Proposed acetylene rule skips OMB review, proceeds

Washington – A proposed rule that would align OSHA’s Acetylene Standard (1910.102) with consensus standards will skip a typical review and proceed directly to the final rule phase of the regulatory process.

The Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs routinely reviews “significant” proposed regulatory actions to determine potential costs and benefits. OMB found the changes to the Acetylene Standard – which would incorporate changes found in recent Compressed Gas Association consensus standards – to be “non-significant,” according to an OSHA spokesperson.

“OMB determined that it did not need to review the rule and that the agency could proceed with publication absent OMB review,” the spokesperson told Safety+Health magazine.

OIRA received the rule for review Oct. 19. Following OMB’s decision, OSHA withdrew the rule on Nov. 15 and is preparing to publish a direct final rule in the Federal Register. At deadline, the direct final rule had not been published, and the OSHA spokesperson said the agency did not have a publication date.

According to OSHA’s Regulatory Agenda, the direct final rule was originally scheduled to be published this past August.