Congress Watch

New proposed legislation may give the The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  funding to assess the health and safety implications of nanotechnology in everyday products and develop best practices for companies who employ nanotechnology.  If passed, the Nanotechnology Safety Act of 2010, S. 2942, cosponsored by U.S. Senators Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Benjamin L.

Senator Al Franken (D-MN), on October 15, 2009, introduced legislation entitled the “Nurse Protection Act” (S. 1788), which would require OSHA to issue a standard mandating health care workers to use mechanical lift equipment when moving patients.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) was chosen on September 9, 2009 to succeed the late Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) as the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.  Sen. Harkin, who is the son of a coal miner, has long been active on labor and occupational safety and health issues and has been a long-time member of the HELP Committee.  The HELP Committee has jurisdiction over reform of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and Sen.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduced on August 5, 2009 the Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAWA)(S. 1580), which would amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) to expand coverage to encompass more workers, to increase civil and criminal penalties, and to increase and streamline protections for whistleblowers.  The bill is identical to the House version (HR 2067) which was introduced by Rep. Lynn Woolsey on April 23, 2009. 

Rep. John Kline (R-MN) was named on June 17, 2009, the ranking minority member of the House Education and Labor Committee.  Rep. Kline replaces Rep. Howard McKeon (R-CA) who recently left the Committee to serve as the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.  Rep. Kline had previously served as the ranking member of the Committee’s Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee.

On June 16, 2009, Sen. Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced a bill (S. 1274) that would limit a company’s ability to withhold corporate information under the “security sensitive information” (SSI) provision of the Maritime Transportation Security Act following an industrial accident. 

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) introduced on June 15, 2009 the Chemical Facility Antiterrorism Act of 2009 (HR 2868) which would extend for one year the temporary chemical security rules that were promulgated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in October, 2006.  The bill would also establish permanent regulations for facilities handling chemicals that could be used in terrorist attacks, create new requirements for those facilities, and extend coverage of the regulations to wastewater treatment plants. 

The Corporate Injury, Illness and Fatality Reporting Act of 2009 (H.R. 2113), was introduced in the House on April 27, 2009 by Rep. Phil Hare (D-IL).  This bill is aimed at “large employers,” defined as those with 500 employees or more that own and control more than one establishment, with the exception of employers in the construction industry.

At a House hearing, Jordan Barab, OSHA's newly appointed acting assistant secretary, said the agency is already working hard to revise its Enhanced Enforcement Program (EEP) and address all six recommendations made by a recent Office of Inspector General report that was highly critical of the OSHA program. 

Lawmakers, Mr. Barab and the other four witnesses at the April 30 hearing agreed that OSHA's EEP is not working as intended and needs to be improved.

On April 23, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) introduced HR 2067 "to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to expand coverage
under the Act, to increase protections for whistleblowers, to increase penalties for certain violators, and for other purposes."