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Keep up to date on the latest developments affecting OSHA, DOT, EPA, and DOL regulatory compliance.
Two motor carriers recently learned the hard way why great care should be taken with government mail following a DOT audit or investigation.
The companies — one a bus operator based in Texas and the other a freight hauler from Illinois — both mishandled the Notices of Claim that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) mailed them last summer.
A Notice of Claim (NOC) is a letter notifying a company that they’ve been fined for violations. In this case:
In both cases, the FMCSA sent the NOCs by certified mail shortly after performing an audit of the companies’ safety programs.
When a company receives a NOC, it can respond in one of three ways:
Whichever path a company chooses, it must respond in writing within 30 days after the NOC is received. If the company fails to respond, it waives its right to contest the fine and will owe the full amount.
In this case, both motor carriers wanted to contest their fines but neither responded within 30 days, and neither had an excuse that held any merit with the judges overseeing the cases:
In each case (both finalized this spring), the judge declared that the entire fine was “due and payable immediately” because the motor carrier had defaulted when it failed to reply to the NOC.
If you’re ever the target of an FMCSA audit or investigation and violations are found, be on the lookout for an important letter from the agency. It will typically be sent to your principal place of business and require a signature from whoever receives it.
Once you do receive an NOC, the 30-day clock starts ticking. If you want to contest the fine or seek arbitration (hint: it’s a good idea), be sure to respond in writing before the 30-day deadline!
Key to remember: After a DOT audit, be sure to watch for critical letters or communications from the agency, because missing something important could mean paying the full amount of any fine that’s levied against you.
It’s time for that special event that happens once every four years, often testing the endurance of the participants who’ve spent the prior years preparing for this very moment. No, it’s not the Summer Olympics, though that’s a great guess. It’s the Chemical Data Report!
Under the Toxic Substances Control ACT (TSCA), the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule requires manufacturers (including importers) to report information on the production and use of chemicals in commerce if they meet certain production volume thresholds at any one site. The submission period for the 2024 report runs from June 1 to September 30, 2024.
Use these tips to help you complete a Chemical Data Report worthy of a gold medal.
The TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory (TSCA Inventory) lists the covered chemical substances. Generally, the production volume threshold is 25,000 pounds or more of a chemical substance at a site. However, a reduced reporting threshold (2,500 pounds) applies to chemical substances subject to:
Further, certain full and partial exemptions apply to facilities based on the:
To confirm whether your facility must report:
The CDR rule requires facilities to report the total annual production volume of covered chemical substances for each calendar year since the last principal reporting year.
In other words, if a chemical substance at your facility meets or exceeds the corresponding reporting threshold during any calendar year covered by the report, you must include the total annual production volume of that chemical for every covered calendar year.
For example, you must list on the 2024 report the production volumes of every reportable chemical substance for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
All CDR data must be reported electronically on Form U (EPA Form 7740-8) through e-CDRweb on EPA’s Central Data Exchange (CDX) system. Reporting is site-specific, so if your organization has multiple sites with reportable chemicals, you must submit a Form U for each site.
Keep in mind that you submit only one form per site, so all reportable chemical substances at a specific site are listed on the same Form U. You may have to submit multiple forms only if you have more than one site covered by the CDR rule.
To submit a Chemical Data Report, you must first register with the CDX system and be approved by EPA. Plus, you must register the name of the organization on whose behalf you’re submitting a Form U. If you’re already registered on CDX, you can add the CDR reporting flow to your current registration.
Because each type of user role has varying permissions, it’s essential to register for the right one. User roles include:
Only Primary Authorized Officials may submit initial Chemical Data Reports. So, if you’re the one who will submit Form U, confirm that you’re registered as a Primary Authorized Official.
The CDR rule requires organizations to keep records of all CDR information reported on Form U to EPA for at least five years (711.25). The five-year timeline begins on the last day of the submission period.
Additionally, you may have to amend Form U after submitting the initial report. This can apply if:
Key to remember: The Chemical Data Report can be a major undertaking, but with these tips, you can cross the finish line with a report worthy of a gold medal.
Want to learn what other companies are doing to prevent confined space fatalities? Or are you interested in helping prevent one of the approximate 127 annual confined space fatalities? Then read on!
Any employer interested in preventing workplace hazards can participate in the May 6-10, 2024, National Safety Stand-Down. Although this year’s topic is preventing Falls in Construction, employers can address confined space hazards as well with this initiative.
Safety stand-downs give employers an opportunity to break from the normal routine and focus on various safety issues, like confined spaces. It’s a voluntary, dedicated time to communicate with employees directly about identifying and reducing hazards that may cause serious injuries and fatalities.
All Employers could benefit by participating in the National Safety Stand-Down include but most certainly:
Employers are free to plan stand-down activities that apply to their workplace and that best fits with their schedules and operational commitments. In the case of confined spaces, employers can engage workers to perform confined space assessments and inspections, develop entry procedures and rescue plans, or ensure signage is accurate and updated. In other words, whatever may be needed to identify and remediate hazards or encourage open communications with workers about confined space safety.
This is also a great time to provide refresher training. A great starting point could be reminding workers of the differences between confined spaces and permit-required confined spaces. Additionally, you can have discussions with workers about the common types of deadly confined spaces and how to protect themselves.
Here are some talking points:
1. OSHA defines a confined space in 1910.146 as a space that:
2. Permit-required confined spaces (permit spaces) are confined spaces that have one or more of the following characteristics:
3. The most common types of confined spaces involved in occupational deaths include:
4. Worker protections in and around confined spaces include:
Key to Remember: Employers should set time aside during the week of May 6-10, 2024, to join the National Safety Stand-Down and stand up to confined space hazards.
When a court opinion begins with “This case illustrates one reason why the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) exists,” you know you’re in trouble.
Employees must miss work sometimes. When that leave is for valid reasons, like a disability, employers must ensure their disciplinary steps aren’t an ADA violation. Employers with no-fault attendance policies should not apply attendance points to such ADA-related absences, one employer learned.
Employee collapsed at work
Brandon was a solid employee who had a chronic disease that caused kidney stones to develop. About once every two years, he developed a large kidney stone that required surgical removal.
The company had a policy that counted any unexcused absence, tardy, or leave early as an attendance point. The company fired employees who accrued seven points in a year. Employees could accrue just one point without applying for an ADA accommodation. Ty, Brandon’s manager, was not aware that leave was available for those with an ADA disability.
Brandon had one accrued attendance point before he accrued four points because of his condition. When his doctor recommended that he take about a week off, he instead returned to work to avoid any further points.
The day he returned, however, Brandon collapsed at work in excruciating pain and was transported by ambulance to the hospital. The general manager rode with Brandon, where he learned of Brandon’s condition. The company assessed only one attendance point for the two days Brandon was absent.
Seventh attendance point meant termination
Brandon’s doctor told him he needed surgery to remove a large stone. Ty warned Brandon that a seventh point would lead to termination.
Because Brandon needed surgeries to remove the stone, he:
Ty told him he could reapply in 60 days. Instead, a lawsuit ensued.
Employer didn’t try to find a solution
In court, the company claimed that, because Brandon did not provide a return-to-work date, he requested unlimited leave, which is not a reasonable accommodation. The company did not, however, ask when Brandon could return to work.
In ruling for Brandon, the court didn’t buy the company’s argument. The history showed that Brandon returned to work promptly. The court also said that the company failed to engage in the ADA’s interactive process (i.e., conversation with an employee to find a possible reasonable accommodation), and it chose to remain in the dark about when Brandon could return to work.
EEOC v. Keystone RV Company, Northern District of Indiana, No. 3:22-CV-831, March 27, 2024.
Key to remember: Time off can be a reasonable accommodation under the ADA, and employers should not apply attendance points to such time off.
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) recently petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to amend inspection-report requirements for motor carriers and intermodal equipment providers.
The current regulation
Under the current regulations in 49 CFR 396.9(d)(3), carriers must return roadside inspection reports to the issuing state agency within 15 days, certifying that all necessary repairs have been made. The issue with this, according to CVSA, is that the states are filing away the forms without taking actions that could actually improve safety.
CVSA feels that the requirement is an “unnecessary administrative burden on both the carrier and the state agencies,” and in response has petitioned for change.
The petition
CVSA is asking FMCSA to remove the requirement that motor carriers must return inspection reports to the agency listed on the form. In place of that requirement, CVSA proposes adding a statement to the rule saying that the issuing agency has the option to require carriers to return the form within 15 days of the inspection.
CVSA is not proposing any change to the requirement that carriers “retain a copy at the motor carrier's principal place of business, at the intermodal equipment provider's principal place of business, or where the vehicle is housed for 12 months from the date of the inspection.”
CVSA acknowledges that while it has found that most jurisdictions do not use the signed forms in any way, this amendment still allows jurisdictions the flexibility to require carriers to return forms if the jurisdiction desires it.
CVSA is a nonprofit association of local, state, provincial, territorial, and federal commercial motor vehicle safety officials and industry representatives.
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled on April 17 that making an employee transfer to a similar job, even at the same rate of pay, could be job discrimination.
Thus, the unanimous decision makes it easier for employees to sue employers for discrimination when such measures are taken.
Case background
The case involved a female police officer’s claim that she was transferred to a different position because of her sex, which is in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While the pay for job the officer was transferred to was equal to that of her previous job, it was a less prestigious position with different hours and responsibilities.
Lower federal courts sided with the city that employed the police officer in the gender discrimination and retaliation claims, with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals saying she had not suffered a “materially significant” disadvantage.
Two justices’ opinions
Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the Supreme Court’s opinion that, “Although an employee must show some harm from a forced transfer, she need not show that the injury satisfies a significance test.”
Title VII’s text, Kagan wrote, nowhere establishes that higher bar.
While in agreement with the decision, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote a separate opinion stating that “the Court’s new some-harm requirement appears to be a relatively low bar.” His writing indicated he would have preferred describing the requirement as, ‘some additional harm.’
“Importantly, the Court emphasizes that ‘some harm’ is less than significant harm, serious harm, or substantial harm,” Kavanaugh wrote. “Therefore, anyone who has been transferred because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin should easily be able to show some additional harm—whether in money, time, satisfaction, schedule, convenience, commuting costs or time, prestige, status, career prospects, interest level, perks, professional relationships, networking opportunities, effects on family obligations, or the like.
“So even though I respectfully disagree with the Court’s new some-harm requirement, I expect that the Court’s approach and my preferred approach will land in the same place and lead to the same result in 99 out of 100 discriminatory transfer cases, if not in all 100.”
What the ruling means for employers
The Court’s ruling is a reminder to employers that employment decisions should never be made for discriminatory reasons, i.e., based on an employee’s membership in a protected class. Employment decisions — hiring, promoting, transferring, etc. — must be made based on objective factors such as skills, qualifications, and experience.
When an employer wants to transfer an employee to a different position, it is always a best practice to document the business reasons for doing so. Such documentation could show a court that a job transfer was not done for discriminatory reasons.
Key to remember: The Supreme Court ruled that the harm from a forced job transfer need not be severe to be considered discrimination under Title VII.
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