ARA Signs Letter to Congress Regarding Omnibus Appropriations Bill

ARA signs a letter to the Senate’s and House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations regarding inclusions of certain provisions in the FY 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Bill to prevent the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from enforcing an unlawful Process Safety Management (PSM) retail exemption memorandum issued this summer. On July 22, 2015 OSHA issued a memorandum revising the Agency’s 1992 interpretation of what constitutes a “retail facility” under its PSM regulations. Now agricultural retail facilities (i.e., farm supply retailers) will no longer be exempt from PSM even though more than 50 percent of their sales are to farmers and other end-users. Instead, facilities are exempt only if they use a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code under Sector 44-45 Retail Trade. As a result, it is estimated that 3,800 agricultural retail facilities will now be subject to PSM at an estimated cost for design and implementation at $27,500 per facility.

 READ MORE