                    Record of Contact with Outside Parties
               to Discuss Issues Related to Informal Rulemaking
 
AGENCY KEEPING RULEMAKING DOCKET:  Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 
TITLE OF RULE: Revising the Beryllium Standard for General Industry
STAGE OF RULEMAKING: NPRM comment period is closed 
Parties/Titles/ Organizations Present or Represented: 
 Kathryn M. McMahon, Partner, Conn Maciel Carey, attorney representing Materion Corporation 
 Maureen Ruskin, Deputy Director, OSHA Directorate of Standards and Guidance
 Allison Kramer, Senior Attorney, Office of the Solicitor, Occupational Safety and Health Division
 Marisa Schnaith, Honors Attorney, Office of the Solicitor's Honors Program, Office of Legal Counsel
Date of Discussion: April 25, 2019 
Nature of Discussion: In-person meeting in the Frances Perkins Building 
Description of factual materials or information presented: 
Ms. McMahon, the representative from Conn Maciel Carey, indicated that she requested the meeting to share her hopes for and thoughts about the rulemaking.  She stated that she found the preamble to the 2018 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to be helpful.  In addition, Ms. McMahon stated that she had read through the comments to the record and found the majority of the comments to be supportive of the regulatory text as proposed, with the exception of a few comments from the medical community on discrete issues and other comments related to the 30-day period in the proposed definition of the term "confirmed positive."  She also noted that she believed the agency could face both legal and policy risks if it chose to deviate from the proposed regulatory text without substantial comments from the record.  Finally, she suggested that the agency might consider issuing guidance, rather than changing regulatory text, where possible; asked whether it might be possible to provide an indication of any changes in a final rule prior to publication; and inquired about the status of the Ashley Fitch letter discussed during the settlement process. 
The Department relayed the following:  
 The record is closed for comment, so OSHA cannot consider any further comments in making its decisions on any final rule. 
 OSHA has reviewed the comments and will make its decision based on those comments. 
 Details regarding the timing of this rulemaking should appear in the Spring Regulatory Agenda when it is published.   
 OSHA will look into the status of the Ashley Fitch letter discussed during the settlement process.  

