[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 23, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 1725]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-728]



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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

29 CFR Parts 1910, 1915, and 1926

[Docket No. H-049]
RIN 1218-0099


Respiratory Protection

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.

ACTION: Extension of the time period for submission of public comments 
on a report by M. Nicas.

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SUMMARY: OSHA is extending the time period originally specified in 60 
FR 56127 for receiving public comment on the Nicas Report.

DATES: Written comments must be postmarked to OSHA on or before January 
29, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted in quadruplicate or 1 original 
(hardcopy) and 1 disk (5\1/4\ or 3\1/2\ inch) in WordPerfect 5.0, 5.1, 
6.0, 6.1, or ASCII to: Docket Office, Docket H-049, U.S. Department of 
Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Room N-2625, 200 
Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210; telephone: (202) 
219-7894. Any information not contained on disk (e.g., studies, 
articles) must be submitted in quadruplicate. Written comments limited 
to 10 pages or less in length may also be transmitted by facsimile to 
(202) 219-5046, provided that the original and 3 copies are sent to the 
Docket Office thereafter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Anne C. Cyr, Office of Information 
and Consumer Affairs, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 
U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-3647, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., 
Washington, D.C. 20210. Telephone (202) 219-8148. A copy of the 
referenced report is available for inspection and copying in the Docket 
Office and will be mailed to persons who request a copy by telephoning 
Mr. John Steelnack at (202) 219-7151. For an electronic copy of the 
Federal Register notice, contact the Labor News Bulletin Board (202) 
219-4748; or OSHA's WebPage on the Internet at http://www.OSHA.gov/. 
For news releases, fact sheets and other short documents, contact OSHA 
FAX at (900) 555-3400 at $1.50 per minute.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Background

    On November 7, 1995, OSHA published a notice (60 FR 56127) which 
reopened the record of the Respiratory Protection standard, 29 CFR 
1910.134, to receive public comment on a report submitted by Dr. Mark 
Nicas titled ``The Analysis of Workplace Protection Factor Data and the 
Derivation of Assigned Protection Factors'' (hereafter, the ``Nicas 
Report'') which was entered as a post-hearing comment into the 
Respiratory Protection Docket H-049 as Exhibit #156. The original time 
period for public comment on the Nicas Report was scheduled to end on 
January 8, 1996. However, OSHA underwent a major reduction in 
operations and furlough of most employees from December 18, 1995 to 
January 5, 1996. As of January 17, 1996, OSHA had received only three 
comments on the Nicas Report in response to 60 FR 56127. To encourage 
additional public comments in response to this announcement, OSHA is 
extending the date for submitting comments on the Nicas Report to 
January 29, 1996. No additional extensions for this purpose are 
anticipated.

Authority and Signature

    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, N.W., Washington, D.C. 
20210. It is issued pursuant to section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety 
and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655).

    Signed at Washington, D.C. this 17th day of January, 1996.
Joseph A. Dear,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 96-728 Filed 1-22-96; 8:45 am]
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