Dear Members of the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board:

On behalf of the Hampton Roads Chamber and our members, we are submitting the following comments related to your intent to adopt a Permanent Standard for Infectious Disease Prevention: SARS-CoV-2 Virus That Causes COVID-19, 16VAC25-220.   

The Hampton Roads Chamber is the premier pro-business organization serving over 1,200 members, representing more than 400,000 members of Virginia’s workforce. The Chamber supports public policies that strengthen free enterprise and regional collaboration efforts that promote economic development and conditions for businesses to succeed.

The Hampton Roads Chamber is strongly opposed to the Department of Labor and Industry’s COVID-19 emergency regulations becoming permanent. Businesses, especially our small businesses, are struggling to survive these hard economic times and regulations only increase the burden on them. In a time where some reports estimate that 20-25% of businesses will shut down permanently, these regulations threaten to drive those numbers even higher.

Despite these challenging times, small businesses quickly adapted and implemented protocols to protect their employees and customers from exposure to the coronavirus by following the guidance issued by the CDC, OSHA, and the Governor’s executive orders. Now Virginia's businesses are doing their best to comply with the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS).  The last thing business owners need as they rebuild their businesses during this critical time is a permanent one-size-fits-all government regulation. 

Virginia businesses need certainty and consistency in any regulatory program.  This ensures that the regulated community understands the requirements of the program and that all parties can work together to satisfy the regulatory requirements. Therefore, the Hampton Roads Chamber believes the board should NOT adopt a permanent standard for the following reasons:

First, the science of COVID-19 is continuously being updated. Therefore, the CDC and OSHA guidelines are frequently updated to reflect the science. If the Emergency Temporary Standards were to become permanent, it would continue to require businesses to comply with outdated regulations. Adopting these permanent regulations will be overly burdensome for businesses.

Second, the proposed permanent standard does not contain a true sunset date. The expectation is the pandemic will end and when that happens so should any regulations. If the Board intends to move forward with a permanent standard when the Emergency Temporary Standard expires, we expect the Board to stick by its decision, from the July deliberations, to end these regulations at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Third, there is still no economic impact statement prepared to evaluate the cost on small businesses as required with the Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Act/Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA). Businesses have had no opportunity to address any findings from that analysis.

While facing devastating economic conditions Virginia’s businesses continue to keep the safety and health of their employees as their top priority. It is unreasonable to apply a "one-size fits all" approach to COVID-19 regulations to all employers and employees. We respectfully request that you reject the proposed permanent emergency regulations. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Emily Reynolds

Executive Director of Governmental Affairs,

Hampton Roads Chamber