The veiled legacy of President Bush: Special to the Jewish Times

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.jewishtimes-sj.com/news/2008/1212/columns/006.html

Here's the latest rule the Bush administration is rushing to put into effect as the clock ticks down to January 20. The Labor Department is crafting a new rule that would make it much more difficult for the government to regulate toxic substances and hazardous chemicals to which workers are exposed on their jobs.

The Labor Department has the responsibility of regulating occupational health hazards and protecting workers against such toxins as asbestos, benzene, cotton dust, formaldehyde, lead, vinyl chloride and blood-borne pathogens, including the virus that causes AIDS. Currently, assessments are being made on silica, beryllium and diacetyl, a chemical that adds a buttery flavor to some types of microwave popcorn. Two agencies in the Labor Department would be directly affected by the ruling, Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) and Mine Safety and Health. They would have to publish "advance notice of proposed rule making" and solicit public comment on studies, scientific information and data to be used. The ruling would require federal agencies to gather and analyze "industry-byindustry evidence" of employees' exposure to a particular substance during their working lives. The proposal adds a new step to a the process for protecting workers' health that already is long and complex.

As word of this proposal has leaked out, business groups have given their support, while public health officials and labor unions have launched strong criticism. There's nothing new about the opposing forces here. What is new is that President-elect Barack Obama has been an outspoken advocate of worker safety and regulation of toxic substances. During the presidential campaign, Mr. Obama attacked the regulation of workplace hazards by the Bush administration. In September, he joined four other senators to introduce a bill that would prohibit the Labor Department from issuing the very rule it is now drafting. He also signed a letter that urged the department to drop the proposal, saying it would "create serious obstacles to protecting workers from health hazards on the job." The assistant secretary of labor for policy, Leon Sequeira, responded with a categorical denial. "This proposal does not affect the substance or methodology of risk assessments, and it does not weaken any health standard." He said the proposal would allow the department to "cast a wide net for the best available data before proposing a health standard." The key word in that statement is "before." How long would casting the wide net take?

Margaret Seminario, director of occupational safety and health for the A.F.L.-C.I.O., answered that question. She said the new rule could add two years to a process that often takes eight years or more at present. "The administration is rushing to lock in place requirements that would make it more difficult for the next administration to protect workers." She added, "This rule is being pushed through by an administration that, for the last seven and a half years, has failed to set any new OSHA health rules to protect workers, except for one issued pursuant to a court order." A new president can reverse executive orders that were put into place by his predecessor. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush did that in certain cases. But it is far more difficult to reverse or revoke a ruling that has been put in place as part of the Code of Federal Regulations that have the force of law. To make such a change, the new administration must solicit public comment and supply a "reasoned analysis" as if it were issuing a new ruling, according to a Supreme Court decision.

FULL story at link.