EPA's Inspector General is launching a review of the agency's implementation and enforcement of its rule governing protections for contractors from lead paint dust during residential renovation and repairs, just as the agency is scrambling to comply with a court order to strengthen the rule's standard for determining when they must comply with the rule's safety requirements.
Manufacturers of slag abrasives used for industrial blasting, cleaning and other purposes are making an 11th-hour push to roll back OSHA's beryllium rule, releasing a new study that even non-slag abrasives, which some have suggested may be a safer alternative, contain beryllium, and that “unecessary regulations” impact the entire industry “regardless of material used.”
A new study linking low-level lead exposure with increased risk of adult deaths from cardiovascular disease could help EPA strengthen its cost-benefit analyses and drive new or updated rules to address the metal, including a measure addressing lead paint in public and commercial (P&C) buildings where the agency is struggling to assess risks to adults.
Nearly a year after missing a court deadline, EPA is renewing its calls to indefinitely delay a decision on whether it must regulate lead-based paint in public and commercial (P&C) buildings, even as it faces a steep deadline later this month to propose a companion measure updating its standards for lead paint in residential buildings.
Citing inadequate OSHA rules, labor unions are urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assess and strictly regulate chemicals that pose risks to workers, pushing back against industry efforts to require the agency to defer to OSHA to regulate those exposures.
A top House Democrat is working with NIOSH to identify “credible workplace exposure data” on various abrasive blasting materials that could be subject to the Obama OSHA's beryllium rule, suggesting policymakers are seeking to evaluate a controversial industry split over whether certain abrasive materials are subject to the rule.
A senior OSHA official is downplaying the prospect of significant consultation with EPA on chemical risks to workers under the revised toxics law as some industry groups have sought, calling the extent of such collaboration “hard to predict” and suggesting it is often unnecessary.
Industry officials are raising significant hurdles to the Trump administration's proposal to charge fees to assist facilities in complying with the agency's accident and spill prevention rules, arguing such a program is unnecessary or that companies will need liability waivers or other incentives to participate.