I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1834
To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 14, 1995
Mr. BALLENGER (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. GOODLING, Mr. BARRETT
of Nebraska, Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. BUNNING of Kentucky,
Mr. BURR, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr. CASTLE, Mr.
CHAMBLISS, Mr. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. COBLE, Mr. COOLEY, Mr.
CREMEANS, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. DELAY, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. EMER-
SON, Mr. FAWELL, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. FORBES, Mr. FUNDERBURK, Mr.
GRAHAM, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. GUNDERSON, Mr. HANCOCK, Mr. HAN-
SEN, Mr. HASTERT, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. HEINEMAN, Mr. HERGER, Mr.
HOEKSTRA, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. SAM
JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. JONES, Jr., Ms. KELLY, Mr. KLUG, Mr.
KOLLENBERG, Mr. LINDER, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. MCKEON, Mr.
MCINTOSH, Ms. MEYERS of Kansas, Mr. MICA, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. NOR-
WOOD, Mr. PAXON, Mr. PETRI, Mrs. PRYCE, Mr. RIGGS, Mr. SALMON,
Mr. SCARBOROUGH, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. STUMP, Mr. TAL-
ENT, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. WALKER, Mr. WAMP, Mr. WELDON
of Florida, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. ZELIFF) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Economic and Educational Op-
portunities
A BILL
To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; REF-
ERENCE.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Safety and Health Improvement and Regulatory Reform
Act of 1995’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; reference.
Sec. 2. Standards.
Sec. 3. Notice of violation.
Sec. 4. Consultation, incentives for voluntary action, and technical assistance.
Sec. 5. Removal of barriers to voluntary safety and health activities.
Sec. 6. Inspections.
Sec. 7. Employer defenses.
Sec. 8. Penalties.
Sec. 9. Review by the Commission.
Sec. 10. NIOSH repealed.
Sec. 11. State Workmen’s Compensation Commission repealed.
Sec. 12. State programs.
Sec. 13. Discrimination.
Sec. 14. Coverage of Federal agencies.
Sec. 15. Federal agency safety programs.
Sec. 16. Prevention of alcohol and substance abuse.
Sec. 17. Mine safety and health.
Sec. 18. Recordkeeping and reporting.
Sec. 19. Definitions.
Sec. 20. Miscellaneous technical amendments.
Sec. 21. Effective date.
(c) REFERENCE.—Except as otherwise expressly pro-
vided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is
expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a
section or other provision, the reference shall be consid-
ered to be made to a section or other provision of the Oc-
cupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
SEC. 2. STANDARDS.
(a) PROMULGATION
AND MODIFICATION.—Section
6(b)(1) (29 U.S.C. 655(b)(1)) is amended to read as
follows:
‘‘(1) The promulgation and modification of
standards under this section shall be based upon
sound scientific data in the field and on such re-
search, demonstrations, experiments, and such other
information as may be appropriate. The Secretary
shall ensure an adequate record for any standard.
Each standard shall be based upon the following
analyses and criteria:
‘‘(A) A regulatory impact analysis pre-
pared under subsection (h).
‘‘(B) An assessment of the risks to workers
resulting from the hazard being addressed by
the standard. The assessment shall be con-
tained in a risk assessment document prepared
in accordance with the principles for risk as-
sessment and characterization prescribed in
subsection (i).
‘‘(C) An identification of the benefits and
costs of the standard conducted in accordance
with subsection (k).
‘‘(D) A determination that the standard is
needed to address a significant risk of material
impairment to the health or safety of employees
in each industry to which it applies and will
substantially reduce that risk.
‘‘(E) A determination that the standard is
economically and technologically feasible and
practical in each industry to which it applies.
‘‘(F) A determination that the incremental
risk reduction or other benefits of the standard
justify, and are reasonably related to, the incre-
mental costs incurred in each industry to which
the standard applies.
‘‘(G) A determination that the standard
will provide protection to workers in the most
cost-effective manner and minimize employment
loss due to the standard in the affected indus-
tries.
‘‘(H) Whenever practicable, the standard
shall be expressed in terms of objective criteria
and of the performance desired.’’.
(b) SEPARATE RULES FOR CERTAIN HAZARDS.—
Paragraph (5) of section 6(b)(5) (29 U.S.C. 655(b)(5))
is repealed.
(c) VARIANCES.—Section 6(d) (29 U.S.C. 655(d)) is
amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘If the Sec-
retary has failed to approve or disapprove an application
for a variance within 90 days of the filing of such applica-
tion, the variance shall be deemed to have been issued as
of the date of such filing unless the applicant and the Sec-
retary agree to a longer time period.’’.
(d) REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS.—Section 6 (29
U.S.C. 655) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(h)(1) The Secretary shall prepare—
‘‘(A) a preliminary regulatory impact analysis,
which shall be transmitted along with any proposed
rule under section 6(b)(2), and
‘‘(B) a final regulatory impact analysis, which
shall be transmitted along with a rule or determina-
tion issued under section 6(b)(4).
‘‘(2) Each preliminary and final regulatory impact
analysis prepared under paragraph (1) shall contain the
following information:
‘‘(A) A description of the potential benefits of
the standard, including any beneficial effects that
cannot be quantified in monetary terms and the
identification of those likely to receive the benefits.
‘‘(B) An explanation of the necessity, legal au-
thority, and reasonableness of the standard and a
description of the hazard that the standard is to ad-
dress.
‘‘(C) A description of the potential costs of the
standard, including any adverse effects that cannot
be quantified in monetary terms, and the identifica-
tion of those likely to bear the costs.
‘‘(D) An analysis of any alternative approaches,
including market based mechanisms, that could sub-
stantially achieve the same regulatory goal at a
lower cost and an explanation of the reasons why
such alternative approaches were not adopted, to-
gether with a demonstration that the standard pro-
vides for the least costly approach.
‘‘(E) A statement that the standard does not
conflict with, or duplicate, any other standard or re-
quirement, or the reasons why such a conflict or du-
plication exists.
‘‘(F) A statement of whether persons will be re-
quired by the standard to maintain any records
which will be subject to inspection.
‘‘(G) An estimate of the costs to the Secretary
for implementation and enforcement of the standard
and of whether the Secretary can be reasonably ex-
pected to implement the standard with the current
level of appropriations.’’.
(e) RISK ASSESSMENT.—Section 6 (29 U.S.C. 655),
as amended by subsection (d), is amended by adding at
the end the following: