[The OSHA right-to-know regulation would create] virtually unmanageable burdens on small manufacturers….workers would be just as safe without this regulation.
[The proposed OSHA standard would force employers to follow] overly simplistic procedures...which differ markedly from well-established hazard warning practices….[creating] in favor of potentially confusing over-labeling [and] “excessively detailed hazard evaluation procedures.
[The right-to-know law is] a sop to a small group of people that I would call ‘overreactors’ I know it’s going to cost a business a helluva lot of money.
[The right-to-know law would be] harmful to the economy and not very helpful to the air.
The bill produces no protection for legitimate industry trade secrets, the disclosure of which would not be necessary to protect health or the environment.
Harassment and [a] nightmarish mountain of paperwork…would be caused by enactment of the bill in City Council.
I can assure you from my experience, it’s going to cost us jobs.
[The right-to-know bill would be] a serious case of overkill….[and] would make it very difficult to maintain a business in the city of Philadelphia.
It would require us to mail out forms and get information on 450 or more chemicals from 7,500 firms. We think that would require another 15 people [and $300,000 more in costs].
Council Bill 270 sets up rules of the game which do not apply anywhere else. The members of this committee, as well as the many others in this room concerned with Philadelphia’s economic well-being, know that we already have a major problem in attracting industry to our city as well as a problem in maintaining our basic industrial job-base.
