Bush Administration Remains Noncommittal on Whether OSHA Will Issue New Ergonomics Rule.

In early May, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao told a Senate panel that the Dept. of Labor has made no commitment to offer an alternative ergonomics standard and indicated that the Bush administration would oppose a mandated Congressional deadline for a new ergonomics standard. Some Senate lawmakers from both political parties have been pressuring the Labor. Dept. to provide a timeline for the Bush administration to take regulatory action following the March congressional recession of the Clinton administration's ergonomics rule. Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee called on Chao to provide detailed information on what resources--in funding or personnel--are being allocated at the Labor Dept. to determine how the department should proceed on the ergonomics issue. Sen. John Breaux (D-La) introduced legislation requiring the Labor Dept. to issue a new ergonomics rule within 2 yr that could not offer a workers' comp ensation payment system that pays more than what states already offer. This bill has the support of two Republicans who also chair the committees that fund the Labor Dept.