Congress demands briefing on Chao's mystery proposal for risk assessment

Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Congressman George Miller (D-CA) are demanding answers from Labor Secretary Elaine Chao on her mysterious proposed rule on risk assessment.  I reported earlier this week that the Secretary's office sent a proposed rule to OMB on July 7 entitled "Requirements for DOL Agencies' Assessment of Occupational Health Risks."  Although this proposal might sound innocuous, past experience at so-called "regulatory reform" of risk assessment tells us to be very wary of plans to "improve" the risk assessment process.  In layman's terms, it means workers' health gets screwed. 

Kennedy and Miller's letter to Secretary Chao asks for a briefing within a week about the proposed regulation, and asks for:

• a copy of the proposed rule
• the legal authority under which the Department expects to promulgate this regulation
• the reason that this proposed rule was not listed in the Department's Regulatory Agenda (which was published in May 2008 )

A screenshot of OMB's webpage on which this proposed rule appears is here.

Thanks to the Senator and Congresman for taking their oversight responsibilities seriously.