[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 10, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 731]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-331]



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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Mine Safety and Health Administration


Extension of Time for Response to a NIOSH Criteria Document

AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Notice; Extension of time for response by the Mine Safety and 
Health Administration (MSHA) to the recommended standard on 
occupational exposure to respirable coal mine dust from the National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

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SUMMARY: On November 7, 1995, MSHA received criteria for a recommended 
standard from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
(NIOSH). Under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, the 
Secretary of Labor must take one of the following three actions within 
60 days of receipt of the NIOSH criteria: (1) Appoint an advisory 
committee; (2) publish a proposed rule; or (3) publish in the Federal 
Register his determination not to do so, and his reasons therefor. As a 
result of the lapse in funding for the U.S. Department of Labor and the 
partial government shutdown, MSHA has been unable to meet the 60-day 
statutory deadline for a response.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Patricia Silvey, Office of Standards, Regulations, and Variances, Mine 
Safety and Health Administration, 4015 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, 
Virginia 22203, (703) 235-1910.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 
1977, 30 U.S.C. 801 et seq. (Mine Act), authorizes the National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of the U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services to recommend that the Secretary 
of Labor promulgate specific occupational safety and health standards 
to serve the objectives of the Mine Act. By means of criteria documents 
NIOSH notifies MSHA, as well as others with an interest in occupational 
safety and health, of its recommendations for health and safety 
standards. When the Secretary of Labor receives any such recommendation 
from NIOSH, Section 101(a)(1) of the Mine Act requires him to take one 
of three actions within 60 days: (1) Refer such recommendations to an 
advisory committee; (2) publish such recommendations as a proposed 
rule; or (3) publish in the Federal Register his determination not to 
do so, and his reasons therefor.
    On November 7, 1995, NIOSH transmitted to MSHA the document 
entitled Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to 
Respirable Coal Mine Dust, which examines the occupational health risks 
associated with exposures to respirable coal mine dust and crystalline 
silica over a working lifetime. In that document NIOSH makes a number 
of recommendations for reducing those risks, including reducing the 
permissible exposure levels for respirable coal mine dust and for 
respirable crystalline silica by 50 percent.
    Because of the lapse in funding for the U.S. Department of Labor 
and the resulting shutdown, MSHA has been unable to meet the statutory 
deadline for a response to the NIOSH criteria document.
    As soon as MSHA resumes normal operations, the agency will move as 
quickly as possible to respond to the criteria document, and will 
publish notice of its response in the Federal Register.

    Dated: January 4, 1996.
J. Davitt McAteer,
Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 96-331 Filed 1-9-96; 8:45 am]
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