[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 153 (Wednesday, August 9, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 40457-40458]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-19649]



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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

29 CFR Part 1910

[Docket No. S-048]


Logging Operations

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Extension of partial stay.

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SUMMARY: on October 12, 1994, OSHA published a final logging standard 
providing protection for workers in logging operations (59 FR 51672). 
The final rule (29 CFR 1910.266) had an effective date of February 9, 
1995. On February 8, 1995, OSHA published a notice of a partial stay 
for six-months, until August 9, 1995, of 12 provisions of the final 
rule (60 FR 7447). This notice extends the partial stay of those 12 
provisions for 30-days, until September 8, 1995.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The partial stay of enforcement will continue to be 
effective until September 8, 1995. The remaining requirements of 
Sec. 1910.266, which became effective on February 9, 1995, are 
unaffected by this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. Rick Liblong, Office of Information and Consumer Affairs, 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Room N-3637, U.S. 
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210, 
(202)-219-8148.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On October 12, 1994, OSHA published a final logging standard 
providing protection for workers in logging operations (59 FR 51672). 
The final rule (29 CFR 1910.266) had an effective date of February 9, 
1995.
    After the final rule was published, the Equipment Manufacturers 
Institute (EMI), the Portable Power Equipment Manufacturers Association 
(PPEMA), and Homelite, a manufacturer of chain saws, filed timely 
petitions under section 6(f) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 
of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) seeking judicial review of the 
standard. After the deadline for filing such petitions had passed, the 
Associated California Loggers, the Associated Oregon Loggers, Inc., the 
Montana Logging Association, and the Washington Contract Loggers 
Association also filed objections to the final rule with OSHA.
    These parties and organizations raised questions about certain 
provisions of the final rule. After consideration of their questions, 
OSHA published a Federal Register notice (60 FR 7447, Feb. 8, 1995) 
staying 12 provisions of the standard for six-months, until August 9, 
1995. The provisions OSHA stayed were: (d)(1)(v)--insofar as it 
requires foot protection to be chain-saw resistant; (d)(1)(vii)--
insofar as it required face protection; (d)(2)(iii)--annual review and 
approval of first-aid kits by a health care provider; (f)(2)(iv)--
machine operation on slopes; (f)(2)(xi)--machine shutdown procedures; 
(f)(3)(ii)--ROPS specifications; (f)(3)(vii) and (viii)--machine cab 
enclosures; (f)(7)(ii)--insofar as it requires machine parking brakes 
to be able to stop a moving machine; (g)(1) and (2)--maintenance and 
inspection requirements insofar as they apply to employee-owned 
vehicles; (h)(2)(vii)--the backcut requirement insofar as it applies to 
Humboldt cutting. The remaining requirements of 1910.266 were 
unaffected by the partial stay and went into effect on February 9, 
1995.
    In the notice announcing the partial stay, OSHA said the six-month 
delay of the 12 provisions would give the Agency time to clarify 
language in the regulatory text and preamble so it most accurately 
expressed the Agency's intent with respect to the provisions in 
question and to provide additional information with regard to some of 
the provisions. OSHA is extending the partial stay on the above listed 
provisions for a 30-days, until September 8, 1995, in order to complete 
its reconsideration of the issues, complete corrections and 
clarifications in the regulatory text and preamble, and revise its 
compliance directive to reflect those changes. 

[[Page 40458]]


List of Subjects

29 CFR Part 1910

    Chain saw, Forestry, Harvesting, Incorporation by reference, 
Logging, Occupational safety and health, Pulpwood timber, Training

29 CFR Part 1928

    Agriculture, Migrant labor, Occupational safety and health

Authority

    This document was prepared under the direction of Joseph A. Dear, 
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S. 
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210
    This action is taken pursuant to sections 4, 6, and 8 of the 
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653, 655, 657), 
Secretary of Labor's Order No. 1-90 (55 FR 9033) and 29 CFR part 1911.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 4th day of August, 1995.
Joseph A. Dear,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.

    For the reasons set forth above, 29 CFR 1910 is hereby amended as 
follows:

PART 1910--[AMENDED]

    1. The authority citation for subpart R of part 1910 continues to 
read as follows:

    AUTHORITY: Secs. 4, 6, 8, Occupational Safety and Health Act of 
1970 (29 U.S.C. 653, 655, 657); Secretary of Labor's Order No. 12-71 
(36 FR 8754), 8-76 (41 FR 25059), 9-83 (48 FR 35736) or 1-90 (55 FR 
9033), as applicable.
    Sections 1910.261, 1910.262, 1910.265, 1910.266, 1910.267, 
1910.268, 1910.269, 1910.272, 1910.274 and 1910.275 also issued 
under 29 CFR Part 1911.
    Section 1910.272 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 553.

    2. The note at the end of Sec. 1910.266, is revised to read as 
follows:


Sec. 1910.266  Logging operations.

* * * * *
    Note: In the Federal Register of August 9, 1995, OSHA extended 
the stay of the following paragraphs of Sec. 1910.266 until 
September 8, 1995. The remaining requirements of Sec. 1910.266, 
which became effective on February 9, 1995, are unaffected by the 
extension of the partial stay:
    1. (d)(1)(v)--insofar as it requires foot protection to be 
chain-saw resistant.
    2. (d)(1)(vii)--insofar as it required face protection.
    3. (d)(2)(iii).
    4. (f)(2)(iv).
    5. (f)(2)(xi).
    6. (f)(3)(ii).
    7. (f)(3)(vii).
    8. (f)(3)(viii).
    9. (f)(7)(ii)--insofar as it requires parking brakes to be able to 
stop a moving machine.
    10. (g)(1) and (g)(2) insofar as they require inspection and 
maintenance of employee-owned vehicles.
    11. (h)(2)(vii)--insofar as it precludes backcuts at the level of 
the horizontal cut of the undercut when the Humboldt cutting method is 
used.

[FR Doc. 95-19649 Filed 8-8-95; 8:45 am]
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