“To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to expand coverage under such Act to public employees.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section amends the definition of "employer" under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to include the United States, states, and political subdivisions of states (previously excluded). (As background, OSHA generally covers private-sector employers affecting commerce but excludes public-sector employers, with federal employees covered separately and state/local employees optionally via approved state plans under OSHA section 18.) It further (1) states that nothing in the bill affects the application of OSHA section 18 (i.e., state plans); and (2) sets an effective date of 90 days after enactment generally, or 36 months after enactment for workplaces of states or their political subdivisions lacking an approved state plan. (Thus, direct OSHA enforcement extends to previously uncovered public-sector workplaces, subject to the delayed effective date and preserved state plan authority.)