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ISFA Responds to California’s Draft Emergency Regulation on Engineered Stone

Association calls for a process that matches the seriousness of the problem and will submit a licensing-based alternative to the Standards Board

NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. (September 17, 2026) The International Surface Fabricators Association (ISFA) today responded to the draft emergency regulation released by Cal/OSHA on September 16 that would prohibit the fabrication of artificial stone products containing more than one percent crystalline silica. Written comments are due September 30.

“Every party at this table agrees on the first thing that matters, no worker should lose their life for a countertop,” said Laurie Weber, Chief Executive Officer of ISFA. “The disagreement has never been about whether workers deserve protection. It is about how we deliver it, and whether what we build will still be standing five years from now.”

A process the industry could not fully participate in

The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted unanimously on May 21, 2026, to grant a petition to initiate rulemaking, and directed Cal/OSHA both to prepare emergency findings and to convene advisory committees, including a scientific advisory committee to evaluate feasibility and implications. ISFA has asked repeatedly when that scientific committee will convene and has not been given a date.

The industry was given a single advisory meeting date on July 31 to offer feedback. Substantive questions raised in that meeting, about definitions, scope, jurisdiction, enforcement capacity, existing inventory, installation and repair work, and what becomes of the workers themselves, remain unanswered. At last month’s Standards Board meeting, ISFA understood that regulatory language draft would not be available for review until January. The text was posted the day before the advisory committee meeting, with a comment window of roughly two weeks.

“Fourteen days is an eternity if you are a worker breathing silica dust today, and it is almost no time at all if you are a state trying to write a rule that will survive everything that comes after it,” Weber said. “We are not asking anyone to slow down on protecting workers. We are asking that the questions the state itself raised get answered before the state acts on them. Those answers are not ISFA’s to give. They belong to California.”

ISFA’s alternative: licensing, auditing, and accountability

ISFA will submit written comments by the September 30 deadline and will bring forward an alternative path. A countertop and surface fabrication shop licensing framework built on independent third-party auditing against existing law. The approach is product-agnostic by design, new countertop and surface materials are entering the market with no product standards behind them, and a framework tied to one product does not address the exposures that arrive next.

The framework is supported by a network of accredited ISO 45001 auditors, bilingual silica awareness training offered weekly in English and Spanish for workers, and a compliance audit program that returns findings and corrective actions rather than paperwork.

“We look forward to submitting our alternative to the drafted emergency language, and we will keep showing up for every meeting, every comment period, and every hearing,” Weber said. “If California adopts something other than what we propose, we will help our members comply with it. What we will not do is stop asking for a process that gives this problem the seriousness it has earned.”

ISFA encourages fabrication shops, workers, and industry partners to submit written comments to Cal/OSHA’s Research and Standards Branch at RS@dir.ca.gov before the September 30 deadline.

About ISFA

The International Surface Fabricators Association is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing countertop and surface fabrication shops across North America. ISFA provides training, education, and advocacy for the countertop and surface fabrication industry, with a focus on education and training for the workers and business owners. Learn more at isfanow.org.

About ACMC

The American Countertop Manufacturers Council is an ISFA-affiliated council focused on federal advocacy for the countertop and surface fabrication industry. https://www.isfanow.org/advocacy

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