Chemical industry sources say OSHA has been “dismissive” of their concerns over its controversial proposal to add new data requirements for downstream chemical uses to its updated Hazard Communication Standard (HCS), and are not ruling out legal action if the agency proceeds with the rule as proposed.
A chemical industry group says it expects OSHA to finalize an updated Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) as early as the fall but is warning that the rule as proposed could exacerbate current supply chain issues in part because its new requirements for data on risks posed by downstream chemical uses are “impossible to comply with.”
OSHA has released four new regulatory interpretation letters that clarify requirements for companies' safety data sheets (SDS) under the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS), including new guidance on labeling variant products and lithium-ion batteries even as the agency is weighing a broader overhaul of the standard itself.
Environmental groups are urging EPA to draw on OSHA data on workplace chemical exposures in its newly announced “tiered” reporting rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), alongside arguments that officials should tighten their current plans for the rule in order to generate new data that could aid OSHA and other agencies.
Over the objections of labor unions and other groups, a federal appellate court has granted Biden administration requests to remand Trump-era evaluations of the flame retardant cluster known as HBCD as well as the solvent 1,4-dioxane, clearing the way for officials to redo the analyses without necessarily addressing petitioners’ legal claims.
A top official at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) says the sheer number of engineered nanomaterials in use has made targeted toxicity testing impractical despite a reporting mandate forcing agencies to focus on identifying analogues they can use as the basis for risk assessments.
An environmental group is urging EPA to tighten worker protections in a slate of proposed rules governing “significant” new uses of 32 chemicals, claiming they fall short of Trump-era enforcement orders and must be reworked to follow the hierarchy of controls (HOC) rather than focusing on protective gear.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has granted EPA’s request to remand without vacatur the Trump-era risk evaluation of methylene chloride, rejecting objections from unions, states and environmental groups that the agency’s plan to rework its analysis of the toxic solvent will not address several elements they claim are unlawful.
A new draft guide from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) says key data needed to set exposure limits for engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) remains scarce despite an EPA reporting requirement, while touting several agencies’ assessments of the substances as models for workplace protections.
Four staff scientists at EPA’s chemical safety office are asking the Office of Inspector General (OIG) to review their claims of long-running “fraud and corruption” in the TSCA program, saying managers and political officials across multiple administrations intervened in a host of cases to ease chemical risk findings, workplace safety mandates and other aspects of their risk evaluations.