Regulatory Negotiation: Lessons from Benzene

Abstract

Recent efforts by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to negotiate an agreement on a revised standard for occupational exposure to benzene represented an important initiative by the Agency. Increasingly, the Government is seeking more efficient and effective ways to establish health and environmental standards, and negotiation is a promising alternative for promoting this goal. While use of negotiation in rulemaking proceedings is new, negotiation has been common in other contexts for many years. It is important, however, not to assume that the lessons learned in these other contexts can be applied automatically to rulemaking negotiations. The paper discusses some of the most significant distinctions among the different contexts in which negotiation occurs.

This paper expresses only the views of the authors and does not necessarily represent the position of the American Petroleum Institute or any of its members.