PARRIS N. GLENDENING, Governor

S.B. 270

funding, subjection to concurrent federal jurisdiction, and initiation of adversarial
proceedings to withdraw federal approval. Any of these, however, may be insufficient to
trigger the abrogation provision of these bills to avoid such result.

Very truly yours,
J. Joseph Curran, Jr.
Attorney General

¹    This is the short title of the House bill; the short title of the Senate bill is simply
Occupational Safety and Health - Penalties. The only other variation in the final versions
of the two bills is in the rendering of a phrase in the purpose paragraph: in the House bill
it is "a nonserious violation;" in the Senate version it is "not a serious violation."

²    This difference from federal requirements may well be viewed as substantial, even
though the grace period would be available only for non-serious violations. A provision
that undermines preventive action to maintain a safe workplace could be viewed as
substantial.

³    An additional respect in which these bills appear to make MOSH less effective than
OSHA is that it is arguable that the penalty for failing to correct the type of violation
addressed in the bill within the 10-day grace period would be the penalty assessed for an
other than serious violation, rather than the more substantial penalty for failure to correct
a previously cited violation (a maximum of $7,000, rather than $7,000 per day). See, Labor
and Employment Article, § 5-810(a).

⁴    The process includes notice to the state, hearing before an administrative law judge,
and decision by the Secretary of Labor, which decision may also be appealed. See 29
U.S.C. 667(f); 29 CFR Part 1955.

Senate Bill No. 270

AN ACT concerning

Occupational Safety and Health - Penalties —First Violation

FOR the purpose of prohibiting the Commissioner of Labor and Industry from assessing
a civil penalty against an employer who receives a citation for certain violations of
the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Act, an order passed under the Act,
or a regulation adopted to carry out the Act, if the violation is a first violation the
Commissioner of Labor and Industry has not previously notified the employer of the
violation, the violation is not a serious violation, and the employer corrects the
violation within a certain time; providing that certain civil penalties may not exceed
a certain amount for a first violation of the Maryland Occupational Safety and
Health Act, on order passed under the Act, or a regulation adopted to carry out the
Act or for failure to correct a first violation providing for a certain contingency; and
generally relating to civil penalties for a first violation certain violations of the
Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Act, an order passed under the Act, or a
regulation adopted to carry out the Act.

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,

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