Legal Opinion: OSHA Overstepped Its Authority

Earlier this week, Oregon state Representative Anna Scharf published a legal opinion determining the state’s OSHA ag labor housing rules broke state law, by reaching beyond the agency’s legal authority.  The Amity Republican said the problem started six years ago, when OSHA started an updated rule process.  She noted the agency refused to engage and talk with the farming community, but rather decided to use a heavy-handed approach.

“These new rules were going to cost between 400,000 and $1.5 million per operation for them to comply or risk losing their workforce.”

Prior to this week’s legislative opinion, OSHA had asserted that it had the authority to apply these rules to all housing, rented or otherwise, provided to farm employees by their employers, despite statue limited their authority to season, migrant labor camps.

This week’s legal opinion does not nullify OSHA’s rules.  Scharf said the next step is to request the Oregon Legislative Council to do a formal rule review.

“And then they will determine if the agency needs to go back, repeal, amend or take other action.  [I’m confident] Legislative Council will find the same findings that OSHA had overstepped their authority in this rule making process, and they will have to determine what they're going to do. They have three paths.”

Other lawmakers spoke in favor of the legal opinion:

“State agencies must follow the law,” said House Republican Leader Christine Drazan.  “Illegal government overreach is harming farmers, imposing obstacles on Oregon’s small businesses, and driving up costs for families."

“We look forward to a response from the agency, describing how they will remedy this finding,” said Representative Jeff Helfrich. “We believe there is an opportunity to draft rules in line with the U.S. Department of Labor ag-labor housing regulations, that both protect employees and preserve Oregon’s legacy of family farms.”

Click Here to read the entire legal opinion.

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com