the head of the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the consideration of h r fifty five twenty two which the clerk will report by title a bill to require the secretary of labor to issue interim and final occupational safety and health standards regarding worker exposure to contest of all dust and for other purposes pursuant to the rule and the bill is considered read the first time the gentleman from an order the committee will be an order please the committee will be an order matter speaker i rise today a strong support of h r fifty five twenty two the combustible dust explosion and fire prevention act of two thousand and eight on february seventh that this year a huge explosion ripped through the imperial sugar refinery in port wentworth georgia eight workers died instantly and five more of died in the months since the explosion from the horrific burns that they suffered more than sixty workers were injured some so seriously that they will never fully recover this was a terrible disaster one of our nation's worst workplace tragedies of the past decade the cause of the explosion was combustible sugar dust and it may surprise many of us here that sugar d the cause of the explosion was combustible sugar dust it may surprise many of us that sugar dust can explode with such violence but it can and so can many other dusts that are commonly found in us industrial sites in two thousand and three three failed dust explosions occurred in the united states killing fourteen workers the u s chemical safety board investigated these incidents the board examined whether these tragedies were just coincidence or major national problem the chemical safety board also examine whether there were adequate laws to protect workers or whether new protections were needed a very difficult to speak over the committee will be an auditor would you please take your conversations off the floor which the chemical safety board found that these explosions were not a coincidence in fact between one thousand nine hundred eighty and two thousand and five one hundred nineteen workers have been killed and seven hundred eighteen injured in dust explosions that out that also extensively damage the industrial facilities the chemical safety board also found that there was no enforceable national regulations to prevent a combustible dust incident let me repeat that that the chemical safety board also found that there were no in forcible national regulations to prevent combustible dust and students the chemical safety board concluded that controlling controlling combustible dust explosions isn't a mystery in fact the first national fire protection association standards to prevent combat combustible dust explosions were issued in one nine hundred twenty three in november of two thousand and six the chemical safety board an independent federal agency whose members are all appointed by president george w bush concluded that the only way to prevent more worker deaths was for osha to issue a comprehensive standard covering combustible dust that was in november of two thousand and six but to this day osha has taken no action to issue a standard in fact osha refused to act despite the fact that seventy more combustible dust explosions have occurred since two thousand and six even now after thirteen needless deaths in georgia osha demonstrates no understanding of the urgency of this problem this is a shocking failure by the very government agency responsible for keeping workers say sadly this isn't the only time that osha has failed to act on a chemical safety board recommendation and it's not the only time where the result of that inaction has been the dull the death of american workers the chemical safety board warned osha in two thousand and two that new rules were needed to prevent reactive chemical explosions but osha refused to act then last december a reactive chemical explosion in jacksonville florida killed four workers because osha refused to act congress must now act congressman john borrow and i have introduced h r fifty five twenty two to four so should to do the job it should have done on its own the legislation require osha to issue an interim stat dust within ninety days in a permanent standard within eighteen months it would require osha to base the new standard on the national fire protection association standards osha says that the are already covered by numerous existing regulations but that simply is not true most of the distin standards do not even mention the word dust and do nothing to educate or inform employers and employees how to prevent dust explosions exist you notion standards also do not address what levels of duster are safe how to clean the dust safely or how to prevent dust from the accumulating at unsafe levels and it is not true as opponents of this bill say that we don't allow public input in fact oshie would have to conduct full public hearings and a small business review but to do so on an expedited basis that reflects the life or death urgency this issue because of the serious hazard posed by combustible dust and because osha has issued no major standard during this administration except under pressure of the courts or the congress and because osha unable to meet the regulatory deadlines itself it sets for itself it is necessary to set some tight deadlines for action it is also not true that this bill requires osha to adopt the national fire protection association standards the bill requires  sure to include only the relevant and appropriate provisions of the national fire protection association combustible dust standards while the national fire protection association standards have proven to be effective osha should use its discretion after full public hearings and comments to determine how the national fire protection association guidelines should be used in the in a final standard you will hear opponents of this measure say we should wait until ocean investigation is completed and the results of osha's current national impetus program are in but we have waited long enough and in fact again the chemical safety board recommendations predate that accident based upon the urgent need for these regulations to save american workers lives and to prevent their injuries prior to that time again if oh she doesn't act we must we know that most businesses are doing the best they can to make their workplace sa but it is also clear that other businesses may not be doing enough to ensure the safety of their employees the bottom line is that workers need protection and the agency established by congress thirty seven years ago to protect workers has once again failed in that duty the goal today is to protect workers from those preventable explosions and we believe that this legislation accomplishes that goal without imposing unreasonable burdens on employers i want i want to leave the house with the closing words of a witness that appeared before the educational labor committee tammy miser tammy misers brother sean boone was killed in the combustible duff's explosion in two thousand and three tami recounted the terrible suffering that her brother went through before he died her hopes that something would happen after the chemical safety board recommendations were to shoot and her disappointment that osha has yet to act even after the imperial sugar explosion tammy left us with this one request and i quote that you not let our loved ones die in vain and help us to keep other families safe from the dangers of combustible dust it's the least we can do for sean boom the workers the port wentworth and many other workers who have needlessly lost their lives madam speaker i strongly urge that all of my colleagues will support h r fifty five twenty two and i reserve the balance of my time the gentleman resent this time the chair recognizes the gentleman from california thank you madam chair i rise in opposition to the bell at this time and in this form and i yell myself such time as i may consume the lot in consideration of this bill is a somber occurrence it reminds us that less than three months ago workers at the imperial sugar refinery in port wentworth georgia lost their lives to a tragic worst workplace accident even today many others remain injured as with any workplace accident of this magnitude the occupational safety and health administration or osha was dispatched to the scene to investigate what went wrong preliminary reports indicate that the explosion was linked to com ible dust a known hazard for it which for which at least seventeen osha standards currently apply osha has six months to complete its investigation a timeframe that i think is appropriate for any injury of this seriousness i expect that investigation to provide us a thorough candid examination of exactly what went wrong so that steps can be taken to prevent such an accident in the future among the first questions osha needs to answer is whether existing safety guidelines were followed at the imperial refinery this question is fundamental it will tell us whether the cause of this accident was a lack of sufficient safety standards or a failure to follow all the standards that exist the bill before us today presumes that current safety standards were insufficient but the truth is we don't yet know whether that is the case less than three months after the accident osha has not even had an opportunity to complete its investigation we cannot possibly provide effective new safety standards when we don't know what standards if any were lacking i understand why we're here today like chairman miller representatives beryl and kingston who are represent the refinery and surrounding areas and all members of this body i grieve for the workers who lost their lives but making an end run around the proven process esper establishing workplace safety guidelines is the wrong answer at the wrong time the bill before us proposes a highly prescriptive regulatory mandate in an excruciatingly compressed time frame more concerning still osha the agency that would be responsible for implementing these new requirements does not believe this bill will produce the most effective safety measures of course this is not to say that we should do nothing in the face of such an accident to the contrary i believe osha has a responsibility to complete a thorough aggressive investigation of the accident at the imperial sugar refinery to determine its causes and consider whether additional regulatory guidance is needed if it becomes clear that existing standards are ineffective osha should move forward with a robust regulatory process that provides clearer more effective guidance on combustible dust i want to be clear on this point this bill at this time and in this form is not the only opportunity to strengthen safety standards for combustible dust osha itself has not ruled out additional regulations if it becomes clear that the seventeen existing standards that apply to workplaces with combustible dust hazards are not effective or clear enough to protect workers the danger of combustible dust in the workplace is a serious concern and i've committed to appropriate and effective safety measures that's why we plan to offer an alternative proposal today that calls from a more comprehensive approach that would include stakeholder him put an expertise in a reg any regulatory action that may be needed we had hoped to see another remember made in order as proposed by representative kingston because of the compressed timetable in the bill osha will not have to take into account economic p's ability of the standard mr king's dozens of men would have simply asked that a study on the job losses resulting from the standard to be reported to congress surely it would not have been too much to ask whether congress was eggs exacerbating job losses in an already weakening we a commie but unfortunately that amendment was not made in order still i continue to believe we can work together in good faith to protect workers safety without undermining the proven wrote to developing affective enforceable safety protections i reserve the balance of my time gentlemen was that this time the gentleman from california is recognize thank you madam chairman women this past monday was workers memorial day workers memorial day is the day when we remember those who have lost their lives or have been injured as a result of unsafe health and safety conditions in the workplace on workers memorial day we also recommit to the fight for safe working conditions for every single worker in america so ma'am chairwoman it's fitting that today we are considering h r fifty five twenty two the workers protection against combustible dust explosion fires act which was introduced by chairman miller and representative borrow a bill that requires osha to develop a standard for  i'm proud to be a co sponsor of that bill and i want to commend chairman miller and representative baro because they introduced it like other members of congress i was absolutely shocked and saddened by the combustible dust explosion at the imperial sugar company in port wentworth georgia which resulted in thirteen deaths and sixty injuries my heart goes out to the families of those who died and my hopes and prayers all of our hopes and prayers are  workers who were seriously injured the survivors have a tough road ahead of them unfortunately men and chairwoman this explosion like so many other workplace incidents have occurred that have occurred lately could have been prevented and that's the most important part of it it didn't need to happen and lives were census lead lost more workers remain in critical condition that's why immediately after the explosion chairman miller and i sent a letter to osha demanding that the agency begin work on a standard for combustible dust such a standard was recommended not last year but longer than that ago a year and a half ago at least by the chemical safety board and in and that's an independent federal agency charged with investigating chemical accidents but osha has failed to act on this recommendation and unfortunately but not surprisingly osha has failed to respond to our letter in a timely manner so that's why we in congress need to act and we need to act now we must act just as we did when we passed r twenty six ninety three the popcorn lung disease perfect prevention act that was legislation that requires osha to issue an emergency temporary standard to regulate workers exposure to die as a t l a chemical used in butter flavoring for microwave popcorn and other food products a chemical that was killing and injuring workers i wish that we could trust osha under this administration to do the job that was laid out for them but we cannot so that's why i urge my colleagues past eight our fifty five twenty to take care of our workers thank you dust explosion and fire prevention act we all share i believe the common goal of working to protect employees from hazards in the workplace the accident at the imperial sugar refinery in georgia is a tragedy it must be fully investigated the department of labor's occupational safety and health administration has undertaken the investigation that byelaw must be completed within six months the results of this investigation will help identify the cause of the imperial sugar accident i appreciate the concern about worker safety but as lawmakers we have a responsibility to debate and act laws that are reasonable the bill before us today is an impulse of attempt to rush into action before osha can complete the investigation under this bill osha were will be required to adopt an interim rule within ninety days of an accident and a final rule within eighteen months this excel or a time frame is not only unrealistic but it also denies stakehold input ranging from industry to academic to organized labor and other groups who could provide important and insightful contributions by undermining the process this legislation could have negative consequences and actually undercut worker safety in a letter to the committee dated april eighth two thousand and eight the department of labor's assistant secretary for occupational safety and health edwin fault states quote the time constraints of this legislation would give osha no choice but to ignore other statutory and regulatory requirements for rule making under the occupational safety and health act the regulatory flexibility act the administrative procedures act numerous executive orders and office of management  budget bulletins and guidelines close quote h r fifty five twenty two also disregards the preventive efforts that have been underway well before the tragic accident ga last year based on the recommendations by the chemical yesterday the president issued a veto threat reiterating serious concerns with this hasty regulatory proposal again we should not rush to legislative action rather we should take the time to thoroughly and thoughtfully review all the facts i urge my colleagues to vote no on this bill and you'll back the balance of my time the gentleman to the minutes on the back in time to recognize the gentleman from california i yield three minutes to the gentleman from georgia mr barr s co sponsor of this of this legislation gentleman from judges recognized three minutes i thank the chair and i thank chairman miller and madam chair what we've learned in my community since the imperial disaster hit us is that the experts have known about this problem for decades there have been voluntary standards that effectively deal with this problem but not enough people even know about the problem much less the solutions and those who do know about the solutions aren't required to adopt them we've also learned that the only standards that are mandatory really aren't designed with this problem in man in the first place and they aren't working and so we have good standards that are not mandatory and inadequate standards that are mandatory up until now the arguments between those who say we shouldn't go too fast in developing a national standard and those who argue we're going to slow there are those who argue that the cost of a comprehensive solution outweigh the benefits i disagree i say that if we can prevent just one of these disasters from happening if we can prevent just one family from having to go through what families at imperial sugar are still going through it all be worth it but don't take my word for it the savannah morning news reported this morning that the chairman and chief executive officer of the u s chemical safety board john breslin believes that this bill will and i quote would save lives he believes that the measure is good for business and the corporate world should support it he told editorial board back home i wish i could take fifty business people at a time to the refinery and have them take a look at the destruction this is what your facility could look like if you don't take care of the dust mr president ought to know what he's talking about he's not a bureaucrat he's a hard headed businessman from the corporate world who worked for many years at honeywell international and he's right this bill didn't just good government is also good business akam in chairman miller and as well as the for the hard work in support of this bill and i urge my colleagues to join us in voting in favor of it and i yield back the balance of my time gentleman yield back the time the chair recognizes the gentleman from california the old to the gentleman from georgia mr kingston who represents constituents that work in this in this sugar factory and he's been dealing with this problem now for three months have to be on him four minutes the gentleman from georgia is recognized for minutes i think the ranking member and i thank the chairman of the committee and my colleague mr barrow misses it for their work on this and while i support many of the points of the ranking member i believe that this bill is a step in the right and something that we're just going to have to push osha on the imperial sugar explosion of course was a very tragic accident of which just about and i were involved in it i actually was there the night that it happened and he and i went there for several days afterwards to look at the damage met with many of the families very sad thing and sometimes in a situation like that it's hard to be objective in terms of what to support what not to support or what to change especially since we don't know the exact cause of the accident if any of the existing standards for example were violated if a new standard would have prevented it are if this is going to boil down to housekeeping in which there would already be a violation and something a new standard arnold standards cannot address because the employer did not do what the employer is supposed to do which keep which would be to keep the workplace clean i share the goal of comprehensive worker safety but sometimes the history of legislating it shows that if we move too quickly then you might not get the goal that you want to do throughout its history of show a standard setting process has been governed by the administrative procedures act this generally requires a federal agency to develop and draft proposed regulations issue propose rules and regulations in a transparent process that allows for comment and input from the stakeholders and corporate any approach trist a call or comment in the publication of the final rule now the veil was improved greatly with the loosely substitute that substitute moved more of the capital and equipment intensive mandate to the final rule rather than the inner room rule included engineering administration work place practices it also move the reference to the n a the national fire protection act from the interim to the final rule and making the language more flexible those who are very good improve prove miss leslie it required that the eighteen month final rule be made under the normal rule making process no i understand that the chairman may offer further improvements during the the floor debate tonight that may include make an engineering controls required under the interim standard effective six months after this units of the interim rather than thirty days under the base bill and clarify and the standard must be promulgated in accordance with normal osha rule making procedure including that provides for the review of small businesses i think that might be a good step because the more him put you get from the business community the labor community and the users i think the better that's why i offered an amendment that would have said that we should consider if there will be any job loss because of these rules or because of the interim rules i was very disappointed that the rules committee did not allow my amendment to be considered on the floor because i think it would have been very helpful and something that certainly would have given bipartisan support to it but oh so one thing else i want to point out is oh she can actually make rules themselves and the assistant secretary mr fotis stated and i quote we have not ruled out the possibility of do rulemaking and that's still an option for us we're just trying to collect the data through the national emphasis emphasis program where we look at sites in the term and to our standards do our standards actually cover what we need to cover are there some holes in the coverage that we may need to address and what a comprehensive standard address that end of quote so so we need to remember that if this bill gets bogged down somewhere along the line that osha itself  and the leadership of the committee has said that the grain standard works fairly well but i want to point out that this took seven years and so maybe the reason the grain standard is working so well that it took a  long time and lots of input to pass i would hope that we could take the lessons of the grain standard and not have to wait anywhere near seven rules but say that that will has already been invented let's apply what we found on the ground standard to this and i'm hoping that the chairman's memet addresses some of those things but i'm also confident the senate is going to do it as well so let me can close a say and i believe under the circumstances that the committee has done a good job i think that there has been some solid input from the minority the majority has been less than in a deuce do plan to support the bill but i do think we have a lot more that we could do to purpose of amendment under the five minute rule and shall be considered read no amendment to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be in order except those printed in the house report one ten dash six thirteen each amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report by a member designated in the report shall be considered read shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and opponent of the amendment not be subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question it is now in order to consider amendment number one printed in house report one ten six thirteen for what purpose of the does the gentleman from california arise i have to speak to the member the clerk will designate the amendment and then the number one printed in house report number one ten dash six thirteen offered by mr george miller of california pursuant to the house resolution eleven fifty seven the gentleman from california mr mi minutes mostly in this manager's amendment is offered because during the drafting and the refining of this bill we've had numerous extensive conversations with osha with this technical staff and with the affected industry associations about problematic issues our goal is to save workers lives but also make the social standards workable for businesses who need to implement them to that in the manager's amendment makes for adjustments to the bill one several industry associations were concerned about the short one month effective date on the interim standards was too short to make some of the capital improvements that may be needed for engineering controls the manager mehmet therefore provides for engineering controls required by the interim standards should be effective six months after the issu standard rather than thirty days because emphasizing specific national fire protection association standard was seen as putting more emphasis on some then on others that were not mentioned the manager's amendment maintains the provisions that o shall include appropriate and relevant national fire protection association standards in its final standards but eliminates reference to specific national fire protection association standards then because we want to make perfectly clear that osha is expected to conduct a full review of small business impacts of this of this standard the manager's amendment clarifies that the final standard should be conducted in accordance with the usual rule making procedure right requirements including those that provide for a small business review and finally let purpose of the gentleman from california write i claim time in opposition to the bill although i do not accept expect to oppose it without objection the gentleman is recognized for five minutes thank you madam chair although the changes in this amendment are modest they are a step in the right direction unfortunately they simply do not go far enough specifically this amendment includes a cosmetic change to the requirement that osha include national fire protection association standards among its new mandates as chairman miller knows the n f p a standards are ball and terry guidelines that offer a far more complex stringent protocol that may be adopted in whole or in part by industry participants these guidelines play an important role as voluntary practices that can enhance safety efforts but they are entirely inappropriate as a replacement for effective osha rulemaking so while i appreciate that this amendment removes a direct mandate for a specific n f p a standard i remain deeply concerned that the amendment retains a requirement that osha include relevant an appropriate n f p a standards in the final rule i fear that this may be a distinction without a difference the amendment includes other modest improvements and in clude ing a more reasonable timeframe for implementation of the engineering controls in the interim standard it also clarifies that the final rule would be developed under more normal and inclusive procedures both of these steps improve the underlying bill but because they fail to fully address concerns about the bills abbreviated timeline they are half measures at best however i do appreciate the gentleman's efforts and i will support the amendment now you go back to balance my time the gentleman yield back the balance of his time and my time ask the gentleman from california  in time the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from california those in favor say aye those opposed please say no in the opinion the chair the eyes have it and the amendment is adopted and it is now in order to consider amendment number two printed in the house report one ten six thirteen for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina write madam chairwoman i have an amendment made an order under the rule the clerk will designate the amendments men number two printed in house report number one ten dash thirteen offered by mr wilson of south carolina pursuant to house resolution eleven fifty seven the gentleman from south carolina mr wilson and a member polled each will control fifteen minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from south carolina madam chairwoman and myself such time as i may consume while i share the majority's commitment to ensuring workplace safety i believe the underlying bill fails to provide for the most effective means to insure that safety currently there are several initiatives concerning dust under way at the occupational safety and he since october the agency has implemented a combustible dust national emphasis program this agency has set high hazard alert letters to over thirty thousand businesses into sizing the need to prevent dust from accumulating most importantly moshe's in the midst of the investigation of the february disaster at the imperial sugar refinery the imperial sugar refinery in georgia is located in a community adjacent to the second congressional district of south carolina which i have the honor to represent instead of undermining the progress of existing combustible safety efforts this substitute dude requires the department of labor gather all necessary information about the imperial refinery explosion specifically as well as the broader dust hazard being examined through the national emphasis program once that information has been gathered and analyze the secretary of labor will be able to determine whether and what type of combustible dust standard is necessary should the secretary determine that existing safety requirements can effectively protect against the  the secretary will be required to report to congress as to why no new regulatory framework is necessary but if the national emphasis program and the results of the imperial refinery investigation show that additional guidance and regulation are needed this substitute requires so sure to complete a rigorous regulatory process that includes all relevant stakeholders within a fixed time frame our amendment will allow for the regulation to be completely expeditiously and thoroughly without circumventing the occupationally occupational safety and health act the regulatory flexibility act and the administrative procedures act and other laws and regulations that ensure effective federal regulations we have heard concerns from osha that the underlying bill will be difficult to comply with and difficult to enforce this lease workers at risk i have trust and and promoting safety to my constituent money felix of sandy run south carolina who is the national president of the american combust composites manufacturers association we need the expertise of successful manufacturers our goal today should be to move forward with the most effective strategy to ensure safe workplace i believe this substitute achieves that goal and i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this  as representative wilson has made clear this amendment will ensure osha takes the necessary steps to protect workers against the hazards of combat combustible dust it demands an aggressive investigation into the imperial sugar refinery it requires that osha utilize the findings of its national emphasis program on dust hazards and it calls for a comprehensive inclusive and effective standard to be established if it becomes clear that existing safeguards are not protecting workers m m fulfills our shared commitment to workplace safety and it does so without undermining the credibility of the rule making process i had urge its adoption and you'll back the gentleman yield back time i before deciding whether or not to move forward the national if this is program could go on for years before there are there are findings and in fact at the end of the day osha could decide to do nothing to do nothing has turned out to be very expensive for the american workers in those workplaces where there is combustible dust the track record is horrible with respect to osha preventing these dust explosions from taking place and that is the reason prior to the most recent explosion that mr beryl and i are trying to address prior to that the chemical safety board made a recommendation to osha that they should promulgated these  enforceable regulations because there are no in forcible regulations with respect to dust currently in effect except for the for what we did years ago in the in the  in the grain in the grain industry and that dramatically reduced the number of incidents that took place so to to adopt the wilson amendment is to adopt a position to do nothing and to take an agency that has chosen time and again to do nothing in this in this field that anyway provides for forcible regulation of this most dangerous material when it's when it's when it's when the workplace is not properly  maintained and for act proper preventable as actions are taken that's just unacceptable that's unacceptable in the name of the workers who died in the in the fort worth plan it's unacceptable to the workers who died earlier from the explosions that osha has refused to act they have not acted on a single standard in the entire last eight years in less they were prodded by the congress or the courts so to now say that you're going to take the lives of american workers and you're going to give those lives again back to osha where they have not seen any hazard they have not seen any danger in spite of the explosions is just it's just the height of your responsibility by this  by this congress and i would hope that the that the congress would overwhelmingly reject this amendment that allows osha to continue the status quo that allows osha to continue it's a responsible position and i reserve the balance of my time and eight from the ocean fairness coalition which is two dozen industry associations a relative to this issue the gentleman to quest will be covered by generally and additionally i like to bring this to the attention of our members to read the person last paragraph and that is that this coalition writes to express their strong opposition to the combustible dust explosion and fire prevention act of two thousand and eight  r fifty five twenty two which will be considered on the house floor this week while we were saddened to see the accounts of the explosion at the imperial sugar plant near savannah georgia we do not believe this bill as it was approved by the education labor committee is an appropriate response to that tragedy or the hazards of compatible just in urge you to oppose the bill it concludes with the statement h r fifty five twenty two would produce a flawed regulation by discarding normal osha rulemaking procedures and because of this we urge you to oppose the combustible dust explosion and fire prevention act of two thousand and eight which is h r fifty five twenty two and i reserve the balance of my time then and from south carolina reserve the balance of this time chair recognize one of the california georgia where mr barrow georgia is recognized for one minute i think the general feeling i understand the appeal that the amendment has i can appreciate it superficial appeal and what i think is getting at but the notion that we have to finish everything before we do anything is a full minute to do nothing with the national interest this program everything is going on right now it's perfectly obvious that the current folks who got osha under its control can generate in cram more activity in the less action than anybody i know or any agency and know the time for us to take into consideration to follow all leads in to learn as much as we can will always be with us but the time to letter that was referred to by my colleague on the other side of the aisle really have little or nothing to do with the standards or impacted by them and this is the same coalition that continues to call for no action with respect to and it's that it's that approach to the protection of american workers into the safety of those workers this led to the tragedy that we witnessed in the at the imperial sugar  facility and clearly these are accidents that we know are preventable that we know we can dramatically reduce because we have the experience from the grain dust standards this legislation is designed to be workable it was work  and as i pointed out numerous conversations with the technical staff of osha with the affected industries in the trade associations that are involved in this i would note that the national fire protection associations when we tell osha that they should select the ones that are relevant to the standards in the ones that are there are meaningful to this effort we're talking about standards of which and a consensus has been arrived at within the industries these are consensus regulations that are that are put out there but they're not they're not they're not required and we think that in our discussions again with the osha staff with the associations this is a good place to start because of the consensus there may be have to be additions and subtractions and that's within the discretion of osha during the process that is anticipated under this legislation so i would hope that we would reject this amendment by missed by mr wilson and that we would pass the underlying bill and i reserve the indeed it's been stated that we do not have sufficient regulations relative to composable dust but that there are seventeen standards addressing combustible dust which do apply and like to move p m s consent that these be in the record the request is also been covered by general rule and additionally it's been stated that combustible dust maybe doesn't apply to some of the the associations that are referenced in the letter that i previously handed in i would like to point out that in fact it may appear that way but just a few minutes ago i just met with members of the national association of homebuilders i am still a dues paying member of the greater columbia home builders association and as we were discussing this bill with members who were visiting in my office they expressed concern that they felt like that this could be negative toward the home building industry and so it indeed it doesn't appear sometimes that things apply but they do even where you wouldn't expect it so at this time again i'd like to reserve the balance of my time the gentleman from south carolina reserve the balance of this time introduce appendix d which are industries that may have combustible dust and indeed to miller and myself aren't are learning that there is a broad array of industries dozens of them that could have  could be impacted by composable dust and i believe that we're actually helping by bringing this to the attention american people i was just i was you know you look back i would hope that people would vote against the  wilson the memmott and the people who are truly impacted by combustible dust are the workers who have been killed in the past and the workers that will be killed and injured in the future if we do not have in a forcible standard and i appreciate you have seventeen regulations and all the things that osha jackin about now after years of doing nothing the fact of the matter is according the chemical safety board they're not in for they're not enforceable standards with respect to dust and  it provides for a sequence of investigation development of regulations promoting safety in the workplace and that's what i would be urging a positive vote on the amendment to saving the balance of my time the german from south carolina yields back the balance of his time the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from south carolina those in favor please say i those opposed the say now in the opinion of the chair the nos have it the amendment is not adopted madam chairwoman i asked for a corded vote pursuant to clause six of rule eighteen for the proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from south carolina will be pursuant to clause six of rule eighteen proceedings will now resume and those amendments printed in house report one ten that six thirteen and which further proceedings are postponed in the following order amendment number one by mr george miller of california amendment number two by mr wilson of south carolina the chair will reduce to five minutes the time for any electronic vote after the first vote in the series which will be for fifteen minutes the unfinished business is a request for a recorded vote on amendment number one printed in the house report one ten dash six thirteen by the gentleman from california mr george miller and which further proceedings were postponed and on which  requested those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted a sufficient number having risen a recorded vote is ordered those in favor of the amendment will vote i suppose will vote no members will record their vote by electronic device