A panel of D.C. Circuit judges appear likely to rule on the merits of the Biden-era TSCA framework rule laying out procedures for evaluating existing chemicals’ risks to workers and others, after judges repeatedly questioned EPA and industry attorneys’ arguments that the court lacks jurisdiction to do so.
March 23, 2025
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A federal appellate court has backed calls from labor and other groups to hear oral arguments March 21 in a case over EPA’s Biden-era TSCA framework rule laying out the procedures for evaluating -- and thus regulating -- worker and other risks under the law, though the court has directed the parties to discuss EPA’s request to remand the rule.
Worker advocates and Kentucky’s governor are raising concerns about recently passed state legislation that if enacted would block regulators from enforcing years-old rules that are less protective than federal OSHA standards, setting up a test of whether the Trump administration will enforce statutory mandates for state program effectiveness.
A California lawmaker is advancing a bill to expand the state’s existing job-security protections for employees who refuse to perform “hazardous” tasks by providing such protection in cases where an employee “has a reasonable apprehension” that the task would result in injury or illness, and requiring full pay during the period of inactivity.
OSHA is seeking to renew an information collection request (ICR) related to COVID-19 reporting and recordkeeping requirements for healthcare employees to ensure compliance with Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) mandates even as the agency has stopped enforcing the requirements and plans to withdraw them through a rulemaking.
ExxonMobil is asking the 5th Circuit to vacate an administrative law judge’s (ALJ) findings of improper recordkeeping for failing to properly log work-related mental illnesses following a 2021 accident at the company's Texas facility, in a case that could test OSHA policies governing which medical professionals are qualified to make such determinations.
The Trump EPA is signaling plans to scale back Biden-era approaches for evaluating -- and thus regulating -- worker and other risks under TSCA, asking a federal appellate court to remand the so-called “framework” rule so that officials can reconsider it “in its entirety,” Nancy Beck, EPA’s newly appointed deputy chemicals chief, told the court.
A coalition of safety organizations is urging OSHA and employers to go beyond legal requirements and implement robust environmental, health and safety (EHS) practices, emphasizing that proactive risk mitigation not only enhances worker safety but also boosts productivity and contributes to economic growth.
Debra Lee, who has been serving as California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) acting chief for the past eight months, told state lawmakers during her March 5 confirmation hearing that her priorities include aggressively working to hire new staff to fill a substantial number of vacancies and ensuring that a new program to protect agricultural workers becomes fully operational soon.
Senate Democrats are raising concerns over whether the Trump administration will provide adequate funding for OSHA, given prior Republican lawmakers’ attempts to slash the agency’s budget, pressing Keith Sonderling on the issue at his confirmation hearing to be Labor Department (DOL) deputy secretary.