On February 5, 2024, OSHA published the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), Emergency Response Standard [lnks.gd]. While OSHA does not directly cover volunteer emergency responders, some OSHA State Plans treat volunteers as employees under state law, which is how a federal proposed standard could affect volunteer responders in those State Plan states. OSHA requested commenters' input on whether the proposed rule would be feasible for these entities. OSHA received that input during the extended comment period from February 5, 2024, through July 22, 2024. 

The comments OSHA received from many stakeholders, including volunteer emergency responders, fire chiefs, trade organizations, and members of Congress, raise serious concerns about the economic feasibility of the proposed standard for volunteer fire departments. OSHA states it is committed to taking steps in its final standard to minimize detrimental effects on volunteer fire departments. If supported by the record, this may include excluding voluntary emergency response organizations entirely based on these feasibility concerns.

While the initial comment period has closed, OSHA strongly encourages stakeholders to continue to provide information and data relevant to this question at the public rulemaking hearing scheduled to begin on November 12, 2024, and during the post-hearing comment period. Instructions for how to participate in the hearing are available on the Emergency Response rulemaking webpage, www.osha.gov/emergency-response/rulemaking [lnks.gd].