OSHA, EPA and other state and federal agencies are taking steps to protect healthcare and other workers against potential exposure from the deadly coronavirus, including OSHA’s suggestion that some existing standards might apply to preventing occupational exposure and EPA issuing guidance on using disinfectants to help limit the spread of diseases.
Even as EPA rolls back its facility safety rules, the White House is proposing to eliminate fiscal year 2021 funding for two key chemical safety programs -- the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) and the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program, worrying industry officials who fear the plan will undermine protections.
OSHA’s budget faces a slight cut from $581.2 million down to $576.8 million in President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2021 funding proposal, but the plan also includes small targeted funding increases for a host of agency programs including enforcement, compliance assistance, whistleblower programs, and more.
EPA will “probably” do a supplemental risk evaluation on legacy uses of asbestos under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), according to the agency’s toxics chief, in an effort to address the recent appellate decision requiring officials to assess such uses while not delaying work agency staff have already done analyzing asbestos' ongoing uses.
Facing legal and administrative deadlines, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has finalized a first-time rule that mandates reports from chemical facilities in the wake of accidental chemical releases, despite industry claims that the rule is unnecessary or that the board should rely on other accident reports that facilities submit to other federal entities such as EPA or OSHA.
EPA is defending its first-time toxics rule banning consumer uses of paint strippers containing methylene chloride from dual challenges filed by a chemical industry group and a coalition of labor and environmental groups, charging the industry claims fail on the merits while the coalition’s arguments are “unripe” and “unreviewable.”
EPA is defending its first-time toxics rule banning consumer uses of paint strippers containing methylene chloride from dual challenges filed by a chemical industry group and a coalition of labor and environmental groups, charging the industry claims fail on the merits while the coalition’s arguments are “unripe” and “unreviewable.”
Pressure is mounting on Congress to put aside partisan differences and reauthorize the Department of Homeland Security’s Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program before it expires in April, pressure that is likely to rise in the wake of EPA’s rollback of its related Risk Management Plan (RMP) program.
Pressure is mounting on Congress to put aside partisan differences and reauthorize the Department of Homeland Security’s Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program before it expires in April, pressure that is likely to rise in the wake of EPA’s rollback of its related Risk Management Plan (RMP) program.
A federal district court judge at a recent hearing questioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) over its justification for not including worker safety provisions in its revised swine slaughter facility inspection rule, according to a Public Citizen attorney who is suing over the rule for failing to protect against increased risks to facility workers.