In a 5-2 vote, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board approved the proposed changes to the “California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Section 1532.1” related to lead. Unless there is legal action to stay this regulation, it is scheduled to go into effect in six months.
Cal/OSHA’s proposed changes would reduce the lead Action Level (AL) from 30 to 2 micrograms per cubic meter of air and the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) from 50 to 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air.
A coalition, of which NCPFC is a member, opposed these proposed changes as the extremely low thresholds raise fundamental questions about necessity, attainability, and practicality. They also present serious financial harm to the construction industry and trigger intrusive actions on workers.
Possible Options:
For over a year, a dozen or so members of the Coalition have worked as a subgroup of the Coalition to track the Board's activities, testify before the Board, discuss strategy, and update our Coalition letter. The Coalition met and discussed three options for possible implementation.
- Retain an attorney with specific experience with Cal/OSHA and the Standards Board to prepare and file an injunction seeking relief on the significantly reduced Permissible Exposure Limit, Action Level, Blood Lead Level testing, and other areas of strong disagreement. The subcommittee is awaiting a date and time for a zoom call with attorney Kevin Bland of Ogletree Deakins. Kevin has several decades of experience defending against Cal/OSHA citations and in engaging with Cal/OSHA enforcement and the Standards Board. Coalition members will likely be asked to contribute funds to cover the legal costs.
- File a Petition with Board Chair Dave Thomas to seek changes including those mentioned above, and others.
- File a Complaint About State Program Administration (CASPA) with the Federal OSHA Regional office in San Francisco. The CASPA process permits any individual to file a complaint about how the state program (Cal/OSHA) is managed and administered. As the former Deputy Regional Administrator with Federal OSHA, I am committed to drafting for the subcommittee's review/comment such a CASPA. It will include detailed complaints about the process Cal/OSHA has used to promulgate the proposed revisions (lack of stakeholder engagement, no formal advisory committee meeting since 2019, extremely limited opportunities to testify before the Board - those testifying have been typically limited to 2-3 minutes), etc.
We will keep our contractor members updated as the process moves forward.