Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) submitted a comment letter to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to express concerns regarding OSHA’s proposed rule on “Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings.” SWACCA submitted comments on OSHA’s advanced notice of proposed rulemaking with the Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industry back in January 2022.
In the letter, Norman states that in a post-Chevron judicial environment, the proposed rule faces significant exposure to judicial scrutiny. Norman notes that as courts are now redirected to embrace their statutory interpretation duties in the wake of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the “vague authority of this proposed rule” under Section 6 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 “lends itself to judicial reconsideration” and that “its enforcement is better aligned with OSHA’s responsibilities under the General Duty Clause.” Moreover, Norman also says that the promulgation of the proposed rule “disregards worker safety and economic outcomes” including “heightened administrative and cost burdens, the furtherance of project delays, and unfair restrictions on small businesses while failing to provide a demonstrable increase in worker safety.” Norman concludes his letter by urging OSHA to reconsider the proposed rule to “encompass an outcomes-based and flexible approach.”
The full letter is available here.