Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/819351
no new costs, achieved in part through another new EO that requires an agency to withdraw two existing rules for every new rule promulgated. EOs have also imposed the federal hiring freeze, a freeze for 60 days on new rules taking effect until the regulatory review in the other EO can occur, and a contract freeze. One of OSHA's final rules, which reversed a U.S. Court of Appeals decision (the Volks case) concerning the applicable statute of limitations for enforcement of injury/illness recordkeeping requirements, was just rescinded by Congress under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). That means that OSHA can no longer issue citations for recordkeeping violations under Part 1904 (OSHA injury/illness logs) that occurred more than six months prior to the inspection. This will definitely impede OSHA's ability to reach back for the full five years that logs must be retained, to audit them for missing or inaccurate data and cite the employer. The full impact of this action on other OSHA standards, which contain record-retention requirements exceeding six months' duration, remains to be seen. In the meantime, it is advisable to retain these documents for the full period specified in the codified standard as absence of required records can have ramifications in worker's compensation and tort litigation, even if OSHA cannot issue a penalty for missing historical paperwork. The CRA's reach-back is currently limited to 60 legislative days, and so many of the more controversial rules released in the final years of the Obama administration are currently protected. Once a rule is rescinded under the CRA, the agency can never again promulgate a substantially similar standard in the future. While it has been available to Congress since 1996, the CRA has only been used twice – once to kill the Clinton administration's ergonomics standard in 2001, and now to kill OSHA's "continuing violations" rule. Another CRA rescission, affecting the EPA's new risk management program standard to prevent chemical disasters, is now pending in the House and Senate. At this time, the House of Representatives has already enacted the "Midnight Rules Relief Act" (HR 21/S 34) and it is awaiting Senate approval. This legislation would expand the CRA's scope to permit rescission recission en masse for agency rules issued within 60 legislative days of a President's last year, instead of having to do an individual analysis and up/down vote on each specific rule. Its chances of passage are quite good. Another regulatory reform measure that has passed the House (straight party-line vote) and awaits Senate action is the "REINS" Act (HR 26, S 21, "Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2017." This would require all major rules (by all agencies) to be submitted to Congress for review and approval, and Congress would have to issue a joint resolution approving the regulation, within 70 legislative days, before the rule could become law. This allows Congress to palletcentral.com PalletCentral • March-April 2017 27 OSHA can no longer issue citations for recordkeeping violations that occurred more than six months prior to the inspection.