Revising the Notification Requirements in the Exposure Determination Provisions of the Hexavalent Chromium Standards

On February 28, 2006, OSHA published a final rule for Occupational Exposure to Hexavalent Chromium (Cr(VI). Public Citizen Health Research Group (Public Citizen) and other parties petitioned for review of the standard in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The court denied the petitions for review on all but one issue. The Third Circuit remanded the employee notification requirements in the standard's exposure determination provisions for further consideration. More specifically, the court directed the Agency to either provide an explanation for its decision to limit employee notification requirements to circumstances in which Cr(VI) exposures exceed the permissible exposure limit (PEL) or take other appropriate action with respect to that paragraph of the standard. After reviewing the rulemaking record on this issue, and reconsidering the provision in question, OSHA has decided to revise the notification requirements, by means of this direct final rule, to require employers to notify employees of the results of all exposure determinations.