IB 
Union Calendar No. 149 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2693 
[Report No. 110–239] 
To direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue a 
standard regulating worker exposure to diacetyl. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 13, 2007 
Ms. WOOLSEY (for herself, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. HARE, Ms. 
DELAURO, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. 
KILDEE, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Ms. LINDA T. 
SA´NCHEZ of California, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, and Mr. AN-
DREWS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and Labor 
JULY 18, 2007 
Additional sponsors: Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. HOLT, and 
Mr. WAXMAN 
JULY 18, 2007 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 13, 2007] 
A BILL 
To direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration 
to issue a standard regulating worker exposure to diacetyl. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Popcorn Workers Lung 
Disease Prevention Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) An emergency exists concerning worker expo-
sure to diacetyl, a substance used in many flavorings, 
including artificial butter flavorings. 
(2) There is compelling evidence that diacetyl 
presents a grave danger and significant risk of life- 
threatening illness to exposed employees. Workers ex-
posed to diacetyl have developed, among other condi-
tions, 
a 
debilitating 
lung 
disease 
known 
as 
bronchiolitis obliterans. 
(3) From 2000–2002 NIOSH identified cases of 
bronchiolitis obliterans in workers employed in micro-
wave popcorn plants, and linked these illnesses to ex-
posure to diacetyl used in butter flavoring. In Decem-
ber 2003, NIOSH issued an alert ‘‘Preventing Lung 
Disease in Workers Who Use or Make Flavorings,’’ 
recommending that employers implement measures to 
minimize worker exposure to diacetyl. 
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(4) In August 2004 the Flavor and Extract Man-
ufacturers Association of the United States issued a 
report, ‘‘Respiratory Health and Safety in the Flavor 
Manufacturing Workplace,’’ warning about potential 
serious respiratory illness in workers exposed to 
flavorings and recommending comprehensive control 
measures for diacetyl and other ‘‘high priority’’ sub-
stances used in flavoring manufacturing. 
(5) 
From 
2004–2007 
additional 
cases 
of 
bronchiolitis obliterans were identified among workers 
in the flavoring manufacturing industry by the Cali-
fornia Department of Health Services and Division of 
Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), which 
through enforcement actions and an intervention pro-
gram called for the flavoring manufacturing industry 
in California to reduce exposure to diacetyl. 
(6) In a report issued in April 2007, NIOSH re-
ported that flavor manufacturers and flavored-food 
producers are widely distributed in the United States 
and that bronchiolitis obliterans had been identified 
among microwave popcorn and flavoring-manufac-
turing workers in a number of States. 
(7) Despite NIOSH’s findings of the hazards of 
diacetyl and recommendations that exposures be con-
trolled, and a formal petition by labor organizations 
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and leading scientists for issuance of an emergency 
temporary standard, the Occupational Safety and 
Health Administration (OSHA) has not acted to pro-
mulgate an occupational safety and health standard 
to protect workers from harmful exposure to diacetyl. 
(8) An OSHA standard is urgently needed to 
protect workers exposed to diacetyl from bronchiolitis 
obliterans and other debilitating conditions. 
SEC. 3. ISSUANCE OF STANDARD ON DIACETYL. 
(a) INTERIM STANDARD.— 
(1) RULEMAKING.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, not later than 90 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall 
promulgate an interim final standard regulating 
worker exposure to diacetyl. The interim final stand-
ard shall apply— 
(A) to all locations in the flavoring manu-
facturing industry that manufacture, use, han-
dle, or process diacetyl; and 
(B) to all microwave popcorn production 
and packaging establishments that use diacetyl- 
containing flavors in the manufacture of micro-
wave popcorn. 
(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The interim final stand-
ard required under subsection (a) shall provide no 
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less protection than the recommendations contained 
in the NIOSH Alert ‘‘Preventing Lung Disease in 
Workers Who Use or Make Flavorings’’ (NIOSH Pub-
lication 2004–110) and include the following: 
(A) Requirements for engineering, work 
practice controls, and respiratory protection to 
minimize exposure to diacetyl. Such engineering 
and work practice controls include closed proc-
esses, isolation, local exhaust ventilation, proper 
pouring techniques, and safe cleaning proce-
dures. 
(B) Requirements for a written exposure 
control plan that will indicate specific measures 
the employer will take to minimize employee ex-
posure; and requirements for evaluation of the 
exposure control plan to determine the effective-
ness of control measures at least on a biannual 
basis and whenever medical surveillance indi-
cates abnormal pulmonary function in employees 
exposed to diacetyl, or whenever necessary to re-
flect new or modified processes. 
(C) Requirements for airborne exposure as-
sessments to determine levels of exposure and en-
sure adequacy of controls. 
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