Lynn C. Woolsey: “this amendment ensures that OSHA can continue to slow-walk a final rulemaking on diacetyl exposure for all workers.…”

“this amendment ensures that OSHA can continue to slow-walk a final rulemaking on diacetyl exposure for all workers. Hundreds of workers are exposed to diacetyl, and they've fallen ill with this debilitating lung disease that, as the chairman told you, was equivalent to inhaling acid. Can you imagine what their lungs look like and why at the age of 30 a young father has to have a double lung transplant, and maybe that won't even save his life? The amendment removes the requirement that OSHA complete final rulemaking within 2 years of enactment of this legislation. Under this amendment, the final rule would not be required to be completed until 2 years after NIOSH makes a finding that there's sufficient data to support a recommended exposure limit. NIOSH has already told us that they know this is something that they support and diacetyl should be and must be controlled. If NIOSH is delayed, more workers, including the workers we're talking about today, will be unprotected. While workers in popcorn and flavoring facilities would be protected under the emergency standard, workers in other parts of the food industry where diacetyl is being used would be left unprotected for an indeterminate number of years. Not days, not months, but years. One food manufacturer, for example, recently announced a new line of artificial butter containing diacetyl despite its hazards to workers. Those workers would lose protections because of the Wilson amendment.”