[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 120 (Tuesday, June 23, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 34140-34141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-16624]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

29 CFR Part 1910

[Docket No. H-052-F]


Notice of Public Meeting on Review of the Cotton Dust Standard

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department 
of Labor.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is 
conducting a review of the Cotton Dust 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standard should be maintained without change, rescinded, or modified in 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 the Cotton Dust Standard 
are welcomed. OSHA will also hold two stakeholder meetings that will be 
open to the public to provide opportunities for interested parties to 
comment on whether the Cotton Dust Standard should be eliminated, 
modified, or continued without change to achieve the objectives 
described above.

DATES: The first public meeting will be held on July 24, 1998, in 
Atlanta, Georgia. The second public meeting will be held on July 30, 
1998 in Washington, DC. Both meetings will begin at 9:00 a.m. and will 
end at approximately 5:30 p.m. Requests from members of the public to 
speak at these meetings should be received by OSHA no later than July 
17, 1998, for the meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, and July 23, 1998, for 
the meeting in Washington, DC. Written comments must be postmarked by 
August 31, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The Atlanta meeting will be held at the Sheraton Gateway 
Hotel, Atlanta Airport, 1900 Sullivan Road, College Park, Georgia 
30337, Telephone (770) 997-1100, Fax (770) 997-1921.

    The Washington, DC meeting will be held in the Auditorium of the 
Frances Perkins Building at 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 
DC 20210.
    Requests to speak at these public meetings should be sent to 
Kathryn Condit, Office of Regulatory Analysis, Directorate of Policy, 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Room N3627; 200 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210, Telephone (202) 219-
4916, extension 145, Fax (202) 219-4383.
    Written comments on the Cotton Dust Standard should be submitted in 
quadruplicate to Elaine Bynum, Docket Officer, Docket No. H-052-F, OSHA 
Docket Office, Room N2625; 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20210, Telephone (202) 219-7894, Fax (202) 219-5046. Comments of 10 
pages or fewer may be faxed to (202) 219-5046 as long as paper copies 
are subsequently sent.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kathryn Condit, Office of Regulatory Analysis, Directorate of Policy, 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Room N3627, 200 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210, Telephone (202) 219-
4916, extension 145, Fax (202) 219-4383.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Additional Information Concerning Public Participation

    Requests to Speak at the Public Meetings. Requests should identify 
the person and organization intending to appear, desired date of 
appearance, address and phone and fax number, the amount of time 
requested, audiovisual equipment required, and a brief summary of the 
comments to be presented. Persons making timely written requests to 
speak at the public meetings will be given priority for oral comments, 
as time permits. Other persons wishing to speak should register before 
the meetings from 8:30 to 9:00 a.m. OSHA will make every effort to 
accommodate individuals wishing to speak at the public meetings.
    Written Comments. OSHA will review written public comments as part 
of the process of conducting this regulatory review of the Cotton Dust 
Standard. All comments received will be included in Docket H-052-F and 
will be available for public review in the Docket Office.

Additional Information on the Regulatory Review

    OSHA has selected the Cotton Dust 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.). 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.

[[Page 34141]]

    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. Comment concerning the following subjects would assist the 
Agency in determining whether to retain the standard unchanged or to 
initiate rulemaking for the purposes of revision or rescission:
    1. The benefits and utility of the rule in its current form and, if 
amended, in its amended form;
    2. The continued need for the rule;
    3. The complexity of the rule;
    4. Whether and to what extent the rule overlaps, duplicates, or 
conflicts with other Federal, State and local governmental rules;
    5. Information on any new developments in technology, economic 
conditions, or other factors affecting the ability of affected firms to 
comply with the Cotton Dust rule; and
    6. Alternatives to the rule or portions of the rule that would 
minimize any significant impacts on small businesses while achieving 
the objectives of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

Addtional Information on the Cotton Dust Standard

    In 1978, OSHA promulgated a health standard for cotton dust (29 CFR 
1910.1043) that set new permissible exposure limits for occupational 
exposure to cotton dust for the textile industry as well as permissible 
exposure limits for several other industries. The basis for this 
rulemaking was OSHA's determination that exposure to cotton dust 
presents a significant health hazard to employees. Exposure to cotton 
dust, which may contain a mixture of many substances, including ground-
up plant matter, bacteria, fungi, soil, pesticides, and other 
contaminants, can lead to the chronic respiratory disease known as 
byssinosis (``brown lung''), as well as to production or aggravation of 
respiratory symptoms characteristic of chronic lung disease, e.g., 
chronic bronchitis, asthma, emphysema and other non-specific diseases.
    Since its promulgation in 1978, the Cotton Dust Standard has been 
modified on several occasions to conform to court decisions (AFL-CIO v. 
Marshall, 617 F.2d 636 (D.C. Cir. 1979); American Textile Manufacturers 
Institute, Inc. v. Donovan, 452 U.S. 490 (1981); (50 FR 51120; December 
13, 1985). The Cotton Dust Standard Sec. 1910.1043, currently applies 
to the control of employee exposure to cotton dust in all workplaces 
where employees engage in yarn manufacturing, engage in slashing and 
weaving operations, or work in waste houses for textile operations.
    The standard establishes a permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 200 
micrograms per cubic meter of air (g/m3) as an 8-
hour time weighted average (TWA) for yarn manufacturing and cotton 
washing operations, a PEL of 500 g/m3 as an 8-hour 
TWA for textile mill waste house operations or exposure to dust from 
``lower grade washed cotton'' during yarn manufacturing operations, and 
a PEL of 750 g/m3 as an 8-hour TWA for exposure 
during slashing and weaving operations (43 FR 27350; June 23, 1978). 
The action levels established by the standard are: 100 g/
m3 as an 8-hour TWA for yarn manufacturing and cotton 
washing operations, 250 g/m3 as an 8-hour TWA for 
textile mill waste house operations, and 375 g/m3 
as an 8-hour TWA for exposure during slashing and weaving operations. 
The Cotton Dust Standard also includes provisions covering exposure 
monitoring, engineering control use, written compliance and work 
practice programs, respirators, medical surveillance, training, and 
recordkeeping (43 FR 27350; June 23, 1978). In instances where an 
employer can demonstrate that employee exposures are below the 
appropriate action level, the employer is not obligated to comply with 
many of the requirements of the standard.
    The Cotton Dust Standard also applies, in part, to cottonseed 
processing and cotton waste processing operations. Cottonseed 
processing operations are not subject to an OSHA 8-hour time-weighted 
average PEL. However, cottonseed processing operations are covered by 
certain medical surveillance provisions, recordkeeping provisions, and 
other requirements of Sec. 1910.1043 as specified in Sec. 1910.1043 as 
specified in Sec. 1910.1043(a)(3). These requirements are included in 
the scope of this regulatory review. The cotton waste processing 
operations of waste recycling (sorting, blending, cleaning, willowing, 
etc.) and garnetting must comply with a PEL of 1 mg/m \3\ as an 8-hour 
time weighted average. This PEL is contained in Sec. 1910.1000, rather 
than in Sec. 1910.1043, and it is therefore not included in the scope 
of the current regulatory review effort. However, cotton waste 
processing operations are covered by certain medical surveillance, 
recordkeeping, and other requirements of Sec. 1910.1043 as specified in 
Sec. 1910.1043(a)(3). These requirements are included in the scope of 
this regulatory review.
    The Cotton Dust Standard does not apply to the handling or 
processing of woven or knitted materials, or to maritime operations 
covered by 29 CFR Parts 1915 and 1918, or to harvesting or ginning of 
cotton, or to the construction industry. In addition, facilities 
processing washed cotton (as defined in paragraph (n) of 
Sec. 1910.1043) may be exempt from all or part of the standard (see 
Sec. 1910.1043 (n) for details).
    In 1978, OSHA estimated that the Cotton Dust Standard would 
generate compliance costs of $656.5 million in capital costs and $206.1 
million in annual costs. The bulk of these costs were attributed to the 
textile industry: $550.0 million in capital costs and $171.0 million in 
annual costs (43 FR 27380; June 23, 1978). the remaining estimated 
compliance costs were attributed to the waste processing, cottonseed 
processing, and warehousing industries. In 1978, OSHA also provided a 
benefits estimate for the yarn preparation industry alone of 4,904 
cases of byssinosis avoided per year based on the new permissible 
exposure limit of 200 g/m \3\ as an 8-hour TWA (43 FR 27379; 
June 23, 1978). Several years later, compliance cost estimates made by 
the American Textile Manufactures Institute, as well as compliance cost 
estimates made by Centaur Associates, an OSHA contractor, indicated 
that the actual cost to affected industries of complying with the 
standard was substantially lower than OSHA's original estimates (50 FR 
51166-51167; December 13, 1985). Modifications to the scope and 
requirements of the Cotton Dust Standard occurring after 1978 also led 
OSHA to lower its estimates of the compliance costs associated with the 
standard (48 FR 26978; June 10, 1983).

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

    Signed at Washington, D.C., this 15th day of June, 1998.
Charles N. Jeffress,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-16624 Filed 6-22-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-26-M