[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 101 (Tuesday, May 27, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 28649-28650]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-13799]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

29 CFR Part 1910

[Docket No. H-200-C]


Notice of Public Meeting on Review of the Ethylene Oxide Standard 
(29 CFR 1910.1047)

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is 
conducting a review of the Ethylene Oxide standard in order to 
determine, consistent with Executive Order 12866 on Regulatory Planning 
and Review and Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, whether 
this standard should be maintained without change, rescinded, or 
modified in order to make it more effective or less burdensome in 
achieving its objectives, to bring it into better alignment with the 
objectives of Executive Order 12866, or to make it more consistent with 
the objectives of the Regulatory Flexibility Act to achieve regulatory 
goals while imposing as few burdens as possible on small employers.
    Written public comments on all aspects of compliance with the 
Ethylene Oxide standard are welcomed. OSHA will also hold a 
stakeholder's meeting to provide an opportunity for interested parties 
to comment on whether the Ethylene Oxide standard should be eliminated, 
modified, or continued without change to obtain the objectives 
described above.

DATES: The public meeting will be held on Monday, June 30, 1997. The 
meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. and is scheduled to end at 12:00 p.m. 
Written comments should be received by August 1, 1997 in the OSHA 
Docket Office at the address listed below.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in Room N3437 of the Frances 
Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 
20210.
    Requests to appear and written comments: OSHA requests that any 
person wishing to appear at the public meeting notify OSHA in writing. 
To assure that time is provided for oral comments, the request should 
be received by OSHA no later than Monday, June 23, 1997, and should 
identify the person and/or organization intending to appear, address 
and phone/fax number, the amount of time requested, and a brief summary 
of the comments to be presented. Please send written requests to appear 
to Nancy Dorris at the address listed below. All comments received from 
interested parties will be included in Docket H-200-C, and will be 
available for public review in the OSHA Docket Office, Room N2625, 200 
Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210, Telephone (202) 219-
7894.
    Persons with disabilities who need special accommodations should 
contact Nancy Dorris, by Monday, June 23, 1997, at the address 
indicated below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy Dorris, Office of Regulatory 
Analysis, Directorate of Policy, Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration, Room N3627, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, 
D.C. 20210, Telephone (202) 219-4690, extension 134, Fax (202) 219-
4383.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1984, OSHA promulgated a health standard 
for Ethylene Oxide (29 CFR 1910.1047) with a permissible exposure limit 
of 1 part per million parts of air (1 ppm) as an 8-hour time-weighted 
average (49 FR 25734, June 22, 1984). The basis for this action was a 
determination, based on animal and human data, that exposure to 
Ethylene Oxide presents a carcinogenic, mutagenic, genotoxic, 
reproductive, neurologic and sensitization hazard to workers. The 
standard provides for, among other requirements, methods of exposure 
control, personal protective equipment, measurement of employee 
exposures, training, medical surveillance, signs and labels, regulated 
areas, emergency procedures, and recordkeeping. An action level of 0.5 
ppm as an 8-hour time weighted average is included as the level above 
which employers must initiate certain compliance activities such as 
periodic employee exposure monitoring and medical surveillance. In 
instances where the employer can demonstrate that employee exposures 
are below the action level, the employer is not obligated to comply 
with most of the requirements of the standard. In 1988, OSHA amended 
the Ethylene Oxide standard by adopting an excursion limit of 5 ppm 
averaged over a sampling period of 15 minutes (53 FR 11414, April 6, 
1988).
    OSHA estimated in the Final Regulatory Impact Analysis for the 
Ethylene Oxide standard that the standard would have an annual cost of 
$35.5 million (49 FR 25734, June 22, 1984). OSHA also estimated that 
between 457 and 871 cancer fatalities would be prevented over a fifty 
year period as a result of the standard.
    OSHA has selected the Ethylene Oxide standard for review in 
accordance with the regulatory review provisions at Section 5 of 
Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, 51739, Oct. 4, 1993) and Section 
610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). The 
purpose of the review is to determine whether the standard should be 
continued without change, rescinded, or amended to make it more 
effective or less burdensome in achieving its objectives, to bring it 
into better alignment with the objectives of Executive Order 12866, or 
to make it more consistent with the objectives of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act to achieve regulatory goals while

[[Page 28650]]

imposing as little burden as possible on small employers. In the event 
the Agency determines, based on the results of this review, that the 
rule should be rescinded or modified, appropriate rulemaking will be 
initiated.
    An important step in the review process involves the gathering and 
analysis of information from affected persons about their experience 
with the rule and any material changes in circumstances since issuance 
of the rule. This notice requests written comments and announces a 
public meeting to provide an opportunity for interested parties to 
comment on the continuing need for, adequacy or inadequacy, and 
potential improvement of this rule. Comment concerning the following 
subjects would assist the Agency in determining whether to retain the 
standard unchanged or to initiate rulemaking for purposes of revision 
or recission:
    1. The benefits and utility of the rule in its current form and, if 
amended, in its amended form;
    2. Whether potentially effective and reasonably feasible 
alternatives to the standard exist;
    3. The continued need for the rule;
    4. The complexity of the rule;
    5. Whether and to what extent the rule overlaps, duplicates, or 
conflicts with other Federal, State, and local governmental rules;
    6. Information on any new developments in technology, economic 
conditions, or other factors affecting the ability of affected firms to 
comply with the Ethylene Oxide rule;
    7. Alternatives to the rule or portions of the rule that would 
minimize significant impacts on small businesses while achieving the 
objectives of the Occupational Safety and Health Act; and
    8. The effectiveness of the standard as implemented by small 
entities.
    Persons making timely written requests to speak at the public 
meeting will be given priority for oral comments, as time permits. 
Other persons wishing to speak should register at the meeting from 8:30 
to 9:00. OSHA will make every effort to accommodate individuals wishing 
to speak at the public meeting.

    Authority: This document was prepared under the direction of 
Gregory R. Watchman, Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for 
Occupational Safety and Health, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., 
Washington, D.C. 20210.

    Signed at Washington, D.C., this 20th day of May, 1997.
Gregory R. Watchman,
Acting Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-13799 Filed 5-23-97; 8:45 am]
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