[House Report 110-613]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



110th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     110-613

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  PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL (H.R. 5522) TO REQUIRE THE 
 SECRETARY OF LABOR TO ISSUE INTERIM AND FINAL OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND 
HEALTH STANDARDS REGARDING WORKER EXPOSURE TO COMBUSTIBLE DUST, AND FOR 
                             OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

   April 29, 2008.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. McGovern, from the Committee on Rules, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                      [To accompany H. Res. 1157]

    The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration 
House Resolution 1157, by a nonrecord vote, report the same to 
the House with the recommendation that the resolution be 
adopted.

                SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF THE RESOLUTION

    The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 5522, the 
Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act of 2008, 
under a structured rule. The rule provides one hour of general 
debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and 
ranking minority member of the Committee on Education and 
Labor. The rule waives all points of order against 
consideration of the bill except clauses 9 and 10 of rule XXI. 
The rule provides that the amendment in the nature of a 
substitute recommended by the Committee on Education and Labor 
now printed in the bill shall be considered as an original bill 
for the purpose of amendment and shall be considered as read. 
The rule waives all points of order against the amendment in 
the nature of a substitute except for clause 10 of rule XXI. 
This waiver does not affect the point of order available under 
clause 9 of rule XXI (regarding earmark disclosure).
    The rule makes in order only those amendments printed in 
this report. The amendments made in order may be offered only 
in the order printed in this report, may be offered only by a 
Member designated in this report, shall be considered as read, 
shall be debatable for the time specified in this report 
equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an 
opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be 
subject to a demand for a division of the question in the House 
or in the Committee of the Whole. All points of order against 
the amendments except for clauses 9 and 10 of rule XXI are 
waived. The rule provides one motion to recommit with or 
without instructions. The rule provides that, notwithstanding 
the operation of the previous question, the Chair may postpone 
further consideration of the bill to a time designated by the 
Speaker.

                         EXPLANATION OF WAIVERS

    Although the rule waives all points of order against 
consideration of the bill (except for clauses 9 and 10 of rule 
XXI) and all points of order against the amendment in the 
nature of a substitute (except for clause 10 of rule XXI), the 
Committee is not aware of any points of order. The waivers of 
all points of order are prophylactic.

                  SUMMARY OF AMENDMENTS MADE IN ORDER

    (Summaries derived from information provided by sponsors.)
    1. Miller, George (CA): The Manager's Amendment makes four 
adjustments to the bill: (1) corrects the short title; (2) 
provides that engineering controls required by the interim 
standard shall be effective 6 months after issuance of the 
standard (rather than 30 days); (3) maintains the provision 
that DOL shall include appropriate and relevant NFPA standards 
in the final standard but eliminates references to specific 
NFPA standards; and (4) clarifies that the final standard shall 
be conducted in accordance with usual rulemaking procedural 
requirements, including those that provide for small business 
review. (10 minutes)
    2. Wilson, Joe (SC): Amendment in the Nature of a 
Substitute. The substitute amendment directs OSHA to wait for 
the outcome of the Imperial Sugar investigation and findings 
from the combustible dust National Emphasis Program before 
deciding on whether to move forward with a standard. (30 
minutes)

                    TEXT OF AMENDMENTS MADE IN ORDER

   1. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative George Miller of 
         California, or His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 2, beginning on line 4, strike ``Combustible Dust'' and 
all that follows through ``Act'' on line 5, and insert ``Worker 
Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires Act''.
  Page 5, line 22, insert ``controls (which requirements shall 
be effective 6 months after the date on which the interim 
standard is issued)'' after ``engineering''.
  Page 7, line 4, strike ``The'' and insert ``Except as 
specified in paragraph (2)(C) with regards to engineering 
controls, the''.
  Page 8, beginning on line 8, strike ``, including'' and all 
that follows through line 15 and insert a period.
  Page 8, after line 15, insert the following:
          (3) Procedure.--The final standard required by this 
        subsection shall be promulgated in accordance with the 
        procedural requirements for rulemaking under section 
        6(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 
        (29 U.S.C. 655(b)) and under title 5, United States 
        Code, including the requirements relating to small 
        businesses in chapter 6 of such title.
                              ----------                              


    2. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Wilson of South 
          Carolina, or His Designee, Debatable for 30 Minutes

  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. INVESTIGATION ON COMBUSTIBLE DUST AND DETERMINATION OF 
                    ADDITIONAL ACTION.

  (a) Determination by the Secretary.--Upon completion of the 
Department of Labor's investigation of the accident that 
occurred at Imperial Sugar in Port Wentworth, Georgia on 
February 7, 2008, and based on the data gathered from the 
Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program, the Secretary of 
Labor shall determine--
          (1) if the safety standards that are in effect as of 
        the date of enactment of this Act do not adequately 
        address the issue of combustible dust; and
          (2) whether an occupational safety and health 
        standard regarding combustible dust is necessary.
  (b) Rulemaking or Report to Congress.--If the Secretary 
determines that an occupational safety and health standard 
regarding combustible dust is necessary, the Secretary shall 
promulgate a rule pursuant to section 6(b) of the Occupational 
Safety and Health Act (29 U.S.C. 655(b)) not later than 36 
months after the completion of the investigation described in 
subsection (a). If the Secretary determines that such a 
standard is not necessary, the Secretary, not later than 6 
months after making such a determination, shall transmit a 
report to Congress that specifically addresses the Secretary's 
reasons for determining that a combustible dust standard is 
unnecessary.

                                  
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