Changes Coming to OSHA Regulatory Flexibility Act?

I know it is important to protect small businesses from burdensome safety and health regulations to some extent, but Congress appears to be supporting a fix to the Regulatory Flexibility Act which will make it even more difficult to pass permanent OSHA standards (via Inside OSHA):

House Small Business Committee Chair Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) wants to strengthen the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) to require that government agencies back with evidence their claims that policy changes have limited impact on small business. Last week, the committee
held a hearing at which the U.S. Small Business Administration, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers endorsed a proposed bill that would require agencies to analyze regulations’ indirect impact on small businesses.

At the Dec. 6 hearing, SBA Chief Counsel for Advocacy Thomas Sullivan testified that “the biggest loophole in the RFA is that is does not require agencies to analyze indirect impacts. Agencies are required to consider the direct economic impact of a regulatory action on
small entities, but that analysis deprives policymakers of a full understanding of a rule’s likely impact on small entities.”

I would prefer that the Democratic House and Senate spend more time thinking about how to fix all that ails OSHA.  After all, this is a law that has led to the enactment of only 50 or so permanent standards in its more than 30 year history.  Industry is still being largely regulated by thousands of interim standards from the 1970s.  Impact on small business is important, but worker safety and health is crucial and should be dealt with first.

I hope the unions will take the lead in such an initiative.

PS