[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2864 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2864

 To require the Secretary of Labor to establish a program under which 
 employers may consult with State officials respecting compliance with 
              occupational safety and health requirements.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 7, 1997

   Mr. Ballenger (for himself, Mr. Hall of Texas, Mr. Stenholm, Mr. 
Norwood, Mr. Barrett of Nebraska, Mr. Paul, Mr. DeLay, Mr. Bob Schaffer 
of Colorado, Mr. Hoekstra, Mr. Graham, Mr. Istook, Mr. Fawell, and Mr. 
   Boehner) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Secretary of Labor to establish a program under which 
 employers may consult with State officials respecting compliance with 
              occupational safety and health requirements.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration Compliance Assistance Authorization Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

    Section 21 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d)(1) The Secretary shall establish and support cooperative 
agreements with the States under which employers subject to this Act 
may consult with designated State officials with respect to--
            ``(A) the application of occupational safety and health 
        requirements under this Act or under State plans approved under 
        section 18; and
            ``(B) voluntary efforts that employers may undertake to 
        establish and maintain safe and healthful employment and places 
        of employment.
    ``(2) Pursuant to such agreements the State shall provide on-site 
consultation at the employer's worksite to employers who request such 
assistance. The State may also provide other education and training 
programs for employers and employees in the State.
    ``(3) Activities under this subsection shall be conducted 
independently of any enforcement activity. If an employer fails to take 
immediate action to eliminate employee exposure to an imminent danger 
or fails to correct a serious hazard within a reasonable time, a report 
shall be made to the appropriate enforcement authority for such action 
as is appropriate.
    ``(4) An employer who requests and undergoes an on-site 
consultative visit provided under this subsection and who corrects the 
hazards that have been identified during the visit within the time 
frames established by the State and agrees to request a subsequent 
consultative visit if major changes in working conditions or work 
processes occur which introduce new hazards in the workplace, shall be 
exempt from an inspection (except an inspection requested under section 
8(f) or to determine the cause of a workplace accident which resulted 
in the death of one or more employees or hospitalization for 3 or more 
employees) for a period of one year from the closing of the 
consultative visit.
    ``(5) Not less than 90 percent of funds appropriated to the 
Secretary for compliance assistance activities shall be used for the 
purposes of this subsection.''.
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