House Democrats appear likely to step up their oversight of EPA’s implementation of the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) after the agency sidestepped their calls to ban workplace uses of methylene chloride in paint strippers, an action they said would not protect workers.
September 17, 2026
House Democrats appear likely to step up their oversight of EPA’s implementation of the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) after the agency sidestepped their calls to ban workplace uses of methylene chloride in paint strippers, an action they said would not protect workers.
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Facing widespread criticism that its first-time ban on consumer uses of paint strippers containing methylene chloride does not protect workers, the agency's top toxics official is leaving the door open to taking future action to limit workplace risks under the revised toxics law though she stopped short of pledging to ban the chemical's commercial uses that many critics are seeking.
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A just-issued analysis of new OSHA data from a labor group shows a drop in the agency's “complicated and high-impact inspections” and a “historic low” number of inspectors even as workplace fatalities increased, suggesting a road map for lawmakers as they weigh the agency's budget request to hire nearly three dozen new inspectors and other personnel.
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State and local emergency response officials are renewing their call for EPA to promulgate an accident prevention rule to address chemical spills under the Clean Water Act (CWA), criticizing the agency's decision to drop plans for such a rule as a dereliction of duty and arguing recently released EPA data does nothing to support the agency's decision.
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Republicans and the chemical industry are rejecting Democrats' calls to require industry to share data with first responders under the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program, a step intended to fill the gap left by EPA's planned rollback of an Obama-era risk management plan (RMP) rule.
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The Trump administration is requesting a slight increase for OSHA’s overall budget for fiscal year 2020, with some additional funds aimed at hiring new whistleblower and facility inspectors in high-hazard industries, a plan that is likely to ease concerns from Democrats, who have highlighted what they say is the agency's inadequate inspection force.
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The Labor Department (DOL) is asking a federal court to stay litigation brought by state and citizen groups challenging OSHA's bid to delay provisions of the Obama-era recordkeeping rule for 2017 until after the court resolves the groups' separate challenge to the Trump administration's measure rolling back the rule's requirements.
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The Labor Department (DOL) is asking a federal court to stay litigation brought by state and citizen groups challenging OSHA's bid to delay provisions of the Obama-era recordkeeping rule for 2017 until after the court resolves the groups' separate challenge to the Trump administration's measure rolling back the rule's requirements.
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Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch in a new dissent claims there is “mounting criticism” of the Chevron principle that gives primacy to OSHA and other agencies’ interpretations of unclear laws, raising the stakes for pending cases that could give the court’s strengthened conservative majority an opening to narrow or scrap the doctrine.
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