MI asbestos concerns demonstrates area of OSHA, EPA regulatory overlap

May 31st, 2016 by Dakota Software Staff Industry News

While the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have mostly separate and well-defined spheres of influence, there's certainly some crossover between environmental regulations and health and safety concerns. One example of areas where OSHA, the EPA and similar state-level agencies cross over was recently brought to light in Michigan, where both workplace safety and environmental concerns - and the differing approaches used by authorities - were in play over asbestos laws and regulations.

Different approaches and results
A report on the issue from The Detroit Free Press found agencies in Michigan that have regulatory jurisdiction - including the EPA, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration - take different approaches to finding asbestos violations and citing violators. The two environmentally focused agencies tend to issue and collect more in the way of financial penalties.

The Free Press noted the EPA and MDEQ, which have joint responsibility for enforcing the Clean Air Act, have received more than $2 million in total since 2009 from fines, settlements and other arrangements with businesses that violated asbestos regulations. MIOSHA issued penalties totaling $1 million over the same period of time, roughly half of what the EPA and MDEQ got out of violators. The Free Press also cited a number of asbestos violation issues where the EPA, MDEQ or both organizations assessed higher penalties or more vigorously pursued legal consequences, including jail time, for serious, repeat violators.

The Associated Press said MIOSHA, which contested some of the specific findings in The Free Press report, values quicker abatement of potentially serious issues for workers in the state over the collection of more fine money. There are also practical issues in play. MIOSHA only had four asbestos inspectors in place in 2016, down from the five on staff in the organization's 2015 fiscal year. However, a former OSHA policy analyst criticized the state safety regulator's approach, noting that it grouped penalties together when listing them separately would serve as a stronger deterrent. John Newquist, a former high-level OSHA official who worked in the administration's Chicago regional office - which has Michigan under its jurisdiction - similarly told the AP that he never grouped violations together while working for the regulator.

EHS concerns are always important, and this example highlights an instance where companies face the possibility of doubled penalties and other consequences for violations. EHS software helps guide businesses through the specific language of relevant local, state and federal regulations and take the necessary steps to achieve widespread compliance.