Rules filed April 15, 2025

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The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) updated its rulemaking website

Rules filed April 15, 2025

For information on all L&I meetings and public hearings related to rulemaking, please visit our public participation calendar.

Division: Division of Occupational Safety & Health (DOSH)

Topic: Adoption (CR-103) – Wildfire Smoke: EPA AQI Alignment

Brief Description: The purpose of this rulemaking is to update the Air Quality Index (AQI) values referenced in chapter 296-820 WAC and chapter 296-307 WAC, Part G-1, to reflect changes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made to the AQI that became effective on May 6, 2024. This ensures that the regulated community will be able to comply with the rule requirements when using data sources that do not display the hourly PM2.5 concentrations.

L&I rulemaking on the hazards of wildfire smoke exposure to outdoor workers became effective on January 15, 2024. The wildfire smoke rules require employers to implement protective measures based on the current concentration of PM2.5 measured in micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3). The primary pollutant in wildfire smoke is harmful fine particles, referred to as PM2.5. The AQI is a unitless index created by the EPA to communicate air quality conditions to the public. While the rules are based on hourly average PM2.5 concentrations, they reference the corresponding AQI for workers and employers who choose to use the AQI to determine the amount of smoke in the air.

Effective date: May 16, 2025

Additional information about this rulemaking:
CR-103 Adoption
Adoption Language
Concise Explanatory Statement (CES)
Washington State Department of Labor & Industries · 7273 Linderson Way SW · Tumwater WA 98501