It’s that time of year again…when the federal government tells the regulated community what types of rulemaking initiatives that various agencies are undertaking for the year. Today, the semiannual regulatory agenda was published. This Regulatory Agenda provides a complete list of all regulatory actions that are under active consideration for promulgation, proposal, or review and covers regulatory actions for over 60 federal departments, agencies, and commissions.

The regulatory agenda for the Department of Labor includes a total of thirteen regulatory entries for OSHA specific actions.  In comparison, the regulatory agenda published in May 2016 had thirty two regulatory entries for OSHA specific actions. Additionally, sixteen agency actions have been removed completely from the current agenda, including Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP), Combustible Dust, and Noise in Construction.  These initiatives have been classified as “completed actions” and for each initiative OSHA states, “OSHA is withdrawing this entry from the agenda at this time due to resource constraints and other priorities.” The removal of these initiatives from the agenda aligns with the Trump Administration’s goal of effective and less burdensome regulation. And other prior agency initiatives, such as Preventing Workplace Violence in Healthcare, Infectious Disease, and the Tree Care Standard have been classified as long term actions.

Of those initiatives remaining for OSHA, five of the thirteen rulemaking actions still are in the pre-rule stage.  At this stage, OSHA is simply gathering relevant information through stakeholder meetings or outreach measures.  The remaining eight regulatory actions are in the proposed rulemaking stage, and include rules that were promulgated and finalized under the Obama Administration and recently reopened under the Trump Administration, such as Occupational Exposure to Beryllium.

A summary of some of the regulatory actions under consideration by OSHA include:

 

RULE

 

ANTICIPATED AGENCY ACTION

 

Communication Tower Safety

 

Complete SBREFA in August 2017

 

Powered Industrial Trucks

 

Request for Information in December 2017

 

Lock-Out/Tag-Out Update

 

 

Request for Information April 2018

Mechanical Power Presses Update

Crane Operator Qualification in Construction

Request for Information in February 2018

 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in July 2017

 

Blood Lead Level for Medical Removal

 

A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in April 2018

 

Occupational Exposure to Beryllium

 

A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Comment Period Ends August 2018

 

Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses

 

A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in October 2017

 The full federal Unified Agenda and Regulatory Plan can be found online at:

http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaMain

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Photo of Tressi L. Cordaro Tressi L. Cordaro

Tressi L. Cordaro is a Principal in the Washington, D.C. Region office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She is co-leader of the firm’s Workplace Safety and Health Practice Group. She advises and represents employers on occupational safety and health matters before federal and state…

Tressi L. Cordaro is a Principal in the Washington, D.C. Region office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She is co-leader of the firm’s Workplace Safety and Health Practice Group. She advises and represents employers on occupational safety and health matters before federal and state OSHA enforcement agencies.

Ms. Cordaro has advised employers faced with willful and serious citations as the result of catastrophic events and fatalities, including citations involving multi-million dollar penalties. Ms. Cordaro’s approach to representing an employer cited by OSHA is to seek an efficient resolution of contested citations, reserving litigation as the option if the client’s business objectives cannot otherwise be achieved. As a result, she has secured OSHA withdrawals of citations without the need for litigation.

Ms. Cordaro’s unique experience with government agencies involved in OSHA enforcement enables her to provide employers with especially insightful guidance as to how regulators view OSHA compliance obligations, and evaluate contested cases.

Ms. Cordaro served as the Presidentially-appointed Legal Counsel and Special Advisor to the past Chairman and Commissioner Horace A. Thompson, III at the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission (OSHRC) in Washington, DC, the agency that adjudicates contested federal OSHA citations. As the Commissioner’s chief counsel, Ms. Cordaro analyzed all cases presented to the OSHRC and advocated the Commissioner’s position during decisional meetings.

In addition, Ms. Cordaro worked at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration developing OSHA standards, regulations and enforcement and compliance policies, with emphasis on the construction industry. She has in-depth experience on technical issues including, in particular, issues related to cranes and derricks in construction.