State agencies blast burdensome federal regulations

HELENA, MT – Governor Greg Gianforte recently raised the alarm about a proposed federal rule which could have a “catastrophic” impact on firefighting in the state.

In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed replacing the existing “Fire Brigade Standard” with the new “Emergency Response” standard, unprecedentedly expanding the agency’s role over firefighters.

In a letter to a senior official at the U.S. Department of Labor, Gov. Gianforte cautioned that a newly proposed federal regulation from OSHA could undermine wildland firefighting and harm the effectiveness of volunteer fire departments across Montana and the nation.

The governor expressed appreciation for OSHA’s “good intentions” in aiming to improve firefighter safety, but he highlighted the “unintended consequences” of the rule. Regarding the proposed rule’s impact on wildland firefighting, the governor warned of OSHA’s “bureaucratic creep” and that “OSHA is stretching its long arms into something with which it has no historical experience and expertise.”

At a recent meeting with volunteer firefighters in Conrad, the governor heard directly about the issues impacting the firefighting community, including OSHA’s proposed rule. Highlighting the meeting in the letter to Deputy Assistant Labor Secretary James Frederick, the governor wrote that “the topic of OSHA’s proposed rule dominated the conversation.”

He continued, “Those volunteer public servants are concerned, as am I, about the impact the proposed rule could have on them and their continued viability in their community.”

Citing OSHA’s estimate that the new rule could cost a volunteer fire department more than $14,000 per year, Gov. Gianforte cautioned that OSHA’s proposed rule includes “a price tag too many of our volunteer fire departments cannot afford to bear, and I fear, facing those high costs of compliance, they may not be able to operate fully and serve their community.”

Gov. Gianforte’s letter to Deputy Assistant Secretary Frederick included public comments on the proposed rule from Department of Natural Resources Director Amanda Kaster and Department of Labor & Industry Commissioner Sarah Swanson.

Read the governor’s letter to Deputy Assistant Labor Secretary James Frederick here.