Two years after the Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Fifth Circuit has given employers an early example of how the new framework may reshape OSHA enforcement. In Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, decided July 21, 2026, the Fifth Circuit held that Section 8 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act), 29 U.S.C. § 657(c)(2), does not authorize OSHA to require employers to record work-related mental illnesses. As a remedy, the Fifth Circuit set aside the citation and penalty and vacated OSHA’s recordkeeping regulation covering mental illnesses, 29 C.F.R. § 1904.5(b)(2)(ix). More broadly, the Fifth Circuit explained that Congress delegated only limited authority to OSHA via the OSH Act, allowing the agency to create rules governing physical work-related injuries and illnesses under Section 8 of the OSH Act—and not other topics such as mental illness.

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