The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) and environmental groups are suing to compel the Trump administration to finalize EPA’s Obama-era proposed ban on use of methylene chloride in paint strippers, claiming that the June 2016 revised toxics law requires the agency to protect workers from unreasonable risks.
September 16, 2026
Exxon Mobil is urging an appellate court to uphold a ruling that barred the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) from enforcing document requests about chemicals that are stored on site but not released as a result of an incident, arguing the Clean Air Act does not provide CSB with power to subpoena for documents related to “potential” releases.
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The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is urging the Trump administration to ensure that EPA’s final rule banning use of methylene chloride in paint strippers protects workers by covering most commercial uses, fearing that the agency is likely to rely on a proposed training program in lieu of a comprehensive ban on the substance’s paint-stripping uses.
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The Trump administration has dropped planned rollbacks of Obama-era EPA pesticide rules intended to provide farmworkers with similar protections to workers in industries regulated by OSHA, part of a deal with Democratic senators to win confirmation for the Trump administration’s pick to lead EPA’s toxics office.
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House and Senate lawmakers have agreed to a one-year extension of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) ahead of a looming Jan. 19 deadline when the program's funding will expire, planning to use the next few months to debate potential legislative changes to CFATS.
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Public interest groups are suing EPA over its failure to ban paint-stripping uses of methylene chloride after finding that it does not meet the Toxic Substances Control Act's (TSCA) risk standard, marking one of the first legal tests of the agency's responsibilities to regulate toxic substances under the law since Congress revised it in 2016.
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Environmentalists fear a proposed EPA training program to limit commercial exposures to methylene chloride in paint strippers hints at a retreat from an Obama-era plan to prohibit the use outright, suggesting the agency will instead finalize a scaled-back ban that will allow some paint-stripping uses of the chemical despite potential risks to workers.
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The Senate unanimously confirmed President Donald Trump's nominees to lead EPA's toxics and international offices in the final hours of the 115th Congress, but his nominee to lead OSHA and the EPA office overseeing facility safety and waste cleanups remain stalled.
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EPA has denied a petition from health and other groups seeking to expand industry reporting of asbestos uses in the workplace, concluding the petitioners' proposal to drop exemptions from the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule aren't warranted because they would not provide new data and would not affect EPA's ongoing asbestos risk analysis.
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A coalition convened by NIOSH has outlined plans for a broad research agenda aimed at improving worker safety in the oil and gas extraction industry amid signs that while drilling activities have increased significantly, drillers may not be willing to invest in safety technologies and programs as fuel prices remain low, cutting into industry profits.
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