Congress moves to let teens work in one of America's deadliest industries
H.R. 1193 — Future in Logging Careers Act · Filed by Jared Golden (D-ME) · 7 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 11, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends federal child labor law to exempt 16- and 17-year-olds from hazardous occupation restrictions when employed in timber harvesting and mechanized logging operations, but only if the employer is a parent or legal guardian. The bill creates new definitions of "timber harvesting employer" and "mechanized timber harvesting employer" and carves out these young workers from protections that normally bar them from particularly hazardous jobs.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a carve-out from federal hazardous-occupation restrictions for minors in logging. It does not expand opportunity or training; it removes a protective floor. The framing as a 'career pathway' masks a deregulatory move that lowers safety standards for a specific industry.
What the text implies
- The exemption applies only when a parent or legal guardian owns/operates the employer, but the bill does not define 'standing in the place of a parent' — this phrase may be interpreted broadly to include stepparents, guardians, or even non-parental supervisors with custodial authority, potentially swallowing the family-business limitation.
- The bill delegates to the Secretary of Labor the power to identify which occupations are 'particularly hazardous' for 16–17-year-olds, but does not require the Secretary to update or maintain that list in light of the new exemption — creating a gap where the exemption may apply to jobs the DOL has not recently assessed.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
timber harvesting companies; mechanized logging operators; forest products manufacturers