On July 20, 2004, the Board of Directors approved amendments to policy item R5.48-1 of the Prevention Manual. A review of the policy was conducted to ensure that all substances for which an exception was warranted were listed in policy, and that no information was duplicated by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. Four categories of amendments were identified and released to public hearing. The amendments address a number of minor "housekeeping" issues regarding the current list of 169 excluded substances. The amendments reduce the list of excluded substances by 50, while maintaining the current standard of protection for worker health and safety.

The amended policy came into effect on August 1, 2004, and applies to all regulatory violations discovered on or after that date.