In a surprise to some industry observers, EPA appears to be downplaying prospects that it will appeal a recent precedential ruling that rejected its efforts to limit litigation over its denial of a citizen petition under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to the administrative record, saying the agency will fight the litigation "on the merits."
OSHA has eased a controversial policy issued last year for determining whether a chemical is present in sufficient concentrations to warrant regulating a facility under the agency's process safety management (PSM) rule, after a legal settlement with the chemical industry that excludes hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acid from the policy and postpones enforcement.
The U.S. EPA has extended for a second time its deadline for public input on the agency's proposed rule strengthening protections for applicators of restricted use pesticides, granting a request from state regulators who have argued the rule would cause some states to overhaul programs and that more time is needed to review changes.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will hold an informal public hearing on Feb. 29 on its proposed rule amending existing occupational exposure limits to beryllium and beryllium compounds.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is planning to strengthen its industrial facility accident prevention program with new requirements for facilities to face independent audits, conduct hazard analysis, and share information with emergency planners and the public, though industry representatives are urging the agency to limit costly new revisions, saying the current program is working.
Safety activists are urging White House officials to ensure that the Environmental Protection Agency issues a final industrial facility safety rule that includes a mandate to use inherently safer technologies (IST) and to issue it before President Obama leaves office, after learning from EPA that the agency will likely delay proposing the rule and not mandate IST.
Federal chemical safety investigators approve of several actions taken by petrochemical giant BP -- particularly efforts to ensure workers can lodge safety complaints without fear of retaliation -- in the wake of the deadly 2005 explosions at the company's refinery in Texas City, TX.
OSHA should work to close identified gaps in regulations to better safeguard above-ground storage tanks, federal chemical safety experts looking into the circumstances of a 2009 gasoline tank explosion in Puerto Rico say.
A powerful coalition of agribusiness trade groups urged House lawmakers Wednesday (Oct. 7) to pressure OSHA into reversing course on a controversial interpretation of the agency's rule to prevent chemical process disasters, just as congressional Republicans took OSHA to task for a field guidance they say vastly expands the rule's reach without any formal avenue for public feedback.
A key Senate panel on government oversight will formally request that OSHA rescind several guidance documents that have far-reaching implications for the agency's rule designed to prevent chemical disasters, and then go back to the drawing board with a public rulemaking process, Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) tells Inside OSHA Online.