Category: Enforcement and Inspection

As today’s workplace becomes more complex, regulation of that workplace increases. In this section, you’ll find the practical advice you need to understand exactly what OSHA, other federal agencies, and their state counterparts, require of you, and to comply in the ways that best satisfy both your and their needs. Look also for important court decisions, advice on how to handle enforcement actions, and news of upcoming changes in workplace health and safety law.

Free Special Report: What to Expect from an OSHA Inspection

OSHA Cites Contractors for Fall Hazards

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently cited a masonry and stucco contractor in Fort Worth, Texas, and a roofer in Orwell, Ohio, for exposing employees to fall hazards; the agency proposed six-figure penalties for each employer. OSHA September 17 cited RM Masonry and Stucco Inc. of Fort Worth for exposing workers to fall […]

Impaired Waters and TMDL Compliance

The EPA announced it transmitted the final 2020 Missouri Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 303 (d) List of Impaired Waters to the state on September 13, 2021. CWA Section 303(d) requires states to submit their lists of impaired waters to the EPA for approval every two years. “The 303(d) List is an important water quality […]

New York Bans New Sales of Gas-Powered Vehicles Beginning in 2035

New York has passed legislation to ban the sale or lease of new gas-powered cars and trucks in the state beginning in 2035. Governor Kathy Hochul signed Assembly Bill A4302/S2758 into law on September 8. The law set the goal for the state to require zero emissions for any new cars, trucks, off-road vehicles, and […]

EPA Rescinds Previous CWA Guidance Requirements

The EPA on September 16 rescinded its guidance document entitled “Applying the Supreme Court’s County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund Decision in the Clean Water Act Section 402 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit Program.” This guidance document was issued on January 14, 2021, by the Trump administration. “Using the tools provided by the […]

EPA Considers Rulemaking Related to Pyrolysis and Gasification Units

The EPA on September 8 issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) and called for public comments in the potential development of regulations for pyrolysis and gasification units that are used to convert solid or semisolid feedstocks into useful products. The feedstocks include solid waste (municipal solid waste, commercial and industrial waste, hospital/medical/infectious waste, […]

New PBT Chemical Rulemaking and Compliance Extension

The EPA announced September 3 it will initiate new rulemaking and plans to propose new rules for five persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals subject to risk management rules under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). In conjunction with this announcement, the EPA is also taking action to provide an extension on the compliance dates […]

Massachusetts Wetland Ruling Creates Complications for Property Buyers

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (Mass SJC) ruled on August 31 that the local conservation commission can sue new owners of real estate to require them to restore wetlands that were filled illegally, even decades after the illegal filling occurred. With this ruling in Conservation Comm’n of Norton v. Pesa, SJC-13058, the triggering event becomes […]

EPA Guidance on CWA WET Tests Challenge Dismissed

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on August 5 dismissed a challenge to EPA guidance documents in Southern California Alliance of Publicly Owned Treatment Works, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Guidance documents are often issued by agencies such as the EPA to provide government entities with a means to move quickly without having […]

Farmworkers Face Heat Risk Despite Regulations

Farmworkers in California remain at risk for heat-related illness despite farms’ compliance with the state’s heat illness prevention program standard, according to research from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).  Around 7% of farmworkers studied were at risk for heat-related illness despite compliance with California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) […]

Senators Say Biofuel Program Hurts Big Oil

Seventeen Republican senators on August 23 sent EPA Administrator Michael Regan a letter urging him to waive or significantly lower the 2020 renewable volume obligation (RVO) for Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) compliance and set the 2021 and 2022 “RVOs at levels that comport with reality.” Led by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and joined by 16 […]