[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 121 (Thursday, June 24, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33810-33812]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-16142]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

29 CFR Part 1910

[Docket No. S-042]
RIN 1218-AB77


Employer Payment for Personal Protective Equipment

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

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Survey.

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SUMMARY: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has 
completed a survey of current patterns of personal protective equipment 
(PPE) payment and usage. We have submitted the survey to the docket of 
our rulemaking concerning employer payment for PPE (Docket S-042). The 
survey is available for review, and we invite the public to comment and 
testify on the survey. Also, OSHA is requesting information about the 
impact of the proposed rule on the shipyard industry.


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DATES: Written comments. Written comments must be postmarked by July 
23, 1999. If you submit comments electronically through OSHA's internet 
site, you must transmit those comments by July 23, 1999.
    Informal pubic hearing. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 
a.m. on August 10, 1999.
    Notice of intention to appear, testimony, and documentary evidence. 
Notices of intention to appear at the informal public hearing must be 
postmarked by July 16, 1999. If you will be requesting more than 10 
minutes for your presentation, or if you will be submitting documentary 
evidence at the hearing, you must submit the full text of your 
testimony and all documentary evidence to the Docket Office, postmarked 
by July 23, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Survey. The Survey is available from the OSHA Docket Office 
(Docket S-042), Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution 
Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20210. (Telephone: (202) 693-2350)
    Informal public hearing. The hearing will be held in the auditorium 
of the U.S. Department of Labor (Frances Perkins Building), 200 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
    Comments, Testimony, and Documentary Evidence. Submit four copies 
of written comments, notices of intention to appear at the informal 
public hearing, testimony, and documentary evidence to the OSHA Docket 
Office at the address listed above. Please identify the document at the 
top of the first page as either a comment, notice of intention to 
appear, testimony, or documentary evidence. If your written comments 
are 10 pages or less, you may fax them to the Docket Office, but you 
must then submit a heard copy to the Docket Office postmarked within 
two days. The OSHA Docket Office fax number is (202) 693-1648.
    You may also submit comments electronically through OSHA's Internet 
site. The URL of that site is as follows: http://www.osha-slc.gov/e-
comments/e-comments-ppe.html. Please be aware that you may not attach 
materials such as studies or journal articles to your electronic 
comments. If you wish to include such materials, you must submit them 
separately in quadruplicate to the Docket Office at the address listed 
above. When submitting such materials to the Docket Office, you must 
clearly identify your electronic comments by name, date, and subject, 
so that we can attach them to your electronic comments.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On March 31, 1999, OSHA published a proposed rule (64 FR 15402) 
that would require employers to pay for required personal protective 
equipment, with limited exceptions for some types of protective 
footwear and protective eyewear.
    We provided a written comment period and scheduled an informal 
public hearing to provide the public with opportunities to comment on 
the proposed rule and provide relevant data.
    On May 24, 1999, OSHA published a Federal Register notice (64 FR 
27941) rescheduling the hearing to begin on August 10, 1999, and 
extending the written comment period to July 23, 1999.
    Survey. As discussed in the preamble of the proposed rule, OSHA 
conducted a nationwide telephone survey of employers to obtain more 
accurate data on current patterns of PPE payment and usage. The survey 
has been completed and is now available from the Docket Office (Docket 
S-042) for review and comment.
    Issue concerning impact of proposed rule on collective bargaining 
agreements. After we issued the proposal, the Shipbuilders Council of 
America, a trade association of shipyards, contacted the Agency with 
concerns about the impact of the proposal on their members' collective 
bargaining agreements.
    They told OSHA that the cost of welding gloves and other PPE, 
especially ``leathers'' worn to protect employees against welding 
sparks, slag, and molten metal, often is covered in their collective 
bargaining agreements. Some agreements split the cost between employers 
and employees, others cover the cost with pay premiums, others specify 
that employees pay for PPE. The Council also stated that the proposed 
rule would be very costly for its members.
    OSHA did not specifically ask for comment on this exact issue in 
the proposal although we did note in the proposal that ``the 
longshoring and marine terminal industries have a unique employer-
employee relationship in may ports'' (64 FR 15416). We asked if there 
were unique issues in these industries that should affect our 
considerations of the proposed rule.
    Because of the concerns expressed by the Council, OSHA is 
interested in comments on whether requiring employers to pay for PPE, 
especially PPE such as ``leathers'' for welders, would impact the 
shipyard industry. Would collective bargaining agreements and hiring 
practices be affected? Would the kind of protective gear worn while 
welding change because of the proposed rule? What would be the cost to 
shipyard employers of any change in payment practices?

II. Public Participation

Written Comments

    Interested parties are invited to submit written data, views, and 
comments with respect to the survey discussed above, and the questions 
relating to the maritime industry. If you wish to file written 
comments, you must submit them in one of the following forms: (1) Hard 
copy, in quadruplicate; or (2) an original (hard copy) with 1 disk 
(3\1/2\'' or 5\1/4\'') in WordPerfect 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, 8.0, or ASCII, to 
the Docket Office, Docket No. S-042, Room N2625, U.S. Department of 
Labor, 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20210.
    You may also submit written comments electronically, using OSHA's 
website: http://www.osha-slc.gov/e-comments/e-comments-ppe.html. 
However, please be aware that you cannot attach materials such as 
studies or journal articles to your electronic comment. If you wish to 
submit such materials to supplement your electronic comment, you must 
submit them separately (either in quadruplicate or in single copy plus 
diskette) to the Docket Office at the address noted above. You must 
clearly identify these materials by including your name and the date 
and subject of your electronic comments, so that we can attach the 
materials to your comments.
    All comments, views, data, and arguments that we receive within the 
specified comment period will become part of the record and will be 
available for public inspection and copying at the above Docket Office 
address.

Informal Public Hearing

    The informal public hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. on August 10, 
1999, in the auditorium of the Frances Perkins Building, U.S. 
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC. We 
will continue the hearing through August 20, 1999, depending on the 
number of public participants.
    If you wish to participate in the hearing, you must file four 
copies of a notice of intention to appear. This notice must be 
postmarked on or before July 16, 1999. Your notice of intention to 
appear, which will be available for inspection and copying at the OSHA 
Docket Office (Room N2625), must contain the following information:
    1. The name, address, and telephone number of each person to 
appear;
    2. The capacity in which the person will appear;

[[Page 33812]]

    3. The approximate amount of time required for the presentation;
    4. The issues that will be addressed;
    5. A brief statement of the position that will be taken with 
respect to each issue; and,
    6. Whether the party intends to submit documentary evidence and, if 
so, a brief summary of that evidence.
    Mail the notice of intention to appear to: Docket Office, Docket S-
042, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 
DC 20210. The telephone number of the Docket Office is (202) 693-2350.
    You may also transmit your notice of intention to appear by 
facsimile to (202) 693-1648 (Attention: Docket S-042), by July 16, 
1999, provided that you send an original and 3 copies of the notice to 
the Docket Office postmarked no more than 3 days later.

Filing of Testimony and Evidence Before the Hearing

    If you request more than 10 minutes for your presentation at the 
hearing, or if you will be submitting documentary evidence, you must 
provide us with four copies of the complete text of the testimony and 
documentary evidence. One copy must not be stapled or bound and must be 
suitable for copying. You must provide the Docket Office with these 
materials postmarked no later than July 23, 1999.
    We will review all testimony and evidence in light of the amount of 
time requested in the notice of intention to appear. If the information 
contained in a submission does not justify the amount of time 
requested, we will allocate a more appropriate amount of time and 
notify the participant of that fact prior to the informal public 
hearing.
    If you do not submit your materials in accordance with the schedule 
and other requirements, we may limit your presentation to 10 minutes. 
We may also ask you to return for questioning at a later time.
    Any party who has not filed a notice of intention to appear may be 
allowed to testify for no more than 10 minutes as time permits, at the 
discretion of the Administrative Law Judge, but will not be allowed to 
question witnesses.
    Notices of intention to appear, testimony, and evidence will be 
available for copying at the Docket Office at the address noted above.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 21 day of June 1999.
Charles N. Jeffress,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 99-16142 Filed 6-23-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-26-M