Federal Agencies

Washington — OSHA is giving stakeholders until July 5 to comment on its proposed rule for crane operator certification requirements, the agency announced June 15.

Washington – OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration would receive modest budget cuts in fiscal year 2019 as part of a draft funding bill proposed June 14 by the House Appropriations Committee’s Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

Washington — Kristen Kulinowski will serve as the “interim executive authority” of the Chemical Safety Board after Vanessa A. Sutherland’s resignation as chair, the agency has announced.

Washington — The Chemical Safety Board is all but ensured of avoiding elimination for another fiscal year after the Senate allocated $11 million for the agency in its Interior, Environment and Related Agencies appropriations bill for FY 2019.

Washington — Two months after Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta touted OSHA’s increased number of inspections, the National Employment Law Project has released new data showing that the agency is coming up short in one measure.

Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued guidance intended to clarify the agricultural commodities exemption and the “personal conveyance” provision in driver hours-of-service regulations, according to separate notices published in the June 7 Federal Register.

Washington — OSHA has released initial enforcement guidelines for the Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard for general industry and maritime, a couple of weeks before many of the rule’s provisions are scheduled to go into effect.

Washington — The Chemical Safety Board faces two significant managerial challenges, the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General contends in a report released June 4.

Albany, NY — Attorneys general from New York, California and Maryland have filed a lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to indefinitely delay a requirement for employers to provide enhanced training intended to protect farmworkers, pesticide handlers and their families from exposure to pesticides.

Washington — Municipalities and motor carriers need to provide better oversight of school bus driver qualifications and operations, a recent special investigation conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board concludes.