On July 2, 2024, OSHA released the long-awaited Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings proposed rule. If finalized, the rule would require millions of employers to take steps to protect their workers from extreme heat. However, the proposed rule would not apply to “sedentary” or remote workers, emergency-response workers, or
EPA Turns Up the Pressure on Chemical Release Prevention and Preparation
On May 10, 2024, extensive revisions recently adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations (40 CFR Part 68) will take effect. The revisions, dubbed by EPA as the “Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention Rule,” reinstate certain Obama-era provisions previously rolled back under the Trump administration. However, the revisions also enlarge some of these provisions and add significant new requirements, including some that reflect the current administration’s focus on climate change and environmental justice.
The revisions require owners and operators of subject facilities to achieve compliance with most of the substantive requirements within three years (i.e., by May 10, 2027). RMP plans must be updated to reflect new applicable requirements and resubmitted to EPA within four years (i.e., by May 10, 2028). For certain other requirements (regarding emergency response field exercises), the compliance deadline is potentially shorter or longer than these three- and four-year periods, depending on the date of the facility’s most recent field exercise.
Once the rule takes effect, court challenges by both business interests and environmental groups are expected. However, given the unknown outcome of such challenges and the breadth and potential costs of the new requirements, potentially impacted facilities should begin assessing the applicability of the revisions now.
Background
The RMP regulations implement Section 112(r) of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (42 U.S.C. 7412(r)), which direct EPA to develop regulations to improve the prevention of chemical accidents at stationary facilities or activities (for brevity, referred to here simply as “facilities”) that use or store “regulated substances” that EPA has identified as presenting the greatest risk of harm from accidental releases. In particular, the owner and operator of a facility with one or more “processes” that manufactures, uses, stores, or handles such a regulated substance in excess of substance-specific threshold quantities must develop and implement a risk management program for all such processes, and document that program in a risk management plan submitted to EPA.
RMP requirements are generally similar to, and in some respects will overlap with, requirements under the Process Safety Management (PSM) program administered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). However, while OSHA’s PSM regulations focus on workplace safety, the RMP regulations focus primarily on minimizing the public impacts of accidental releases through prevention and emergency response.Continue Reading EPA Turns Up the Pressure on Chemical Release Prevention and Preparation
OSHA Withdraws Vaccination and Testing ETS
Effective January 26, 2022, OSHA withdrew its enforcement of its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), which would have required many employers to mandate vaccination or regular testing for employees. As we have previously discussed, the ETS had undergone a number of legal challenges. Most recently the United States Supreme Court stayed the ETS and…
Supreme Court Stays Implementation of OSHA ETS
As we have previously reported, the implementation status of OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) regarding COVID-19 vaccination or testing seems to change weekly. Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court reinstated the stay of OSHA’s ETS, ultimately sending the rule back to the Sixth Circuit to await a full review on the merits.
In the…
Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on Two Federal Vaccine Mandates
On December 21, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court took its first step into the fray over federal vaccine mandates. As we have previously posted, legal challenges to the Biden administration’s various vaccine mandates have been working their way through the courts since November. Most recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth…
Sixth Circuit Revives OSHA COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard
On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit lifted a stay of OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on COVID-19 vaccination and testing for employers with 100 or more employees. As we previously posted, the Fifth Circuit almost immediately issued a stay of the ETS after its release. The Sixth Circuit’s ruling…
OSHA Publishes Updated COVID-19 Guidance
On June 21, 2021, OSHA made big news by publishing its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard for the Healthcare Industry (ETS). While the ETS does not apply to most manufacturing facilities, OSHA also updated its general COVID-19 guidance earlier this month.
This guidance is intended to assist all employers and workers not subject to the ETS…
OSHA Implements COVID National Emphasis Program
As a part of its ongoing efforts to increase workplace attention on COVID-19, OSHA recently released a new COVID-19 National Emphasis Program (NEP), signaling a commitment to expand its inspection and enforcement efforts to protect workers at high risk for contracting the virus.
The NEP indicates that OSHA will target its inspections on high-risk industries…
OSHA COVID-19 Update
As COVID-19 cases have continued to rise across the United States, so have COVID-related OSHA complaints and investigations. OSHA has been tracking statistics on COVID-related complaints, referrals, inspections, and citations on a daily basis and posting the results posting the results on its website.
Federal OSHA has initiated over 1,000 investigations related to COVID-19. As…
OSHA Review Commission Issues Decisions on Machine-Guarding Violations
Manufacturing equipment can be dangerous. Hazards associated with manufacturing equipment can come in a variety of forms, such as pinch points, sparks, or flying debris. OSHA regulations require equipment with moving parts to have specific protection mechanisms in place – often referred to as machine guarding. Machine guarding can take many forms, such as barriers,…