[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 48 (Tuesday, April 16, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E528-E529]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             INTRODUCTION OF SMALL BUSINESS OSHA RELIEF ACT

                                 ______


                          HON. CASS BALLENGER

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 15, 1996

  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, today I and several of my colleagues are 
introducing the Small Business OSHA Relief Act of 1996.
  Mr. Speaker, nearly 1 year ago, President Bill Clinton traveled to a 
small sheet metal plant in northwest Washington, DC, and declared that 
it was time to create a ``new OSHA.''
  I certainly agree with the President on the need to change OSHA. 
OSHA, said President Clinton, needs to change so that its emphasis is 
on ``prevention, not punishment,'' and so that the agency uses ``common 
sense and market incentives to save lives.''
  Throughout the past year, no doubt largely in response to initiatives 
here in Congress to reform OSHA, the Clinton administration struggled 
to convince us and the American public that OSHA was being reinvented. 
Assistant Secretary Joe Dear, for example, said in congressional 
testimony last year: ``If there is one single message you take away 
from this hearing today, I hope it is this: that OSHA is changing the 
way it does business.'' The marks of the new OSHA, according to the 
Assistant Secretary, would be the elimination of inspection and penalty 
quotas; a less confrontation approach to enforcement, including 
reductions in penalties for employers who promptly correct violations; 
and commonsense regulations.
  Whatever the genesis for this recognition of the need to change OSHA 
by the Clinton administration, I, and I know many of my colleagues as 
well, have applauded it. The direction of these changes is the same as 
we have pushed for in H.R. 1834, the Safety and Health Improvement and 
Regulatory Reform Act. Obviously what the Clinton administration has 
proposed does not go as far as H.R. 1834, and in my view does not go 
far enough. But they at least move OSHA in the same direction.
  President Clinton announced that he would veto H.R. 1834 even before 
that bill was marked up in subcommittee. It was clear from the 
circumstances of that veto message that it had much to do with 
Presidential election politics and little to do with the legislation 
itself, but the promise of a veto effectively stopped realistic 
prospects for enacting comprehensive OSHA reform this year.
  Nonetheless, I believe it is important to solidify the progress that 
has been made in changing OSHA in the direction that Republicans and 
many of my Democratic colleagues have called for for years, and which 
President Clinton called for 1 year ago. For that reason, I am 
introducing the Small Business OSHA Relief Act of 1996.
  The Small Business OSHA Relief Act of 1996 is comprised of five 
provisions, each of which comes directly from policy pronouncements by 
the Clinton administration.
  The first provision comes from statements made by Labor Secretary 
Reich in support of measuring and balancing the costs and benefits of 
OSHA standards, consistent with the administration's goal for OSHA of 
more ``commonsense regulations.''
  The second provision adopts President Clinton's directive of April 
21, 1995, granting a waiver of penalties for small businesses which 
correct violations within a reasonable period of time. As President 
Clinton said in announcing that directive, ``We will stop playing 
`gotcha' with decent, honest business people who want to be good 
citizens. Compliance, not punishment, should be our objective.''
  The third provision adopts and follows an OSHA compliance directive 
issued in November 1995 regarding citations for paperwork violations. 
In recent years, a majority of the most commonly cited OSHA standards 
are paperwork requirements. OSHA's compliance directive recognizes that 
these paperwork violations have often been technical and nitpicking, 
and don't address real health or safety problems. Including this change 
in the statute will give employers and employees assurance that this 
common sense change will be more permanent than is the case with a 
compliance directive.
  The fourth provision codifies OSHA's State consultation grants 
program. The consultation grants program was created by OSHA to assist 
small businesses in improving safety and health in their workplaces. 
Historically, these grants, which are given to State agencies or 
colleges in each State to provide consultation

[[Page E529]]

services, have been underfunded, requiring employers who seek 
assistance to wait up to 2 years for assistance. The Clinton 
administration has endorsed the codification of the consultation grants 
program.
  The fifth and last provision of the bill would codify another mark of 
the new OSHA--elimination of the use of inspections, citations, and 
penalties as performance measures for inspectors and their supervisors.
  The Small Business OSHA Relief Act codifies the positive changes to 
OSHA on which the Clinton administration and we agree, so that we can 
build on those and continue to work constructively to create a truly 
new OSHA.
  I welcome my colleagues' support and cosponsorship of the Small 
Business OSHA Relief Act of 1996.

                          ____________________