Are you an employer concerned with California Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) compliance? Some recent developments at the state level may affect your operations. To learn whether you need to take action, read on!
Have Your Operations Met Mandatory GHG Reporting Regulations?
The California Air Resources Board (ARB) adopted final revisions to the Regulation for the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (17 CCR 95100 et seq.) in September 2012. These revisions were adopted to support California’s cap-and-trade program, as well as to harmonize state greenhouse gas reporting requirements with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s federal mandatory greenhouse gas reporting requirements contained in 40 CFR 98. Entities that import or export electricity must have registered their anticipated specified facilities and units by February 1, 2013.
FRA Tweaks Standards for Safety-Critical Electronic Locomotive Control Systems, Subsystems, and Components
Also in 2012, the Federal Railroad Administration adopted revisions to existing regulations containing Railroad Locomotive Safety Standards (49 CFR 229) to promote locomotive control system safety. The final rule incorporates existing industry and engineering best practices related to locomotives and locomotive electronics, and requires owners of new locomotive electronic systems to develop a safety analysis for them. This portion of the regulations sets specific parameters for training railroad employees to ensure they have the necessary knowledge and skills to complete duties involving safety-critical products.
Cal/OSHA Releases New Model Workplace Injury and Illness Prevention Program
In February, Cal/OSHA updated and posted on its website a model program that employers may use to prepare a workplace Injury and Illness Prevention (IIP) Program. According to Title 8 CCR 3203, every California employer must establish, implement, and maintain a written IIP Program, and a copy of it must be maintained at each workplace. The model program has been prepared for use by employers in industries that have been determined by Cal/OSHA to be non–high hazard. Although employers are not required to use this program, any employer in such an industry who adopts, posts, and implements it in good faith will not be subject to assessment of a civil penalty for a first violation of 8 CCR 3203.
The model program provides a framework that must be filled out by the employer with site-specific information, including sample forms for recording hazard assessment and correction, accident/exposure investigation, and worker training and instruction. A separate model program is available for use by employers in industries that have been determined by Cal/OSHA to be high hazard. Find them at: www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/PubOrder.asp.
STP has recently issued an update to California Training Requirements Compliance Guide and also publishes the following guides: