Fertilizer Exemption Guidance Vacated in Win for Agriculture

Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidance narrowing the scope of exemptions to its Process Safety Management regulations amounts to regulation and should have gone through the rulemaking process, a federal appeals court ruled (Agricultural Retailers Assoc. v. DOL, D.C. Cir., 15-01326, 9/23/16).

Writing for a unanimous three-judge panel, Judge Sri Srinivasan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for District of Columbia Circuit said in the Sept. 23 opinion that the action was significant enough to require a traditional rulemaking procedure. The decision vacates the year-old action by OSHA. The court agreed with petitioners the Agricultural Retailers ...