Document DGJDpKOG5JXOzVZKdqQ9x7LMO

PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT R-329-1 A monthly report summarizing federal regulations and policy developments affecting the asbestos industry. Prepared for the Asbestos Information Association/North America by The Government Research Corporation. 1975 The Government Research Corporation All rights reserved Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. Pub!:the' National Journal Reports CAPCO JEN 0002023 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH Occupational Safety and Health Legislation (David L. Mallino) The annual dance for amending the Occupational Safety and Health Act has already begun with more than 30 bills introduced in the 94th Congress to do virtually everything, from expanding the coverage of the Act to repealing it. The chances of any significant amendments being adopted in this Congress are nil. While most supporters of the Act agree that certain technical changes should be made in the Act, e.g., extending the length of time between the issuance of an emergency standard and the promulgation of a 6(b) standard, they are concerned that initiating the amendment pro cess may result in a full-scale attack on the "guts" of the law. There fore, the congressional committees responsible for occupational safety and health are very reluctant to begin tinkering with the Act, and probably will not act on any of the bills which have been introduced. Attempts will be made to amend the Act through the appropriations process, but, except for on-site consultation services, amendments will probably not be approved. The bills thus far introduced to amend the Act fall into the follow ing categories: 1. Extending coverage to state and local government employees. 2. Differentiating between light residential and heavy construction. 3. Providing additional assistance to small employers. 4. Penalty assessment relief. 5. Extending OSHA protection to amateur athletic contests. 6. Repealing the law and other miscellaneous purposes. Workers' Compensation Legislation (David L. Mallino) A new and revised Workers' Compensation reform bill is expected to be introduced in the Senate within the next month by Senators Harrison Williams (D-N.J.) and Jacob Javits (R-N.Y.). The 1975 bill will be very similar to the one introduced by Williams and Javits in 1973 and around which most of the debate has centered. Like the 1973 bill, this new one will mandate federal Workers' Compensation standards to which all states must conform. As a result of previous hearings conducted by Williams' Subcommittee on Labor, a number of problems with the 1973 bill arose which have slowed preparation of this new bill. The two greatest problems presently being resolved concern enforcement and occupational di-sease. CAPCO JEN 0002024 2. The enforcement issue has been raised by the states which take the position that it is unfair and unrealistic'to impose federal jurisdiction on a state which has met all but a few of the standards mandated in the bill. Both organized labor and the Senators agree that the argument has some merit, and they are now looking for a way to exercise federal en forcement powers without being arbitrary. The occupational disease issue involves compensation of workers who are presently suffering an occupational disease as defined under the pro posed federal law, but not covered under existing state law. Discussions are currently focusing on two alternatives: 1. To provide federal compensation to these disabled workers along the lines of the federal Black-Lung Law, or 2. To mandate a special industry-wide fund out of which compensa tion will be paid. As reported previously by GRC, a number of bills have been introduced which parallel the federal Black-Lung Law which provides qualified coal miners with compensation out of the federal treasury. Legislation to do the same for workers suffering from asbestosis, bysinosis, silicosis and other types of work-related diseases have been introduced by several Rep resentatives and Senators. The greatest objection to this approach is its cost to the government -- the black lung payments are extremely higher than originally estimated. It is therefore unlikely that the Congress would approve the first alternative of providing federal compensation to any additional workers. The option of industry-wide funds appears to be gaining support among those involved in writing the new bill. While no details are available on precisely how such a fund would operate, those responsible for drafting the legislation are examining a proposal introduced by Rep. John Dent (DPa.) which would create an industry fund for those black-lung victims who, because of the cut-off date, do not qualify for federal compensation. The Dent proposal may serve as a vehicle applicable to other industries, should Williams and Javits decide to go the industry-fund route. Labor: Stender Appears Safe Under New Labor Secretary (David L. Mallino) John Stender, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, appears relatively safe in his position, even though Secretary of Labor Peter Brennan has been "asked to resign." President Ford has nominated John Dunlop, a labor economics professor at Harvard and former Cost of Living Council Director, to succeed Brennan (see item on Dunlop). Stender will likely continue as the OSHA chief primarily because or ganized labor does not plan to oppose his tenure in office. This is not to say that organized labor is a staunch defender of Stender since they clear ly are not and neither will they come to his aid in the event of opposition from other quarters. As one union official who is very close to the OSHA situation confided: "Stender hasn't got much support from anyone. We don't care for him much and neither do the people on the Hill. But we don't plan to oppose him because he only has two"more years to go and there are too many problems with bringing in a new guy and expecting him to func tion well between now and 1976." CAPCO JEN 0002025 3. Dunlop Nominated to Replace Brennan Labor Secretary (David L. Mai lino) John T. Dunlop, a Harvard economics professor and former director of the Cost of Living Council, will be nominated by President Ford to replace Peter Brennan as the Secretary of Labor. Dunlop, 60, has been on the Harvard faculty since 1938. In addition to his job with the COLC, he has served as the chairman of the former Construction Industry Stabilization Committee, chairman of the National Commission on Productivity, and has been a member of the Construction Industry Collective Bargaining Commission. Over the years Dunlop has served on numerous Presidential panels, boards,commissions and committees handling labor disputes and collective bargaining issues. He is highly respected in labor, management and gov ernment circles as a tough but fair negotiator. As the COLC Director, Dunlop preferred back room negotiations and compromise rather than high publicity politics. He was once characterized as a person who works most effectively in chaotic situations where the only one who knew what was going on was John Dunlop. Some observers were surprised that he has accepted the Labor Secre tary job since he is known as a "hit and run guy" and not particularly attuned to bureaucracy. Dunlop is expected to be more of a high level trouble shooter whose focus will be economic problems as they relate to the labor force. Thus, it is not likely that he will get involved in the day-to-day operations of the department. These duties will become the responsibility of the new Under Secretary who will replace Richard Schubert, who has submitted his resignation. Dunlop's confirmation by the Senate is virtually assured and he will probably assume office in March. CAPCO JEN 0002026 4. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH EPA/Asbestos Air Standards (J. Thomas SI iter) EPA's attitude toward comments it has received on proposed amend-, ments to the asbestos air emissions standards indicates that the agency will probably allow more flexibility in meeting the requirements on warning signs and disposal site operations but that it will retain the requirement that there be "no visible emission" to the outside air. EPA is defining what constitutes an acceptable natural barrier for the exclu sion of persons from asbestos waste disposal sites. Where access to a disposal site is already restricted by virtue of being located within the fenced boundary of a plant, additional fences around the pile would not be required. However, signs warning of the danger of breathing asbestos dust would still need to be posted around the waste pile and at entrances to the plant property. The standards on maintenance of waste disposal sites will also like ly be changed to allow the reuse of closed sites for light recreational and other uses. Under current thinking, the final regulations will permit fences and siqns to be removed after a site is closed and a description of the site and its location has been forwarded to the EPA regional office. The regional office will then compose a registry of such sites that will allow it to monitor any construction or excavation work on the site and to make certain that a suitable depth of cover remains to prevent exposure of any asbestos wastes. The agency eventually hopes to turn over the registry to local officials. Regulations governing operations in very cold weather will also be modified to eliminate the necessity of wetting the wastes during freezing weather. EPA is investigating the problem and trying to determine the temperature at which wetting should be discontinued. The final regulations should be published in April. EPA/Drinking Water Regulations {J. Thomas SI iter) Interim primary drinking water standards, which EPA is required to publish by mid-March, will probably not contain an asbestos standard but will limit the amount of organic chemicals that can be present in drink ing water. The revised version of the 1962 Public Health Service stan dards, which will be the basis for the interim standards, contain a health-related approval limit of 0.7 milligrams organics/liter (mg/1) using carbon chloroform extract (CCE) and a 3.0 mg/1 limit using carbon alcohol extract (CAE). These levels are considerably above the amounts detected recently in the drinking water of New Orleans, announcement of which spurred passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act. 1 Whatever the scientific basis for the proposed standard, it will surely draw fire from environmentalists and an attempt to get the limit lowered to one they consider "safe." The case for a lower standard may be reinforced by a 1969 EPA survey of the organic content of drinking water from 39 locations in 18 states: Comparison of both the CCE and CAE limits with existing organic concentrations show that more than 95 per cent of the supplies will be able to meet the standard without ad ditional treatment. CAPCO JEN 0002027 5. Congress/Toxic Substances Legislation (J. Thomas SI iter) New legislation governing the use of toxic chemicals has not yet been introduced in either House but is expected to be introduced short ly, at least in the Senate, since the subject is a top priority item for the Senate Commerce Committee. The new bill, when it is submitted in the Senate, will probably be similar to the compromise version worked out by House and Senate staffs late last year. It will also retain lan guage requiring extensive premarket testing of new chemicals, a provision that was one of the major differences with last year's House version. The Commerce Committee has tentatively scheduled two to three days of hearings on toxic substances for March. The status of toxic substances legislation on the House side is much less clear. Although jurisdiction over toxic substances was not affected by upheavals in the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee and remained with the same subcommittee, the chairmanship of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee (new name for Commerce and Finance Subcommittee) has passed from Rep. John E. Moss (D-Calif.) to Rep. Lionel Van Deerlin (D-Calif.). Increasing the uncertainty over the subcommittee's attitude toward toxic substances is the number of new faces on it. Only three members are returning to the subcommittee (Reps. Stuckey, Eckhardt and McCollister) and of the seven Democratic positions, only five have been filled so far (Van Deerlin, Stuckey, Eckhardt, Metcalfe and Staggers). Only three Republicans hold seats on the subcommittee -- Devine, McCol lister and Rinaldo. Thus, House action will be slower than normal if for no other reason than the additional time needed to organize and acquaint new members with the issues. In a related area, the National Academy of Sciences has scheduled a briefing for March 5 on its study of decision-making principles for regulating chemicals in the environment. The briefing will include a discussion of the information gathered at the workshop to be held later this month in New Orleans. A final report on the subject, drawing on both the workshop and new material presented at the briefing, is due to be submitted in June to EPA, which originally requested the study. Nelson/Hart Amendment (J. Thomas Sliter) While this legislation has not been introduced yet this year, it is only a matter of time until it is. An unresolved question is the form in which it will be introduced -- as an amendment to another bill (last year's tactic), included as part of the toxic substances control bill,, or submitted as a separate piece of legislation. The recent court deci sion overturning EPA's ban on lead in gasoline for lack of a clear cor relation between lead in gas and lead poisoning has added fuel to the move to get this type of legislation through this Congress. CAPCO JEN 0002028 R-329-1 A monthly report summarizing federal regulations and policy developments affecting the asbestos industry. Prepared for the Asbestos Information Association/North America by The Government.Research Corporation. 0) 1975 The Government Research Corporation All rights reserved Puhldvji Ncilional Journal Reports r CAPCO JEN 0002029 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH Occupational Safety and Health Legislation (David L. Mallino) The annual dance for amending the Occupational Safety and Health Act has already begun with more than 30 bills introduced in the 94th Congress to do virtually everything, from expanding the coverage of the Act to repealing it. The chances of any significant amendments being adopted in this Congress are nil. While most supporters of the Act agree that certain technical changes should be made in the Act, e.g., extending the length of time between the issuance of an emergency standard and the promulgation of a 6(b) standard, they are concerned that initiating the amendment pro cess may result in a full-scale attack on the "guts" of the law. There fore, the congressional committees responsible for occupational safety and health are very reluctant to begin tinkering with the Act, and probably will not act on any of the bills which have been introduced. Attempts will be made to amend the Act through the appropriations process, but, except for on-site consultation services, amendments will probably not be approved. The bills thus far introduced to amend the Act fall into the follow ing categories: 1. Extending coverage to state and local government employees. 2. Differentiating between light residential and heavy construction. 3. Providing additional assistance to small employers. 4. Penalty assessment relief. 5. Extending OSHA protection to amateur athletic contests'. 6. Repealing the law and other miscellaneous purposes. Workers' Compensation Legislation (David L. Mallino) A new and revised Workers' Compensation reform bill is expected to be introduced in the Senate within the next month by Senators Harrison Williams (D-N.J.) and Jacob Javits (R-N.Y.). The 1975 bill will be very similar to the one introduced by Williams and Javits in 1973 and around which most of the debate has centered. Like the 1973 bill, this new one will mandate federal Workers' Compensation standards to which all states must conform. 4` As a result of previous hearings conducted by Williams' Subcommittee on Labor, a number of problems with the 1973 bill arose which have slowed preparation of this new bill. The two greatest problems presently being resolved concern enforcement and occupational disease. CAPCO JEN 0002030 2 The enforcement issue has been raised by the states which take the position that it is unfair and unrealistic to impose federal jurisdiction on a state which has met all but a few of the standards mandated in the bill. Both organized labor and the Senators agree that the argument has some merit, and they are now looking for a way to exercise federal en forcement powers without being arbitrary. The occupational disease issue involves compensation of workers who are presently suffering an occupational disease as defined under the pro posed federal law, but not covered under existing state law. Discussions are currently focusing on two alternatives: 1. To provide federal compensation to these disabled workers along the lines of the federal Black-Lung Law, or 2. To mandate a special industry-wide fund out of which compensa tion will be paid. As reported previously by GRC, a number of bills have been introduced which parallel the federal Black-Lung Law which provides qualified coal miners with compensation out of the federal treasury. Legislation to do the same for workers suffering from asbestosis, bysinosis, silicosis and other types of work-related diseases have been introduced by several Rep resentatives and Senators. The greatest objection to this approach is its cost to the government -- the black lung payments are extremely higher than originally estimated. It is therefore unlikely that the Congress would approve the first alternative of providing federal compensation to any additional workers. The option of industry-wide funds appears to be gaining support among those involved in writing the new bill. While no details are available on precisely how such a fund would operate, those responsible for drafting the legislation are examining a proposal introduced by Rep. John Dent (DPa.) which would create an industry fund for those black-lung victims who, because of the cut-off date, do not qualify for federal compensation. The Dent proposal may serve as a vehicle applicable to other industries, should Williams and davits decide to go the industry-fund route. Labor: Stender Appears Safe Under New Labor Secretary (David L. Mallino) John Stender, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, appears relatively safe in his position, even though Secretary of Labor Peter Brennan has been "asked to resign." President Ford has nominated John Dunlop, a labor economics professor at Harvard and former Cost of Living Council Director, to succeed Brennan (see item on Dunlop). Stender will likely continue as the OSHA chief primarily because or ganized labor does not plan to oppose his tenure in office. This is not to say that organized labor is a staunch defender of Stender since they clear ly are not and neither will they come to his aid in the event of opposition from other quarters. As one union official who is very close to the OSHA situation confided: "Stender hasn't got much support from anyone. We don't care for him much and neither do the people on the Hill. But we don't plan to oppose him because he only has two more years to go and there are too many problems with bringing in a new guy and expecting him to func tion v/ell between now and 1976." CAPCO JEN 0002031 3. Dunlop Nominated to Replace Brennan Labor Secretary (David L. Mai 1ino) John T. Dunlop, a Harvard economics professor and former director of the Cost of Living Council, will be nominated by President Ford to replace Peter Brennan as the Secretary of Labor. Dunlop, 60, has been on the Harvard faculty since 1938. In addition to his job with the COLC, he has served as the chairman of the former Construction Industry Stabilization Committee, chairman of the National Commission on Productivity, and has been a member of the Construction Industry Collective Bargaining Commission. Over the years Dunlop has served on numerous Presidential panels, boards,commissions and committees handling labor disputes and collective bargaining issues. He is highly respected in labor, management and gov ernment circles as a tough but fair negotiator. As the COLC Director, Dunlop preferred back room negotiations and compromise rather than high publicity politics. He was once characterized as a person who works most effectively in chaotic situations where the only one who knew what was going on was John Dunlop. Seme observers were surprised that he has accepted the Labor Secre tary job since he is known as a "hit and run guy" and not particularly attuned to bureaucracy. Dunlop is expected to be more of a high level trouble shooter whose focus will be economic problems as they relate to the labor force. Thus, it is not likely that he will get involved in the day-to-day operations of the department. These duties will become the responsibility'of the new Under Secretary who will replace Richard Schubert, who has submitted his resignation. Dunlop's confirmation by the Senate is virtually assured and he will probably assume office in March. CAPCO JEN 0002032 4. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH ERA/Asbestos Air Standards (J. Thomas SI iter) ERA'S attitude toward comments it has received on proposed amend-, ments to the asbestos air emissions standards indicates that the agency will probably allow more flexibility in meeting the requirements on warning signs and disposal site operations but that it will retain the requirement that there be "no visible emission" to the outside air. EPA is defining what constitutes an acceptable natural barrier for the exclu sion of persons from asbestos waste disposal sites. Where access to a disposal site is already restricted by virtue of being located within the fenced boundary of a plant, additional fences around the pile would not be required. However, signs warning of the danger of breathing asbestos dust would still need to be posted around the waste pile and at entrances to the plant property. The standards on maintenance of waste disposal sites will also like ly be changed to allow the reuse of closed sites for light recreational and other uses. Under current thinking, the final regulations will permit fences and siqns to be removed after a site is closed and a description of the site and its location has been forwarded to the EPA regional office. The regional office will then compose a registry of such sites that will allow it to monitor any construction or excavation work on the site and to make certain that, a suitable depth of cover remains to prevent exposure of any asbestos v/astes. The agency eventually hopes to turn over the registry to local officials. Regulations governing operations in very cold weather will also be modified to eliminate the necessity of wetting the wastes during freezing weather. EPA is investigating the problem and trying to determine the temperature at which wetting should be discontinued. The final regulations should be published in April. EPA/Prinkfng Water Regulations (J. Thomas SI iter) Interim primary drinking water standards, which EPA is required to publish by mid-March, will probably not contain an asbestos standard but will limit the amount of organic chemicals that can be present in drink ing water. The revised version of the 1962 Public Health Service stan dards, which will be the basis .for the interim standards, contain a health-related approval limit of 0.7 milligrams organics/liter (mg/1) using carbon chloroform extract (CCE) and a 3.0 mg/1 limit using carbon alcohol extract (CAE). These levels are considerably above the amounts detected recently in the drinking water of New Orleans, announcement of which spurred passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act. ^ Whatever the scientific basis for the proposed standard, it will surely draw fire from environmentalists and an attempt to get the limit lowered to one they consider "safe." The case for a lower standard may be reinforcpd by a 1969 EPA survey of the organic content of drinking water from 39 locations in 18 states: Comparison of both the CCE and CAE limits with existing organic concentrations show that more than 95 per cent of the supplies will be able to meet the standard without ad- CAPCO JEN 0002033 Congress/Toxic Substances Legislation (J. Thomas SI iter) New legislation governing the use of toxic chemicals has not yet been introduced in either House but is expected to be introduced short ly, at least in the Senate, since the subject is a top priority item for the Senate Commerce Committee. The new bill, when it is submitted in the Senate, will probably be similar to the compromise version worked out by House and Senate staffs late last year. It will also retain lan guage requiring extensive premarket testing of new chemicals, a provision that was one of the major differences with last year's House version. The Commerce Committee has tentatively scheduled two to three days of hearings on toxic substances for March. The status of toxic substances legislation on the House side is much less clear. Although jurisdiction over toxic substances was not affected by upheavals in the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee and remained with the same subcommittee, the chairmanship of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee (new name for Commerce and Finance Subcommittee) has passed from Rep. John E. Moss (D-Calif.) to Rep. Lionel Van Deer!in (D-Calif.). Increasing the uncertainty over the subcommittee's attitude toward toxic substances is the number of new faces on it. Only three members are returning to the subcommittee (Reps. Stuckey, Eckhardt and McCollister) and of the seven Democratic positions, only five have been filled so far (Van Deerlin, Stuckey, Eckhardt, Metcalfe and Staggers). Only three Republicans hold seats on the subcommittee -- Devine, McCol lister and Rinaldo. Thus, House action will be slower than normal if for no other reason than the additional time needed to organize and acquaint new members with the issues. In a related area, the National Academy of Sciences has scheduled a briefing for March 5 on its study of decision-making principles for regulating chemicals in the environment. ' The briefing will include a discussion of the information gathered at the workshop to be held later this month in New Orleans. A final report on the subject, drawing on both the workshop and new material presented at the briefing, is due to be submitted in June to EPA, which originally requested the study. Nelson/Hart Amendment (J. Thomas SI iter) While this legislation has not been introduced yet this year, it is only a matter of time until it is. An unresolved question is the form in which it will be introduced -- as an amendment to another bill (last year's tactic), included as part of the toxic substances control bill, or submitted as a separate piece of legislation. The recent court deci sion overturning EPA1s ban on lead in gasoline for lack of a clear cor relation between lead in gas and lead poisoning has added fuel to the move to get this type of legislation through this Congress. * CAPCO JEN 0002034-