The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced that it will hold a public hearing on the proposed rule to address heat hazards in both indoor and outdoor work environments. The proposed rule, published on August 30 after being announced by OSHA in July 2024, outlines the requirements for employers when the heat index reaches 80°F or higher. The virtual public hearing will occur on June 16, 2025 and will “continue on subsequent weekdays if necessary.”
One Voice submitted formal comments to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on January 14, 2025, on the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) In the submitted comments One Voice stated that while member companies recognize the importance of providing a safe work environment for their employees and have been proactive in finding measures to ensure that high temperatures do not pose a hazard in the workplace, “the approach taken in the NPRM that prescribes few options for compliance, without accounting for the differences across industries and sectors.”
In the coming months, OSHA will post information on how to view the public hearing on the rulemaking webpage for the NPRM at: https://www.osha.gov/heat-exposure/rulemaking
CEQ Developing Draft NEPA Template for Agencies
The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is in the process of developing a draft template to guide agencies, such as the EPA, following the revocation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing rule. On February 25, 2025, CEQ issued an interim final rule revoking CEQ’s NEPA regulations and replaced it with guidance that directs agencies to rely on their individual NEPA regulations. Then on April 8, CEQ issued a memo ordering agencies to rescind their own existing rules on implementing NEPA and develop nonbinding guidance.
The draft template being developed by CEQ aims to help agencies as they replace their NEPA rules with guidance. As part of the template, CEQ advises agencies to exempt certain kinds of projects to which NEPA applies and would be subject to an environmental impact statement (EIS), suggesting that the agencies “[i]nsert a list of examples from agency experience that the agency knows will usually or always trigger an EIS.” The CEQ document also advises agencies to “consider distilling from that list a presumptive (but nonbinding) monetary threshold above which an action will be deemed ‘major.’” Under NEPA, the requirement to prepare an EIS applies to any “major federal action” that could potentially have significant impacts on the environment. The draft template also removes certain public comment requirements, giving agencies the option of precluding public comments on reviews and draft EIS documents.
Commerce Launches Section 232 Investigation into Imports of Semiconductors
On April 1, the US Secretary of Commerce initiated an investigation under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act to assess the national security risks related to imports of semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment (SME), and their derivative products.
The investigation covers the imports of “among other things, semiconductor substrates and bare wafers, legacy chips, leading-edge chips, microelectronics, and [semiconductor manufacturing equipment (SME)] components.” It also covers a range of “derivative products,” defined as “downstream products that contain semiconductors, such as those that make up the electronics supply chain.”
As part of the investigation the Commerce Department will assess all factors outlined under Section 232, including:
(i) the current and projected demand for semiconductors (including as embedded in downstream products) and SME in the U.S., differentiated by product type and node size;
(ii) the extent to which domestic production of semiconductors can or is expected to be able to meet domestic demand at each node size for each product type, and similarly the extent to which domestic production of SME can or is expected to be able to meet domestic demand;
(iii) the role of foreign fabrication and assembly, test and packaging facilities in meeting United States semiconductors demand, and similarly the role of foreign supply of SME in meeting domestic demand;
(iv) the concentration of U.S. semiconductors imports (including as embedded in downstream products) from a small number of fabrication facilities and the associated risks, and similarly the concentration of U.S. SME imports from a small number of foreign sources;
(v) the impact of foreign government subsidies and predatory trade practices on United States semiconductor and SME industry competitiveness;
(vi) the economic or financial impact of artificially suppressed semiconductor and SME prices due to foreign unfair trade practices and state-sponsored overcapacity;
(vii) the potential for export restrictions by foreign nations, including the ability of foreign nations to weaponize their control over semiconductors and SME supply chains;
(viii) the feasibility of increasing domestic semiconductors capacity (in different product types and node sizes) to reduce import reliance, and similarly the feasibility of increasing domestic SME capacity to reduce import reliance;
(ix) the impact of current trade and other policies on domestic semiconductor and SME production and capacity, and whether additional measures, including tariffs or quotas, are necessary to protect national security;
(x) what product types and node sizes could be built only using SME from U.S. companies;
(xi) what SME is manufactured abroad and faces limited competition from U.S.-made products;
(xii) what SME parts or components are only available outside the United States;
(xiii) where the U.S. workforce faces a talent gap in production of semiconductors, SME or SME components; and
(xiv) any other relevant factors.
Commerce is accepting public submissions of “written comments, data, analyses, or other information pertinent to” Commerce’s reviews through May 7, 2025. The Secretary of Commerce is statutorily required to submit a report to the President on the findings of the investigation by December 27, 2025, however, the administration has indicated that it intends to move at a faster pace.
USTR Imposes Port Fees on Chinese Ships
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced on April 17, 2025, a new port fee regime, imposing charges based on tonnage on vessels owned and operated by Chinese entities, as well as charges on certain ships constructed in China and fees on foreign-built car carriers.
This imposition of port fees follows a year-long investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 into Chinese practices within the shipbuilding sector. The investigation concluded that China’s actions, policies, and practices were unreasonable and burdened or restricted U.S. commerce. Consequently, the USTR recommended that the administration take “responsive action” to counteract these practices.
The fees on ships will include a charge of $50 per net tonnage for owners and operators of Chinese vessels, effective as of October 14, 2025, and increase by $30 per net tonnage annually over the following three years. Additionally, operators of Chinese-built ships will face fees of $18 per net tonnage or $120 per container beginning on October 14, with rates increasing incrementally each year for three consecutive years.
EPA to Defend Recently Effective Secondary Air Standards
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has withdrawn a request to pause litigation challenging the “secondary” air standards for nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), and particulate matter (PM) and will continue to defend the recently effective rule. The regulation was challenged in the courts by environmentalists seeking to tighten the rule.
The final rule, published on December 27, 2024, would slightly tighten the secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for SOx while retaining the secondary standards for NOx and PM. Primary NAAQS are required by the Clean Air Act to protect public health, while secondary standards are designed to protect the environment. The SOx secondary standard stands at 500 parts per billion (ppb) of sulfur dioxide (SO2) over three hours, a level also set in 1971. The proposed rule would lower the standard to10 for SO2, averaged over three years.
The secondary standard for NOx will remain at 53 parts per billion (ppb) of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) annually, the same level it has been at since 1971. The secondary annual PM2.5 standard will continue to stand at 15 ug/m3, and the secondary daily PM2.5 standard at 35 ug/m3. The secondary daily limit for larger “coarse” PM, or PM10, will continue to be 150 ug/m3.