DOL drafts COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard

The Department of Labor (DOL) has sent a draft version of a federal Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on COVID-19 to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for regulatory review, the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) reported.

The text of the ETS will be reviewed by OMB for at least two weeks before being published in the Federal Register. OMB is required by statute to review all executive branch regulations before final publication.

The ETS originated from President Joe Biden’s Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety (EO 13999) signed in January which tasked DOL with considering emergency temporary standards on COVID-19 in the workplace. 

At this time, the draft text of the ETS has not been made public. The NLBMDA said that it is closely monitoring the status of the ETS and will update members once the text becomes available.