March 2021: Virus Worker Safety Rule Tests Biden After Trump DOL Nixed Draft

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I'm clearing out old emails.

I usually hit a paywall at Bloomberg Law. This article seems to be freely available.

Virus Worker Safety Rule Tests Biden After Trump DOL Nixed Draft

EXCLUSIVE
March 23, 2021, 3:27 PM

• Agency career officials wrote draft rule last spring
• Template was rejected by Trump DOL leaders

Career officials at the U.S. Department of Labor drafted an emergency rule last spring to impede the spread of Covid-19 in the workplace, but it was scuttled by Trump appointees—a previously undisclosed development that sheds new light on the Biden administration’s delay in releasing a similar regulation.

As the scope of the public health crisis came into focus during the pandemic’s initial weeks, officials at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration raced to write an emergency temporary standard aimed at preventing workplace exposure, according to two former DOL officials with direct knowledge.

By April 2020, at least three senior Trump administration officials—Loren Sweatt, head of OSHA at the time; Patrick Pizzella, the deputy labor secretary; and Eugene Scalia, the labor secretary—had seen the draft or were briefed on its contents, the sources said. The three political appointees, who have since left DOL, all rejected the idea, contending that it would have been ineffective and cumbersome for businesses, the sources said.

The existence of the draft, which hasn’t been previously reported, reveals OSHA wasn’t starting from scratch when President Joe Biden took office and ordered the agency to consider issuing an emergency standard for Covid-19. The Biden-led DOL has since missed the president’s March 15 deadline for release of a proposal, and agency leaders have yet to say publicly that they’ve determined an emergency standard is needed.

{snip}

Trump-Era Deliberations

OSHA’s 2020 draft rule was in an early stage when Trump DOL leaders were briefed on it, according to the two former DOL officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to relay internal discussions. One of them said OSHA officials prepared the draft in case Congress ordered the agency to issue an emergency standard in a week or less, though that never happened.

The other ex-official questioned why the Biden administration had yet to release an emergency standard, saying there already was a policy framework before the beginning of the presidential transition.

Beyond the 2020 draft, the Obama administration had written a draft rule to protect health-care workers from airborne transmissible diseases. Though that effort stalled in 2015, some workplace safety advocates have said that rule also could be used as a backbone for a Covid-19 standard.

{snip}

—With assistance from Ben Penn

To contact the reporters on this story: Ian Kullgren in Washington at [e-mail]; Bruce Rolfsen in Washington at [e-mail]

To contact the editors responsible for this story: John Lauinger at [e-mail]; Martha Mueller Neff at [e-mail]

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Follow up: Virus Workplace Rule Still MIA Three Months After Biden Order

This is a follow up article.

Virus Workplace Rule Still MIA Three Months After Biden Order

April 21, 2021, 9:31 AM

{snip}

State Actions

{Mike Wright, who’s retiring after four decades as director of safety and health for the United Steelworkers,} said he expects a federal standard to face a court fight, but that OSHA and DOL shouldn’t delay the rule out of that concern. ... “OSHA might lose, but it is far better for OSHA to take this on and lose than to not take it on at all,” Wright said.

Virginia, California, and Oregon issued their own Covid-19 emergency temporary standards last year. All took more than four months to draft and enact. ... State legislatures in Maryland and New York passed bills in April requiring state agencies to enact virus worker protections, but governors have yet to sign them into law.

Virginia worker groups petitioned the state on April 23 last year for a Covid-19 standard, and Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signed an executive order on May 26 instructing state agencies to begin drafting it. The regulation took effect July 27, following four days of debate by the state Safety and Health Codes Board and a 10-day comment period.

Oregon officials announced June 27 that they would start drafting a standard. After several revisions and time for public comment, the rule was enacted Nov. 7. ... California worker advocates petitioned the state on May 20 to consider a rule. After state agencies agreed a standard was needed and the state Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board held public meetings, the emergency rule was issued Nov. 30.

Doug Parker, a California official who helped draft the regulation, is now the Biden administration’s nominee to lead federal OSHA.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bruce Rolfsen in Washington at [e-mail]

To contact the editors responsible for this story: John Lauinger at [e-mail]; Martha Mueller Neff at [e-mail]