OSHA has issued a final rule reversing course on a prior proposal that would have revoked Obama-era occupational exposure standards for construction and shipyards, saying that undoing the standards would be at odds with the agency’s statutory mandate to protect workers from proven significant health risks of exposure to beryllium.
The White House has approved two OSHA measures aimed at revising portions of the Obama administration’s final beryllium rules for the construction and shipyard sectors but without repealing them, a move that is likely to spark heated opposition and resumed litigation from key industry groups.
Labor and other groups are threatening to sue EPA over allegations that the agency is inadequately releasing information about new chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), detailing concerns that they will likely urge the agency to address as it prepares to release a new framework for its new chemicals review process.
EPA has sent to the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) for pre-publication review its final rule aimed at repealing Obama-era changes that tightened facility safety risk management plan (RMP) requirements, moving ahead on the measure after repeated delays.
House lawmakers still appear divided on legislation that would reauthorize and strengthen the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) chemical facility safety program as the House Energy and Commerce Committee takes up the issue, though they are pledging to continue working towards an agreement.
A federal judge appeared skeptical of environmentalists’ landmark efforts to pursue claims against EPA under both the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) when the agency denied their TSCA section 21 petition seeking rules requiring additional asbestos reporting.
Administration efforts to address lead-paint dust in residential settings are facing wide-ranging criticisms, with EPA’s Inspector General (IG) charging the program lacks goals or ways to track progress and the agency’s advisors and environmentalists questioning why the agency has yet to update its lead dust clearance standards for contractors.
OSHA is facing a stakeholder battle as it proceeds with its plan to drop a rulemaking to rescind ancillary provisions from its beryllium rule for the construction sector and instead tailor the provisions, with industry groups suggesting they may sue as the agency lacks evidence for a threshold finding while health groups are citing studies backing the effort.
EPA has issued guidance to aid small business as they work to comply with the agency’s recent ban on consumer uses of paint strippers containing methylene chloride, though it is not clear whether the guidance will address charges from manufacturers that the ban may make it difficult for some small entities to continue to purchase the products.
House lawmakers appear poised to resume their efforts to renew the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) chemical facility safety program when they return from their recess, though it is unclear whether their past pledges to seek a bipartisan deal on the issue will bear fruit.