OSHA Submits PEL RFI to OMB

Yesterday the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs reported that the DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) submitted a request for information (RFI) concerning a possible rulemaking to update the OSHA permissible exposure limit (PEL) regulations. This RFI has been on the Unified Agenda since the Fall of 2011.

The last time that OSHA attempted to update the PEL listings was in 1989 and that rulemaking was overturned by the Courts. Apparently OSHA has been trying to figure out since then how to overcome the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals’ objections to ‘deficiencies in OSHA's analyses’.

Given the controversial nature of this issue, I expect a lengthy OMB review of the RFI.

RHETORICAL QUESTION: Does ‘RFI’ really mean ‘We don’t know what to do so Punt?’