California health officials are preparing on Jan. 1 to start reporting high lead-level blood tests of workers to Cal/OSHA and the agency must consider carrying out workplace inspections and requiring additional reporting by businesses, under the requirements of a controversial law Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) enacted last month.
September 16, 2026
OSHA is believed to be considering bringing a case testing whether it can cite an employer using a voluntary permissible exposure limits (PELs) for exposures to hazardous substances even when the exposure is below the federal PEL, say legal observers who nevertheless argue companies would have defenses against such a case.
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A government watchdog group is weighing a lawsuit against EPA after the agency denied its petition seeking to ban the refinery chemical hydrofluoric acid (HF) under its Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and Clean Air Act authorities, with the agency saying the group failed to provide sufficient facts to support a ban.
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Racing to meet an extended June 2020 deadline to complete 10 chemical evaluations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), EPA has released its latest draft risk analysis -- of a widely used solvent -- though it will almost certainly draw criticisms from peer reviewers who continue to criticize the agency’s risk methods.
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EPA’s has released a draft risk evaluation that finds scores of methylene chloride uses can pose unreasonable risks to consumers, workers and bystanders, a finding that opens the door to the agency adopting new toxics rules months after issuing a controversial measure that regulated only consumer uses of paint strippers containing the chemical.
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Thirteen Democratic state attorneys general (AGs) are citing preliminary investigation results from the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) on explosions at a Philadelphia refinery to reiterate their recent calls for EPA and the White House to “abandon” plans to roll back strict Obama-era Risk Management Plan (RMP) facility safety requirements.
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EPA is poised to release its draft evaluation of environmental and health risks from exposure to methylene chloride, according to a pending Federal Register notice, raising questions about what risk determinations the agency proposes, particularly regarding occupational exposures not addressed in its existing rule.
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Experts peer reviewing EPA’s new model for estimating lead concentrations in humans praised the agency’s years-long effort to craft a more-advanced model but urged the agency to clarify its applications and audience, with one peer reviewer noting increasing concerns about exposures given alleged flaws in OSHA’s lead standards.
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Environmentalists are urging EPA to quickly use authority under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to address acute human health risks that exposure to the solvent chemical 1-bromopropane (1-BP) presents to workers and the very young, even before the agency finalizes its TSCA risk assessment of the substance.
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Industry officials are optimistic that the White House will approve a pending final EPA rule to repeal Obama-era Risk Management Plan (RMP) facility safety requirements, and an environmentalist opposed to the effort says the agency “seems intent” on finalizing the delayed rollback.
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