Under a final rule for hexavalent chromium, employee exposures must be under 5 micrograms per cubic meter of air, a higher limit than the 1 microgram per cubic meter the Occupational Safety and Health Administration first proposed, according to a final rule published in the Feb. 28 Federal Register (71 Fed. Reg. 10,100).

The new permissible exposure limit still leaves a significant health risk, OSHA said, but the new PEL is the lowest level that is technologically and economically feasible for all industry sectors.

When it began the rulemaking, OSHA said, the agency believed a PEL of 1microgram per cubic meter was feasible, but the rulemaking process revealed otherwise. The "vast majority of commenters," OSHA said, did not believe the proposed PEL was appropriate.

Under OSHA's previous limit, which was the equivalent of 52 micrograms per cubic meter of CrVI per eight-hour time-weighted average, the agency estimated that there were between 101 and 351 excess lung cancer deaths per 1,000 workers, assuming a 45-year workplace exposure.

Under the PEL in the final rule, excess deaths are estimated at between 10 and 45 per 1,000 workers, OSHA said. A PEL of 1 microgram per cubic meter would have reduced the figure to between 2.1 and 9.1 deaths.

In a Feb. 27 conference call, Acting OSHA Administrator Jonathan Snare said that the final rule will result in approximately 40 to 145 avoided cancers per year.

Selected OSHA Risk Estimates (Excess Cancers per 1000 Workers)

Standard	Risk at prior PEL	Risk at new PEL	Federal Register date
Ethylene Oxide	63-109 per 1000	1.2-2.3 per 1000	June 22, 1984
Asbestos	64 per 1000	6.7 per 1000	June 20, 1986
Benzene	95 per 1000	10 per 1000	Sept. 11, 1987
Formaldehyde	0.43-18.9 per 1000*	.0056-2.64 per 1000*	Dec. 4, 1987
Methylenedianiline	6-30 per 1000**	0.8 per 1000**	Aug. 10, 1992
Cadmium	58-157 per 1000	3-15 per 1000	Sept. 14, 1992
1,3 Butadiene	11.2-59.4 per 1000	1.3-8.1 per 1000	Nov. 4, 1996
Methylene Chloride	126 per 1000	3.6 per 1000	January 10, 1997
Chromium VI	101-351 per 1000	10-45 per 1000	2006
* range is based on maximum likelihood estimate (0.43, .0056) and upper 95% confidence limit (18.9, 2.64) ** no prior standard; reported risk is based on estimated exposures at the time of the rulemaking Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration

"However," the preamble to the final rule says, "even at the new PEL, the risk posed to workers with a lifetime of regular exposure is still clearly significant."

The risk that remains in the final CrVI rule is higher than that in many of OSHA's other health standards, the agency noted.

"We understand and acknowledge" that there is a significant risk at the final limit, Snare said, and that is why the rule contains ancillary provisions to address the remaining risk.

The hexavalent chromium rule is required under a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit decision on April 2, 2003, that ordered OSHA to expedite rulemaking on hexavalent chromium and issue a final rule no later than Jan. 18, 2006 (33 OSHR 349, 4/10/03)--a deadline that was extended to Feb. 28 (36 OSHR 47, 1/19/06).

Public Citizen Health Research Group, which brought the lawsuit, sought a PEL of 0.25 microgram per cubic meter.

The agency is publishing separate rules for general industry, construction, and shipyards, but the major provisions are similar in each rule.

Welding, Other Industries See Infeasible Limit.

Despite the remaining significant risk under the final PEL, OSHA said, technological and economical feasibility issues prevented the agency from setting a lower limit.

There are approximately 558,000 workers exposed to hexavalent chromium, OSHA said. Of those, 352,000 are exposed at levels above 0.25 microgram per cubic meter and 68,000 are exposed at levels above 5 micrograms per cubic meter.

The definition of technological feasibility, OSHA said, "recognizes that for a standard based on a hierarchy of controls, a particular PEL is not technologically feasible simply because it can be achieved through the widespread use of respirators."

The proposed PEL of 1microgram per cubic meter, OSHA added, is not feasible because it cannot be achieved through engineering and work practice controls for all industries--particularly for welding, which represents the largest portion of workers exposed to hexavalent chromium.

The lower PEL is also infeasible for aerospace painting, the agency said, and insufficient evidence exists to establish technological feasibility for chromate pigment producers, chromium catalyst producers, chromium dye producers, and some hard chrome electroplaters.

In a special section for the painting of aircraft or large aircraft parts, the final rule only requires employers to use engineering and work practice controls to reduce exposures to or below 25 micrograms per cubic meter. The employer must then use respiratory protection to achieve the PEL.

In total, OSHA said, at the final PEL of 5 micrograms per cubic meter, only 3.5 percent of exposed employees will be required to use respirators.

In the Feb. 27 conference call, Amanda Edens, the director of OSHA's Office of Chemical Hazards for Metals, said that the agency did not set separate PELs for welding or other infeasible sectors because these operations may occur at sites with other work activities, and separate PELs would make enforcement of the standard difficult.

Feasible Costs at Final Limit.

Overall, OSHA said, the estimated total annualized compliance costs for the final PEL is more than $282 million, compared with more than $570 million for the proposed PEL.

The total first-year compliance costs for the new requirements of the final standard, OSHA added, are estimated to be more than $601 million.

However, the agency added, for the most part the rule is economically feasible because none of the affected industries, for which OSHA found that the costs of complying with the standard will be less than both 1 percent of prior revenue and 10 percent of prior profits, will be threatened by the standard.

OSHA was concerned about electroplating job shops at a lower PEL, the agency added, since at 1 microgram per cubic meter the rule's cost would represent 2.7 percent of revenues and 65 percent of profits.

At a PEL of 5 micrograms per cubic meter, the job shops have costs as a percentage of profits of 30 percent and costs as a percentage of revenues of 1.24 percent, OSHA said.

Notable Requirements.

Other provisions of the final rules include:

• an exemption for work operations that can demonstrate that under no expected conditions will concentrations of hexavalent chromium be above 0.5 microgram per cubic meter;

• a choice between performance-based monitoring or a more traditional scheduled exposure determination option; and

• an exposure-based trigger for employee medical surveillance at 30 or more days of exposure above the action level, which is one-half the PEL.

The final rule also extends the Portland cement exclusion in the construction rule to also include shipyards and general industry. The low CrVI content of Portland cement effectively limits inhalation exposures under the current PEL for cement, OSHA said.

Staggered Effective Dates.

Provisions of the final rule will be effective on staggered dates, OSHA said.

The final standards will be effective on May 30, Snare said, but the "start-up date" for the rule's provisions--except engineering controls--will be Nov. 27. For employers with fewer than 20 employees, the start-up date will be May 30, 2007, he added.

The engineering control provisions, Snare continued, will not be effective until May 31, 2010.

In deciding to allow employers four years, rather than two years, to comply with the engineering control provisions of the standard, OSHA noted that the expanded dates will reduce the one-time initial costs of the standard by spreading them out over time.

By Lauren Couillard

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For more information on the final CrVI rule, contact Kevin Ropp, Office of Communications, at (202) 693-1999. The text of the rule is reproduced in the Textsection of this issue. Text of the rule and preamble is available at http://es.bna.com/federal1/20060228/dol71p10100rule20060228.html on the Web.