OSHA Shares Schedule and Information for the Emergency Response Standard Public Hearing

November 5, 2024

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will be holding a virtual public hearing on its proposed Emergency Response Standard beginning on November 12. This hearing will provide an additional opportunity for stakeholders to weigh in on the proposed standard, which could have a damaging impact on the volunteer fire service if adopted as-is. OSHA will announce an additional public comment period after the conclusion of the hearing.

Each day of the hearing, a link to view it will be posted here. Approximately 475 witnesses are expected to testify. The anticipated dates of the hearing are November 12-15, 18-22, and December 2 and 4, between the hours of 9:30-4:30 ET. View the full hearing schedule here.

Only individuals who submitted a notice of intention to appear (NOITA) before the September 27 deadline will be able to testify. If you submitted an NOITA, you should have received an email from OSHA.Emergency.Response@dol.gov the week of October 14 along with a Webex link to a scheduled time slot on November 1. If you submitted an NOITA and have not received a confirmation from OSHA or information on the schedule, please email OSHA.Emergency.Response@dol.gov for assistance.

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) will have five witnesses testify at this hearing. Each witness will testify on a topic that the NVFC has identified as a key concern to volunteer firefighters in the proposed Emergency Response Standard. These include: the structure of the volunteer fire service, economic burdens, administrative burdens, the impact of incorporating consensus standards by reference, and the input of the volunteer fire service during the formation of the proposed standard. You can view the NVFC’s written testimony for this hearing here.

The NVFC has also put together an updated hearing guide to answer questions about the hearing’s procedure and is hosting a webinar on November 7 to provide guidance to those testifying. Find additional information about the standard and the hearing on the NVFC’s OSHA landing page.