A small coalition formed by the American Industrial Hygiene Association that includes the AFL-CIO and Organization Resources Counselors (a consulting group to mostly Fortune 500 companies) is pressing ahead in an attempt to find a way to update hundreds of outdated permissible exposure limits (PELs) used to protect workers from hazardous chemicals.
The group has been crafting possible draft legislation to provide an "expedited" way for OSHA to consider updating these limits. The coalition believes the only way for OSHA to succeed is for Congress to enact legislation that would pave the way for a new process. OSHA's last stab at updating the PELs through traditional rulemaking was shot down in court more than ten years ago on the grounds that the agency had not done a sufficient job of justifying new limits.