Guitar Maker, Inc, makes guitars. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposes a safety rule governing the handling of wood and its dust in the workplace, including the woods that Guitar Maker uses in its operations. Guitar Maker

Question

contends that the rule will involve substantial compliance costs without significantly increasing workplace safety. The firm sends a letter to OSHA indicating its objections to the proposed rule and enclosing research reports and other data supporting those objections. Does OSHA have any obligation to consider these objections? What procedures must OSHA follow when it makes new rules, such as this one?

Answer 1

In formulating new rules, a federal administrative agency has to follow specific rulemaking procedures. The most commonly used procedure is notice-and-comment rulemaking, which consists of three steps: notice of the proposed rulemaking, a comment period, and the final rule. The notice of the proposed rulemaking proceeding is published in the Federal Register. The notice states where and when the proceedings will be held, the agency's legal authority for making the rule, and the terms or subject matter of the proposed rule. Following publication of the notice, the agency must allow time for persons to comment in writing on the proposed rule. (If a hearing is held, the comments may be oral.) The agency need not respond to all comments, but it must respond to any significant comments that bear directly on the proposed rule.
Thus, if Guitar Maker's comments are significant, OSHA must take them into consideration. OSHA can respond by either modifying its final rule or explaining, in a statement accompanying the rule, why it did not make any changes.

After the agency reviews the comments, it drafts the final rule and publishes it in the Federal Register. Later, the rule is compiled with those rules of other federal agencies in the Code of Federal Regulations.

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