[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 107 (Monday, June 6, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-13663]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: June 6, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Mine Safety and Health Administration

 

Coal Mine Respirable Dust Standard Noncompliance Determinations

AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Notice of public hearing.

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SUMMARY: The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) will hold a 
public hearing to receive public comments on the February 18, 1994, (59 
FR 8356) notice proposing the use of single, full-shift respirable dust 
measurements to determine noncompliance under the MSHA coal mine 
respirable dust program. This hearing is being held pursuant to section 
101 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act). The 
hearing will be held in Morgantown, West Virginia.
    This notice should be read in conjunction with the joint notice 
published elsewhere in today's Federal Register by the Department of 
Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services.

DATES: All requests to make oral presentations for the record should be 
submitted at least 5 days before the hearing date. Immediately before 
the hearing, any unalloted time will be made available to persons 
making late requests. The public hearing will be held on Wednesday, 
July 6, 1994, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held at the following location: 
Department of Energy, Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC), room 
51-C, 3610 Collins Ferry Road, Morgantown, West Virginia 26507-0880.
    Send requests to make oral presentations to: Mine Safety and Health 
Administration, Office of Standards, Regulations and Variances, room 
631, 4015 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22203.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia W. Silvey, Director, Office 
of Standards, Regulations and Variances, MSHA, (703) 235-1910.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 18, 1994, MSHA published a 
notice in the Federal Register (59 FR 8356) announcing its intention to 
use both single, full-shift respirable dust measurements and the 
average of multiple, full-shift respirable dust samples to determine 
noncompliance and issue citations for violations of the respirable dust 
standard under the MSHA coal mine respirable dust program.
    Concurrently, the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services jointly published a notice in the Federal Register 
(59 FR 8357) announcing a new finding that the average concentration of 
respirable dust to which each miner in the active workings of a coal 
mine is exposed can be accurately measured over a single shift in 
accordance with section 202(f)(2) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health 
Act of 1977. Based on this finding, the Secretaries are proposing to 
rescind the finding issued on July 17, 1971, and affirmed on February 
23, 1972, described in the accompanying notice elsewhere in today's 
Federal Register.
    The comment periods for these notices were scheduled to close on 
April 19, 1994, but, in response to requests from the mining community 
for additional time in which to prepare their comments, MSHA extended 
the comment period to May 20, 1994 (59 FR 16958).
    The purpose of the public hearing is to receive relevant comments 
and to answer questions concerning the notices. This hearing will be 
conducted in an informal manner by a panel of MSHA officials. Although 
formal rules of evidence or cross examination will not apply, the 
presiding official may exercise discretion to ensure the orderly 
progress of the hearing and may exclude irrelevant or unduly 
repetitious material and questions.
    The hearing will begin with an opening statement from MSHA, 
followed by an opportunity for members of the public to make oral 
presentations. The hearing panel will be available to address relevant 
questions. At the discretion of the presiding official, speakers may be 
limited to a maximum of 20 minutes for their presentations. In the 
interests of conducting a productive hearing, MSHA will schedule 
speakers in a manner that allows all points of view to be heard as 
effectively as possible.
    Verbatim transcripts of the proceedings will be prepared and made a 
part of the rulemaking record. Copies of the hearing transcripts will 
be made available to the public for review.
    MSHA will also accept for the record additional written comments 
and other appropriate data from any interested party, including those 
not presenting oral statements. Written comments and data submitted to 
MSHA will be included in the rulemaking record. To allow for the 
submission of any post-hearing comments, the record will remain open 
until August 5, 1994.

Issues

    To date MSHA has received comments from the mining industry on two 
major issues. The first major issue reflects differing interpretations 
of section 202(b) of the Mine Act. Some commenters assume the 
respirable coal mine dust standard applies to a long-term average 
concentration of coal dust. Consequently, they concluded that 
noncompliance determinations must take shift-to-shift variability into 
account. Other commenters maintain that the respirable coal dust 
standard applies to the coal dust concentration averaged over a single 
shift. They concluded, therefore, that MSHA is authorized to issue a 
citation whenever the dust standard is exceeded on a single shift, with 
no allowance made for any shift-to-shift variability.
    The second major issue involves use of the Values Table, specified 
in the February 18, 1994, notice, for making noncompliance 
determinations with respect to the respirable coal mine dust standard. 
Several commenters objected to the principle of citing for 
noncompliance only when noncompliance is indicated at a high confidence 
level, claiming that doing so would effectively result in an increase 
in the permissible exposure. Other commenters contended that the 
proposed values at which a citation would be issued do not sufficiently 
account for all sources of measurement uncertainty. MSHA specifically 
solicits additional comments and data from the mining community on the 
appropriate values at which a citation should be issued.
    MSHA also requests comments and data from the mining community 
concerning the following:
    1. The impact on mine environmental respirable dust levels of using 
the proposed values for noncompliance determinations;
    2. Whether the proposed citation criteria, involving use of both 
single samples and the average of multiple samples, will reduce the 
incidence of overexposures on individual shifts; and
    3. Other approaches that could be utilized to detect when the 
average concentration of respirable dust in the mine environment is not 
being maintained below the applicable standard during each shift.

    Dated: May 27, 1994.
J. Davitt McAteer,
Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 94-13663 Filed 6-3-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-43-P