I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5554 

To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and the Federal 

Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 to prohibit the promulgation of 

safety and health standards that do not meet certain requirements for 

national consensus standards. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 8, 2006 

Mr. NORWOOD (for himself, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. 

TIAHRT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 

and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 

to prohibit the promulgation of safety and health standards that do not meet certain requirements for national 

consensus standards. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Workplace Safety and 

5 Health Transparency Act of 2006’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADOPTION OF NONGOVERNMENTAL STANDARDS 

2 UNDER THE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND 

3 SAFETY ACT. 

4 (a) ADOPTION BY OSHA.—The Occupational Health 

5 and Safety Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) is amend6 ed by adding after section 6 the following: 

7 ‘‘ADOPTION OF NONGOVERNMENTAL STANDARDS

8 ‘‘SEC. 6A. (a) Effective on the date of enactment of 

9 this section, the Secretary shall not promulgate or incor10 porate by reference any finding, guideline, standard, limit, 

11 rule, or regulation based on a determination reached by 

12 any organization, unless the Secretary affirmatively finds 

13 that such determination— 

14 ‘‘(1) has been adopted and promulgated by a 

15 nationally recognized standards-producing organiza16 tion under procedures whereby it can be determined 

17 by the Secretary that persons interested and affected 

18 by the scope or provisions of the standard have 

19 reached substantial agreement on its adoption; 

20 ‘‘(2) was formulated in a manner which af21 forded an opportunity for diverse views to be consid22 ered; and 

23 ‘‘(3) has been designated as such a standard by 

24 the Secretary, after consultation with other appro25 priate Federal agencies. 


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1 Such finding and a summary of its basis shall be 

2 published in the Federal Register and shall be con3 sidered a final action subject to review by a United 

4 States District Court in accordance with section 706 

5 of title 5, United States Code. 

6 ‘‘(b) With respect to rulemaking proceedings initiated 

7 by the Secretary but not finalized prior to the date of en8 actment of this section, the Secretary shall, within 180 

9 days of the date of enactment of this section, investigate 

10 and identify the use of, influence of, or reliance upon any 

11 finding, guideline, standard, limit or any other rec12 ommendation that has not been made by an organization 

13 and procedure that does not comply with the requirements 

14 set forth in subsection (a). The Secretary shall publish the 

15 results of such investigations in the Federal Register and, 

16 in any final rule, standard, or official recommendation 

17 that is prescribed under such proceedings, shall not incor18 porate, use, or rely upon any finding, guideline, standard, 

19 limit, or other recommendation that does not comply with 

20 the requirements set forth in subsection (a). The Sec21 retary’s actions under this section shall be subject to re22 view by a United States district court of appropriate juris23 diction.’’. 


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1 (b) APPROVAL OF STATE PLANS.—Section 18 of the 

2 Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 

3 667) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(i) The Secretary shall not approve a State plan 

5 under this section that incorporates by reference any find6 ing, guideline, standard, limit, rule, or regulation based 

7 on a determination reached by any organization, unless 

8 the Secretary determines that the standards adopted in 

9 such plan are standards that— 

10 ‘‘(1) have been adopted and promulgated by a 

11 nationally recognized standards-producing organiza12 tion under procedures whereby it can be determined 

13 by the State that persons interested and affected by 

14 the scope or provisions of such standards have 

15 reached substantial agreement on their adoption; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(2) were formulated in a manner which af18 forded an opportunity for diverse views to be consid19 ered.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. ADOPTION OF NONGOVERNMENTAL STANDARDS 

21 UNDER THE FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND 

22 HEALTH ACT. 

23 Section 101 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health 

24 Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 811) is amended by adding at 

25 the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(f)(1) Effective on the date of enactment of this sec2 tion, the Secretary shall not promulgate or incorporate by 

3 reference any finding, guideline, standard, limit, rule, or 

4 regulation based on a determination reached by any orga5 nization, unless the Secretary affirmatively finds that such 

6 determination— 

7 ‘‘(A) has been adopted and promulgated by a 

8 nationally recognized standards-producing organiza9 tion under procedures whereby it can be determined 

10 by the Secretary that persons interested and affected 

11 by the scope or provisions of the standard have 

12 reached substantial agreement on its adoption; 

13 ‘‘(B) was formulated in a manner which af14 forded an opportunity for diverse views to be consid15 ered; and 

16 ‘‘(C) has been designated as such a standard by 

17 the Secretary, after consultation with other appro18 priate Federal agencies. 

19 Such finding and a summary of its basis shall be published 

20 in the Federal Register and shall be considered a final 

21 action subject to review by a United States District Court 

22 in accordance with section 706 of title 5, United States 

23 Code. 

24 ‘‘(2) With respect to rulemaking proceedings initiated 

25 by the Secretary but not finalized prior to the date of enVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:13 Jun 10, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5554.IH H5554

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1 actment of this subsection, the Secretary shall, within 180 

2 days of the date of enactment of this subsection, inves3 tigate and identify the use of, influence of, or reliance 

4 upon any finding, guideline, standard, limit or any other 

5 recommendation that has not been made by an organiza6 tion and procedure that does not comply with the require7 ments of paragraph (1). The Secretary shall publish the 

8 results of such investigations in the Federal Register and, 

9 in any final rule, standard, or recommendation that is pre10 scribed under such proceedings, shall not incorporate, use, 

11 or rely upon any finding, guideline, standard, limit, or 

12 other official recommendation that does not comply with 

13 the requirements of paragraph (1). The Secretary’s ac14 tions under this section shall be subject to review by a 

15 United States district court of appropriate jurisdiction.’’. 

Æ 


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