Department of Labor March 16, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On February 28, 2006, OSHA published a final rule for Occupational Exposure to Hexavalent Chromium (Cr (VI)). Public Citizen Health Research Group (Public Citizen) and other parties petitioned for review of the standard in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The court denied the petitions for review on all but one issue. The Third Circuit remanded the employee notification requirements in the standard's exposure determination provisions for further consideration. More specifically, the court directed the Agency to either provide an explanation for its decision to limit employee notification requirements to circumstances in which Cr(VI) exposures exceed the permissible exposure limit (PEL) or take other appropriate action with respect to that paragraph of the standard. After reviewing the rulemaking record on this issue, and reconsidering the provision in question, OSHA has decided to propose a revision of the notification requirements, by means of this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), that would require employers to notify employees of the results of all exposure determinations.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is responsible for developing and implementing the collection of new data on green jobs. The resulting information will assist policymakers in planning policy initiatives and understanding their impact on the labor market, and will facilitate the monitoring of labor market developments related to protecting the environment and conserving natural resources. BLS activities also will be useful to State labor market information offices in their efforts to meet the need for information for State policymakers, businesses, and job seekers.