Lawrence Halprin is nationally recognized for his work in the areas of occupational safety and health and chemical regulation, representing companies and trade associations at the federal and state levels. His hands-on familiarity with the manufacturing and construction environments, and his engineering and financial background have been invaluable to his clients in handling enforcement actions, in providing compliance counseling, and in evaluating and critiquing rulemaking proposals and policy initiatives before the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Chemical Safety Board, the Department of Treasury (ethanol permitting and formula approval, and ethanol and Superfund excise taxes), and corresponding state agencies. 

His practice includes:

• Federal and state investigations and enforcement proceedings
• Compliance counseling
• Incident investigations, mandatory incident reporting, and audits
• Federal and state agency rulemakings and stakeholders processes
• Pre-enforcement challenges to final agency rules
• Participation in the development of national consensus standards related to workplace safety, chemical process safety, product safety, and stewardship and sustainability

His chemical regulation practice, supported by the in-depth knowledge of our chemists and toxicologists, includes:

• Chemical hazard classification, risk evaluation, and analysis of control measures in connection with the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) premanufacturing notifications, consent orders, and rulemaking  
• Determining threshold effect levels for chemicals, recommending occupational exposure limits (OELs), and developing and reviewing chemical risk evaluation and risk management programs 
• Developing and advising on the implementation of product stewardship programs 
• Advising on the regulation and taxation of ethanol by TTB and state alcoholic beverage commissions, obtaining permits and formula approvals, and advising on the taxation of chemicals under the Superfund excise tax
• Advising on incident investigations conducted by OSHA, EPA, NIOSH, and the Chemical Safety Board

Lawrence is a strong advocate of measures to enhance the effectiveness of regulatory agencies and ensure they do not overreach their authority. This is demonstrated by his testimony before Congress, his participation in agency rulemakings and policy initiatives, as well as litigation he has brought on behalf of clients. Lawrence is a prolific writer and is frequently invited to speak on a broad range of environmental, product stewardship, and health and safety management issues.

Prior to joining Keller and Heckman, Lawrence clerked for the Honorable Charles R. Johnston of the U.S. Tax Court.

Representative Matters

• Counseled clients regarding federal and state OSHA and EPA investigations and enforcement actions involving chemical management, chemical releases, release reporting, and emergency response activities
• Represented clients in federal and state OSHA investigations and enforcement actions involving combustible dust, confined spaces, electrical safety, fall protection, fire safety, lockout/tagout, machine guarding, paper mill standard, powered industrial trucks, COVID-19 exposure, heat exposure, ionizing radiation, noise, permissible exposure limits, respiratory protection, and alleged employer retaliation claims
• Represented pharmaceutical manufacturers in successfully petitioning NIOSH to remove active drug ingredients from the NIOSH List of Antineoplastic and Other Hazardous Drugs in Health Care Settings and re-examine the agency’s approach to this issue
• Represented the American Forest & Paper Association and the American Wood Council in their successful effort to have OSHA clarify when a combustible dust accumulation is considered excessive
• Served as lead counsel for the American Petroleum Institute in its legal challenge to OSHA’s March 2012 Globally Harmonized System (GHS) Amendment to the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard (HCS), resulting in a successful settlement that clarified the application of the amended HCS to combustible dust, petroleum streams, and hazards not otherwise classified
• Provided counsel to the Construction Industry Silica Task Force that met with OSHA and NIOSH personnel to discuss a task-based control banding approach for exposure to crystalline silica that evolved into Table 1 of the OSHA Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard adopted on March 25, 2016
• Authored comments submitted to the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) that led the CSB to conclude that it did not have the legal authority under the Clean Air Act to adopt the proposed "Accident Investigation Initiation Notice and Order to Preserve Evidence Rule"
• As lead counsel for the American Forest & Paper Association, negotiated the withdrawal of OSHA citations asserting the need for paper companies to add mechanical relief devices to batch digesters (large pressure vessels) and issuance of an unprecedented OSHA compliance instruction (effectively a generic variance) providing for an alternative design based on automated control systems
• Advised clients on implementation of TSCA Section 5 consent orders, and compliance with hazard communication requirements under the Globally Harmonized System (GHS), the OSHA HCS, the Canadian Hazardous Product Regulations (HPR), the EU Classification, Labelling, and Packaging (CLP) Regulations, the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation, and TSCA
• Advised clients on risk evaluation and risk management programs, such as those required by OSHA's Process Safety Management and EPA’s Risk Management Program Rule, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (asbestos), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) chemical release and reporting requirements
• On behalf of the National Chimney Sweep Guild, negotiated the 2024 settlement of a legal challenge to the 2016 amendments to the OSHA Fall Protection Standards, under which OSHA explicitly recognized alternative fall protection systems where use of the traditional measures on single family homes was infeasible and/or posed a greater hazard to employees

Professional Affiliations

• American National Standards Institute
• Product Stewardship Society
• American Industrial Hygiene Association

Awards/Recognition

• Attorney Intel, Top 50 Attorneys of Virginia, 2023
• Pulp & Paper Safety Association, Distinguished Service Award, 2016