OSHA finally put a date on the heat rule

The Department of Labor published its rulemaking calendar this month, and there's now a real date on the heat rule along with an overhaul of the lockout/tagout standard nobody's touched in years. A climber died when his anchor branch failed, and OSHA cited the employer for $56,475. Meanwhile West Virginia counted its 22nd lanternfly county and Maine decided its ash quarantine isn't worth keeping.

The big one

The Department of Labor's July 3 regulatory agenda spells out where OSHA is headed on rules that touch every crew working outdoors. The one with a hard date attached is heat. OSHA now plans a supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking by December 2026 and a final standard by October 2027 (Safety Partners). We told you the rule slipped into 2027. Now you know how far: a final is more than a year out.

The part that got less attention is lockout/tagout. OSHA wants a proposed rule to modernize the Control of Hazardous Energy standard, 29 CFR 1910.147, by November 2026, with a comment period after. That standard governs how you shut down and secure powered equipment before you reach into it. Chippers, stump grinders, shop machinery. If you've ever seen someone clear a jam with the drum still spinning down, this is the rule that's supposed to stop it.

A final Emergency Response rule is projected for April 2027, replacing the old Fire Brigades standard. It expands coverage to more responders, which reaches utility vegetation crews and contract outfits that back up emergency work.

None of this binds you today. But the heat standard, when it lands, will require written plans, training, water and shade access, rest breaks, and emergency procedures. Shops that already run those are ahead. Shops that don't have about two summers to figure it out.

The canopy

OSHA penalties didn't get an inflation bump this year

Federal OSHA penalty amounts held flat for 2026, no new inflation adjustment (SALUS Safety). A serious violation maxes at $16,550. Willful or repeated runs up to $165,514 per violation. Failure to abate is $16,550 per day until you fix it. The numbers stayed at 2025 levels, which is the only good news in that paragraph.

ISA's annual conference is in August, TRAQ 3.0 with it

The ISA 2026 Annual International Conference runs August 10 to 12, and registration is open (New England ISA). You can sit for written credential exams at the event, including Certified Arborist, Utility Specialist, and Urban Forest Professional. The updated Tree Risk Assessment Qualification, TRAQ 3.0, is being offered. The International Tree Climbing Competition is in St. Louis.

TCIA flags three federal moves that hit employers

TCIA's advocacy office is tracking three things: Temporary Protected Status terminations moving forward, an EEOC proposal to end federal EEO-1 demographic reporting, and heat-safety momentum in Congress (TCIA Advocacy). If you employ TPS workers, watch for expiring work authorization and I-9 reverification. A newly introduced bill would require written heat illness prevention plans for H-2A agricultural employers. It doesn't cover tree care yet, but it's the same direction OSHA's national rule is pointed.

Safety report

A line-clearance trimmer died when the tree branch he was anchored to failed, dropping him in a fatal fall. OSHA investigated under 29 CFR 1910.269(r), the line-clearance tree trimming standard, and issued three serious citations with proposed penalties totaling $56,475 (The Safety Briefing). The citations centered on fall protection and safe anchoring near energized lines.

The lesson is old and it keeps killing people. An anchor point is only as good as the wood behind it. A tie-in that looks solid at eye level can be a hollow or cracked union you can't see from the ground. Sound the limb, check the union, and back up your anchor when the tree gives you any reason to doubt it.

Pest and disease watch

West Virginia hits 22 lanternfly counties

The West Virginia Department of Agriculture confirmed spotted lanternfly in St. Albans, near West Main Street and Strawberry Road in Kanawha County (WVDA). Kanawha is the 22nd county in the state with a confirmed detection, up from 21. Residents can report sightings with a photo, location, and contact info to bugbusters@wvda.us.

Maine wants to scrap its ash borer quarantine

Maine's Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry proposed repealing the state's emerald ash borer quarantine, saying the spread has made the restrictions pointless (Bangor Daily News). Newly found populations in Benedicta nearly link the previously separate northern and southern infestations, and beetles have turned up in Anson, Bar Harbor, Belfast, Palermo, and Solon. Two public hearings are planned. The state would also drop its European larch canker quarantine. When the quarantine line no longer means anything, dropping it is honest. It also means Maine has stopped trying to hold the front and is now managing losses.

Species spotlight

Boxelder (Acer negundo) is the maple you remove more than you plant. It's the most broadly distributed native maple in North America, hardy from zone 2 to 9, and it grows fast on disturbed ground, riverbanks, and anywhere else nothing else wants to be. It tolerates wet, dry, flooded, compacted, and poor soil in equal measure.

The wood is soft and low-density, around 0.44 specific gravity, and it fails readily. Expect leaning codominant stems and included bark, which is why so many boxelders come down as storm failures or preemptive removals with a rope in them. Prune it dormant if you must, and expect a flush of watersprouts for your trouble. It's also the host plant for the boxelder bug, so the homeowner who wants it gone may have two reasons.

One for the lunch break

A TREE Fund webinar this month covered releasing Aphidoletes aphidimyza, a predatory midge, to knock down aphid populations on linden street trees (New England ISA). The idea is you buy bugs, set them loose in the canopy, and let their larvae eat the aphids that coat everything parked under a linden with sticky honeydew every summer. Whether it beats a soil drench on a city block full of lindens is exactly the sort of thing the research is trying to answer. Nice to see somebody testing it instead of guessing.

Stay safe out there,

The TreeNerd crew

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