OSHA Releases Fall 2011 Reg Agenda January 2012
On January 20, the Department of Labor announced its Fall 2011 regulatory agenda. The agenda itself can be found at http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owasrch.search_form?p_doc_type=UNIFIED_AGENDA&p_toc_level=0. The Department’s Statement of Regulatory Priorities explaining the agenda in the context of its overall Good Jobs for Everyone initiative as well as its Plan/Prevent/Protect Compliance Strategy (http://www.dol.gov/regulations/2010RegNarrative.htm) can be found at http://www.dol.gov/asp/regs/Fall2011RegAgenda.pdf.
Two things are most interesting about this reg agenda. One is that rulemaking efforts that have gotten the most political attention over the last several years – diacetyl and combustible dust – have been put at the bottom of the list and made “Long Term Actions.” A standard on beryllium joins them down there.
The second is that OSHA is putting its foot back into the PELs game, with the inclusion of Review/Lookback of OSHA Chemical Standards at the Prerule stage in this agenda. The move is somewhat surprising that this contentious issue is being put out there in the midst of the high political season, but not inconsistent with the work going on at OSHA, since the Agency and NIOSH have been talking about finding ways to deal with the issue since the early days of this Administration.
GHS is scheduled for final action in February, but OMB has requested a second 90 day review period so the likelihood of GHS coming out anytime in the next couple of months is not very good. The main issue seems to be heavy lobbying at OMB/OIRA by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups who are opposed to the way “unclassified hazards” are being addressed in the rule and who are challenging the economic impact analysis prepared by OSHA.
Crystalline silica, long held up at OMB, is also scheduled for the next step of a notice of proposed rulemaking in February, as is Improved Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses (recordkeeping).
As indicated already in this GA Update, OSHA’s I2P2 rulemaking is moving ahead with SBREFA review to begin shortly.