Johanns: OSHA farm language is in Approps bill
January 13, 2014 | 11:34 PM
Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., said today that language he offered to restrict the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from regulating farms is included in the report accompanying the omnibus appropriations bill.
The language clarifies a more than three-decades-old provision legally prohibiting OSHA from regulating farms with fewer than 10 employees, he said in a news release.
Johanns said that an OSHA memo issued on June 28, 2011, declared that certain activities such as drying and fumigating grain are subject to all OSHA requirements.
Johanns called on OSHA to stop its plans to regulate these activities, and a bipartisan coalition of 42 of his Senate colleagues joined him in writing a letter demanding that the agency stop this attempt at regulation.
“The inclusion of this language makes it very clear that OSHA does not have the authority to harass family farmers,” Johanns said. “This is more than a victory for our ag producers. It is a win for our economy and the law.”
The report language is below:
“The bill continues the exemption of small farming operations from Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulation. The OSHA is encouraged to work with the Department of Agriculture before moving forward with any attempts to redefine and regulate post-harvest activities, to include, but not limited to, storing, drying, grinding, and other activities necessary to market farm products to subsequent users in the agricultural value chain, and clarify that this exemption shall apply to on-farm post-harvest activities.”
The language clarifies a more than three-decades-old provision legally prohibiting OSHA from regulating farms with fewer than 10 employees, he said in a news release.
Johanns said that an OSHA memo issued on June 28, 2011, declared that certain activities such as drying and fumigating grain are subject to all OSHA requirements.
Johanns called on OSHA to stop its plans to regulate these activities, and a bipartisan coalition of 42 of his Senate colleagues joined him in writing a letter demanding that the agency stop this attempt at regulation.
“The inclusion of this language makes it very clear that OSHA does not have the authority to harass family farmers,” Johanns said. “This is more than a victory for our ag producers. It is a win for our economy and the law.”
The report language is below:
“The bill continues the exemption of small farming operations from Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulation. The OSHA is encouraged to work with the Department of Agriculture before moving forward with any attempts to redefine and regulate post-harvest activities, to include, but not limited to, storing, drying, grinding, and other activities necessary to market farm products to subsequent users in the agricultural value chain, and clarify that this exemption shall apply to on-farm post-harvest activities.”
