The California legislature has passed a slew of new workplace safety laws – many of which would change the landscape for California employers. Now that the September 30 deadline for the governor to sign or veto bills has...more
After years of stagnation, we’ve finally seen movement on updating process safety regulations during the Biden administration. But the revamped PSM standard and RMP rules have yet to see the light of day. We’ll discuss when...more
On March 11, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the long-awaited Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention Rule (Final Rule), which concluded a nearly decadelong process — spanning three...more
For a relatively quiet 2023, 2024 is starting off with a bang. While we are keeping our eyes and ears open on these and any other relevant developments, we wanted to provide a summary of the key highlights from Fed OSHA’s new...more
On January 26, 2024, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its updated Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals Instruction, providing enforcement guidance related to compliance with...more
On January 26, 2024, OSHA published a revised enforcement manual for Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals (“Manual”). The Manual reflect OSHA’s first revisions to its prior directive issued in 1994 which is...more
Since August 2020, Cal/OSHA has issued COVID-19 citations with proposed penalties totaling almost $3,500,000. Cal/OSHA has not shied away from issuing citations related to COVID-19. As the pandemic subsides, Cal/OSHA...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) has issued three new decisions that appear to continue a favorable trend. On December 31, 2020, the quasi-judicial body overseeing enforcement actions by the...more
This roundup of recent environmental and regulatory law rulings and rulemakings includes an EPA deadline extended, a NEPA exclusion and PSM application upheld, and an unsuccessful appeal to the federal officer removal...more
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals (covering Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah) issued an opinion on Tuesday (10/27/2020) that expands the applicability of OSHA’s process-safety-management standard to...more
On Tuesday, October 27, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued a long- awaited decision in Sec’y of Labor v. Wynnewood Refining Co., LLC. That case originated in 2012 when OSHA inspected the company...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued a January 17th news release stating that Philadelphia Energy Solutions (“PES”) has been cited for violations of safety and health hazards related to process...more
Recently, the Occupational Safety and Health Commission (OSHRC or Commission) issued a decision in Secretary of Labor v. Wynnewood Refining Co., LLC (Wynnewood) that constitutes a dramatic expansion of the Occupational Safety...more
For the last thirty years, I have defended companies in OSHA enforcement actions. No matter how large or small the action, employers should always begin by evaluating the potential financial impact the OSHA citation could...more
On May 30, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed rule (Proposed Rule) that would rescind the majority of the amendments to the RMP rule that were finalized in January 2017 in the final days...more
In an April 30th memorandum to Regional Administrators, Tom Galassi (Director for OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs) announced that OSHA’s process safety management (PSM) standard, which establishes requirements for...more
The Washington Department of Labor and Industries’ Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) recently released a new draft safety rule that would increase existing Process Safety Management (PSM) requirements for...more
If you’ve ever wondered what a process safety standard drafted by a union would look like, the State of Washington’s recent draft Process Safety Requirements for Petroleum Refineries provides a glimpse. Using California’s...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: New OSHA guidance documents may provide employers in these industries with another tool for carefully measuring compliance with the PSM standards....more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has stayed the implementation of a significant revision of the Risk Management Program (RMP) rule pending the receipt of additional comments. Simultaneously, EPA has granted a request...more
Last month, Governor Jerry Brown released his proposed state budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year. This move represents only the opening salvo in a months-long budget negotiation that will occur over the next six months...more
On January 17, 2017, the outgoing administration left one last gift for the Process Safety Management (PSM) community: a new national emphasis inspection program. As the compliance directive notes, “Any violation of the PSM...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a final rule updating the Accidental Release Prevention rules at 40 C.F.R. Part 68, which implement the Clean Air Act Section112(r)(7) risk management planning program. ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a challenge brought by trade associations for the farm supply and fertilizer industries, the D.C. Circuit vacates OSHA memorandum narrowing the retail exemption from the PSM standard. The U.S....more
On September 23, 2016, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) wrongfully adopted new safety requirements for fertilizer dealers who have to comply with the Process Safety...more