According to a July 30 memo from OSHA Deputy Assistant Layne Davis to OSHA Regional Administrators, field officers for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration must contact OSHA's Enforcement Directorate before issuing a citation of violations of new respiratory protection requirements for tuberculosis. This requirement further enervates a system of safeguards that has been increasingly weakened over the past year. Last December, OSHA withdrew a rule aimed at limiting occupational exposure to tuberculosis. In its explanation, the agency argued that "the rate of TB has declined steadily and dramatically since OSHA began work on the proposal in 1993," so the rule is no longer necessary. Furthermore, the agency claimed, "An OSHA standard is unlikely to result in a meaningful reduction of disease transmission caused by contact with the most significant remaining . . . risk: exposure to individuals with undiagnosed and unsuspected TB. . . ." [68 Fed. Reg. 75,767 (2003)]. Moreover, the agency stated that workers would still be protected from TB by the respiratory protection requirements, which requires the use of CDC-certified respirators by health care workers working with TB patients, under which OSHA could still cite employers for health violations. However, OSHA's actions show a lack of commitment to enforcing even the limited scope of the respiratory protection requirements. Even if fully enforced, the respirator requirement does not cover the full range of activities that would have been covered under the proposed rule that was withdrawn from its rulemaking agenda. Anti-TB protections in that rule would have included "the use of respirators when performing certain high hazard procedures on infectious individuals, procedures for the early identification and treatment of TB infection, isolation of individuals with infectious TB in rooms designed to protect those in the vicinity of the room from contact with the microorganisms causing TB, and medical follow-up for occupationally exposed workers who become infected" (62 Fed. Reg. 54,160 (1997)). Further debilitating the safeguards, on July 14 the House Appropriations Committee approved a rider to the 2005 Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations bill that would prevent OSHA from enforcing the annual fit-testing provisions of the TB respiratory standard. According to the agency, fit-testing (testing respirators for proper fit) is necessary to ensure protection against tuberculosis microorganisms. "Selecting the proper respirator is a vital step in protecting a user against potential exposures and adverse health effects," according to OSHA administrator John Henshaw. Accordingly, OSHA issued a final rule in August providing for fit-testing on an annual basis, rather than the one initial fit test currently required. If this measure passes, OSHA's ability to enforce protective and preventative standards for occupational tuberculosis will be further weakened.