Taking The Hill
"Unity to be real must stand the severest strain without breaking."
- Mahatma Gandhi
OSHA Bill
Legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate that would amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to further improve the safety and health of working environments. The bill, introduced by Sen. Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.), consolidates Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reform initiatives from the last six years and offers new approaches to some issues of cotention. The bill places greater emphasis on employers and employees working together, expands consultative services, encourages voluntary compliance and allows OSHA greater flexibility in allocating its resources so it can give the most serious workplace problems its highest priority. OSHA would retain the ability to punish employers who don't embrace workplace safety and health. The measure was referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources. No action has been taken.
Maryland Emissions Inspections
Gov. Parris Glendening vetoed legislation that would have allowed motorists to opt out of Maryland's I/M 240 emissions testing program. The governor announced that he will proceed with plans to implement emissions testing using I/M 240 technology involving a dynamometer that checks tailpipe pollutants at simulated highway speeds. The test will become mandatory for most motorists on Oct. 1. Under Maryland's program, vehicles that fail the dynamometer test must be repaired and retested. A motorist's repair costs will be capped at $150.
EPA Air Quality Rules
In a letter to President Clinton, 114 members of the U.S. House of Representatives urged the administration to refrain from promulgating proposed new national standards for ozone and particulate matter. Co-signers, both Democrats and Republicans, asked the president to defer implementation of the new regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) until questions regarding the technical basis and scientific justification for the proposal can be resolved. The members insisted that EPA's proposed fiscal year 1998 budget request for $27 million to analyze the health effects of particulate matter lent credence to the argument that not enough is known to justify imposing the regulations. The group offered to work with the president and EPA to ensure that any new standards are based on quality science and demonstrated health and environmental benefits. The White House indicated that it would take a more hands-on role in crafting a final version of the regulations.
Product Liability Reform
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved legislation designed to set national standards for businesses' liability for defective products. Bill proponents contend that the measure is needed to combat arbitrary damage awards, inconsistency among state laws and unfair allocations of liability. The bill would place limits on punitive damage awards and restrict the amount of time a victim would have to file a suit to 18 years. In addition, the bill would hold product sellers liable only in cases where reasonable care was not exercised, an express warranty was made or there was intentional wrongdoing. Sellers could be deemed liable in cases where the manufacturer is not subject to service of process or the court determines that the claimant would be unable to enforce a judgment against the manufacturer.
Job Training
The House Committee on Education and the Work-force approved legislation that would consolidate 60 federal job training and literacy programs into three block grants to the states. Proponents believe that the bill will provide a needed overhaul to the array of federal programs by creating an Adult Employment and Training Opportunities Grant for disadvantaged adults and dislocated workers; a Disadvantaged Youth Employment and Training Opportunities Grant for at-risk, low-income teenagers and young adults; and an Adult Education and Literacy Grant to assist low-income people in obtaining job skills. The bill also reauthorizes for three years the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, which provides training and rehabilitation funding to states for the
mentally and physically disabled.
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AutoInc. Magazine ®, Vol. XLV No. 7, July 1997