Synergist - January 2012

Washington Insider
Super Committee Super-fail

At the tail end of 2011, the budget was
still the big story on Capitol Hill. The so-
called super committee’s failure in No-
vember to cut $1.2 trillion from federal
spending over the next ten years
spawned a couple of interesting possible
budget scenarios:
• Congress could accept the failure,
which would trigger automatic spend-
ing cuts. Defense would take the
biggest hit; however, other federal
agencies would see cuts of approxi-
mately 10 percent across the board.

Imagine what that would do to agencies such as OSHA, MSHA, and NIOSH.

• Congress could change the law that requires these spending cuts.

• Because the automatic spending cuts would not take effect until 2013, Congress could simply delay taking any final action on this issue until after the 2012 election. That tells you all you need to know about what might happen.

Regulatory Reform

Several legislative measures introduced
in Congress would make numerous
changes to how the regulatory process is
conducted in federal agencies. Although
this issue is still alive in the House, the
Senate rejected a bill containing many
of the proposals in November. This bill
would have frozen all rulemaking, re-
quired agencies to examine the indirect
impacts of their rules on small busi-
nesses, required Congressional approval
of regulations expected to cost more
than $100 million, permitted legal chal-
lenges to proposed regulations, and ex-
tended the coverage of the regulatory
flexibility act to agency guidance docu-
ments.

Regulatory Update

Here is a quick look at some of the pending regulatory issues that are of great interest to AIHA members and others:

Globally Harmonized System (GHS).

OSHA’s proposed rule to update its hazard communication standard with the GHS was sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Oct. 25. OMB has until Jan. 24 to provide its recommendation on the proposal. Industry has raised two concerns:

1. The original proposal provided manufacturers a three-year period before Safety Data Sheets (SDS) had to be updated. However, training for employees on the SDSs was to be completed within two years.

2. Another provision contains a U.S.-only enhancement to the GHS: the definition and use of “unclassified hazards.” Industry has concerns about this addition.

While AIHA has not seen the final proposal, we are still concerned that, under GHS, the TLV®s would no longer be required to be referenced in the hazard communication standard. AIHA and several other stakeholders oppose removal of the TLVs and recommend that they should at least be referenced in a nonmandatory appendix.

Silica. OSHA’s proposal to lower the silica exposure level was sent to OMB in February 2011. AIHA recently sent a letter to OMB requesting that the proposal be sent back to OSHA with a recommendation one way or the other.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) column.

This OSHA proposal would add an MSD column to the OSHA 300 Log. At one point, OSHA withdrew the proposal due to opposition, but word is that the agency hopes to send it back to OMB. Republicans in Congress have expressed opposition and would likely get more involved if this issue were to move.

Injury and Illness Prevention Program (I2P2). Following several stakeholder meetings and OSHA’s public declaration that I2P2 is its number one priority, the momentum behind I2P2 seems to have dissipated. A small business regulatory review is the next required step, but this review has not yet been scheduled. While this remains OSHA’s top priority, it’s clear that the agency believes the effort will take several years.

And speaking of I2P2, MSHA is preparing an advance notice of proposed rulemaking that would create a similar program for mines. However, many stakeholders are concerned about the impact separate programs might have, especially for workplaces covered by both MSHA and OSHA.

Combustible dust. After waiting several years for the agency to develop a combustible dust standard, word is this issue will not be addressed until after I2P2. That means it is essentially done.

Aaron Trippler directs government affairs for more than 70 local sections and serves as AIHA’s chief liaison with Congress and federal agencies. He can be reached at (703) 846-0730 or atrippler@aiha.org.