Former OSHA officials and a coalition of over 100 labor groups are formally petitioning OSHA to craft a federal standard protecting workers from exposure to excessive heat, though one former official says that imminent Democratic legislation requiring such a standard is likely the most feasible path forward under the Trump administration.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is urging a federal court to reject environmentalists' suit seeking to require a rule mandating facilities report their accidental releases, charging, among other things, that the plaintiffs lack standing, though CSB says that if the court requires such a rule it may be “difficult” given administration plans to kill the agency.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is urging a federal court to reject environmentalists' suit seeking to require a rule mandating facilities report their accidental releases, charging, among other things, that the plaintiffs lack standing, though CSB says that if the court requires such a rule it may be “difficult” given administration plans to kill the agency.

EPA is faulting environmentalists' claims that a recent ruling vacating a highway agency's penalty delay backs their suit seeking to scrap the Trump administration's delay of an Obama-era update to EPA's facility safety program, arguing that the Clean Air Act grants EPA authority to set rules' effective dates, and that it sought input prior to issuing the delay.

Democrats are seeking to block President Donald Trump's July 10 executive order (EO) allowing for expedited approval of administrative law judges (ALJs) at OSHA, EPA and other agencies, charging that the proposal would politicize the hiring process and undermine the qualifications for such judges.

House Republican appropriators have rejected Democratic efforts to restore funding for OSHA in fiscal year 2019, prompting renewed criticism from Democrats that the Trump administration and their House GOP supporters are not adequately protecting workers, though companion Senate legislation seeks to increase OSHA funds in FY19.

House Republican appropriators have rejected Democratic efforts to restore funding for OSHA in fiscal year 2019, prompting renewed criticism from Democrats that the Trump administration and their House GOP supporters are not adequately protecting workers, though companion Senate legislation seeks to increase OSHA funds in FY19.

In response to the growing concerns about sexual harassment in the workplace, labor groups are launching a network aimed at mobilizing grassroots efforts to push for stronger regional OSHA enforcement over especially vulnerable workers in sectors such as healthcare, house keeping and farming, just as OSHA begins considering the issue.

In response to the growing concerns about sexual harassment in the workplace, labor groups are launching a network aimed at mobilizing grassroots efforts to push for stronger regional OSHA enforcement over especially vulnerable workers in sectors such as healthcare, house keeping and farming, just as OSHA begins considering the issue.

Labor supporters are concerned that President Donald Trump's just-announced Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, has often ruled in favor of employers in OSHA cases during his appellate court tenure, sparking fears that the conservative jurist will continue to express a “hostility” to the agency if confirmed to the high court.