WASHINGTON – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has delayed its rulemaking on perchloroethylene, according to a report in Update, a newsletter produced by Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance, Inc. (HSIA), Washington. OSHA’s earlier plan was to propose a revised workplace limit next spring. This decision appears to be based on OSHA’s plan to issue a substance-specific standard for perchloroethylene with ancillary provisions such as medical surveillance, according to the report.
A proposed standard will not likely be issued until at least late 2001. A final standard will take several years to adopt, and compliance would not be required until some time after that.