[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 7, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11948-11949]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-5422]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

29 CFR Part 1910

[Docket No. S-777]
RIN 1218-AB36


Ergonomics Program

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; procedures for informal public hearing; 
rescheduling of informal public hearing; additional information and 
clarifications.

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SUMMARY: OSHA is setting hearing and post-hearing procedures for its 
proposed Ergonomics Program standard published in the Federal Register 
on November 23, 1999. These procedures, which are provided as an 
alternative to the procedures the Agency usually uses, address: the 
hearing schedule, the nature of the hearing, availability of hearing 
testimony, the conduct of the rulemaking hearing, and post-hearing 
submissions. OSHA is issuing these procedures to ensure that the 
hearings proceed in a fair, orderly, and timely manner even though a 
very large number of parties have filed notices of intent to appear at 
them. This document will enable the hearing participants to plan their 
activities in advance. This document also specifies the dates and 
locations of the hearings.

DATES: The hearing will begin on Monday, March 13, 2000, in Washington, 
D.C. The hearing in Washington will run for 4 weeks through April 7. 
The hearing will resume on April 11, in Chicago, Illinois, and will 
continue there until April 21. The hearing will then resume in 
Portland, Oregon on April 24 and run until May 3. The final week of the 
hearing will be May 8 through 12 at a location to be determined in 
Washington, D.C. The hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. on March 13; on 
subsequent days, the starting time will be 8:30 a.m. The hearing will 
ordinarily conclude by 6:00 p.m. each day; however, in order to assure 
orderly development of the record on any particular day, the 
Administrative Law Judge may extend the hearing that day. All 
questioning of public participants will be completed on the day the 
participants testify.

ADDRESSES: The March 13 through April 7 hearing in Washington will be 
in the Frances Perkins Building Auditorium in the U.S. Department of 
Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210. The hearing 
in Chicago will be held at the State of Illinois Building, James R. 
Thompson Center (Assembly Hall), 100 W. Randolph Street, in Chicago, 
Illinois. The hearing in Portland will be held at the Mark Hatfield 
Federal Court House, Courtroom #16, 1000 Southwest 3rd Avenue, in 
Portland, Oregon.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: OSHA's Ergonomics Team at (202) 693-
2116, or visit the OSHA Homepage at www.osha.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The procedures for the hearings on the 
Ergonomics Program Standard follow:

Hearing and Post-Hearing Procedures

I. General Information

    1. Authority. The following procedures will be utilized in the 
public hearing on OSHA's proposed Ergonomics Program Standard (64 FR 
65768; 65 FR 4795). OSHA rulemaking hearings are conducted in accord 
with Section 6(b)(3) of the OSH Act, 29 U.S.C. 655(b)(3), and the 
Secretary of Labor's procedural regulations in 29 CFR Part 1911. As 
noted in the Proposal, 64 FR 66065-66066, Sec. 1911.4 allows the 
Assistant Secretary, upon reasonable notice, to specify additional or 
alternative procedures for good cause.
    This document provides notice that the Assistant Secretary is 
exercising that authority in this case. In light of the very large 
number of parties who have filed notices of intent to appear at the 
hearings, the Assistant Secretary finds that good cause exists to 
establish additional procedures in advance to assure that the hearing 
proceeds in a fair, orderly, and timely manner.
    2. Hearing Dates. As stated in the Federal Register document of 
February 1, 2000 (65 FR 4795), the hearing will begin on Monday, March 
13, 2000 in the Frances Perkins Building Auditorium in the U.S. 
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. The 
hearing in Washington will run for 4 weeks through April 7. The hearing 
will resume on April 11 at the State of Illinois Building, James R. 
Thompson Center (Assembly Hall), 100 W. Randolph Street, in Chicago, 
Illinois, and will continue there until April 21. The hearing will then 
resume at the Mark Hatfield Federal Court House, Courtroom #16, 1000 
Southwest 3rd Avenue, in Portland, Oregon on April 24 and run until May 
3. The final week of the hearing will be May 8 through 12 at a location 
to be determined in Washington, DC. The hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. 
on March 13; on subsequent days, the starting time will be 8:30 a.m. 
The hearing will ordinarily conclude by 6:00 p.m. each day; however, in 
order to assure orderly development of the record on any particular 
day, the Administrative Law Judge may extend the hearing that day. All 
questioning of public participants will be completed on the day the 
participants testify.
    3. Nature of Hearing. This OSHA rulemaking hearing is a 
legislative-type hearing, not an adjudicative one. It is an informal 
administrative proceeding, intended for information gathering and 
clarification. This informal hearing is an adjunct to the written 
comment period, and is intended to provide interested persons with an 
additional opportunity to address the Agency and provide testimony and 
evidence for the rulemaking record. These procedural rules governing 
the hearing are intended to facilitate the development of a clear, 
accurate and complete record, while assuring fairness and due process. 
The rules of evidence and other procedural rules governing 
adjudications do not apply. Participants who have filed Notices of 
Intention to Appear may testify and question witnesses in accordance 
with these procedures (see Section II), but may not issue subpoenas or 
call to testify any person other than the persons who have agreed to 
testify for them. Motions to strike evidence will not be considered. 
The intent is to provide an opportunity for effective oral presentation 
by interested persons, and

[[Page 11949]]

to avoid procedures which might unduly impede or protract the 
rulemaking process. 29 CFR 1911.15(c)(3).
    4. Availability of Hearing Testimony. The February 1, 2000, Federal 
Register document provided that participants submitting documentary 
evidence or requesting more than 10 minutes for their presentations 
must submit their evidence and the full text of their written testimony 
to the docket postmarked no later than March 2, 2000 (65 FR 4795). The 
materials submitted have been or will be entered into the rulemaking 
docket (S-777) in the OSHA Docket Office, Room N-2625, U.S. Department 
of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210, where they 
are available for inspection and copying. This affords all participants 
an opportunity to review the evidence and to formulate in advance 
questions they may wish to ask at the hearing.

II. Conduct of the Rulemaking Hearing

    1. Schedule for Testimony. The Assistant Secretary has established 
a schedule showing the location and date each participant will testify 
and be available for questions. A copy of the schedule has been 
provided to all participants who have filed a notice of intent to 
appear and is posted on OSHA's Web site (www.osha.gov). Each witness 
should plan to be present at the start of the day he or she is 
scheduled to testify. No individual witness will be allowed to present 
testimony in more than one location, although individuals appearing in 
a representative capacity may represent participants appearing at 
different locations. The schedule prescribes the amount of time for 
each participant to testify, and also allows time for other 
participants and OSHA representatives to question the witness. The 
Administrative Law Judge shall assure that the hearing proceeds in a 
fair and orderly manner so as to facilitate development of the record. 
Consistent adherence to the schedule will also allow advance planning 
by participants, many of whom are traveling from a considerable 
distance to testify.
    2. OSHA Witnesses. The first witnesses at the Washington hearing on 
Monday March 13 will be a panel of OSHA representatives. Following the 
panel's presentation, participants who have filed notices of intent to 
appear and who wish to question the panel will be given the opportunity 
to do so. Initially each questioner will be given a 10 minute question 
period. The judge may adjust this, however, so long as the questioning 
is completed by March 14. The judge may allow participants additional 
question periods if there is time remaining after all participants have 
had an initial opportunity to question the panel members. The OSHA 
panel will testify only in Washington, and will be available for 
questioning only on March 13 and 14.
    OSHA's expert witnesses and a panel of witnesses from NIOSH will 
testify and be questioned March 15 through March 21. Following each 
panel, participants will be allowed a period of time, as noted in the 
schedule, to question panel members. The Administrative Law Judge may 
allow additional questioning so long as the testimony and questioning 
of each panel is completed on the day it is scheduled.
    3. Public Witnesses. Participants who have filed timely notices of 
intention to appear in Washington, DC, are scheduled to make their 
presentations and be questioned beginning March 21.
    4. General. Written hearing testimony that is submitted before the 
hearing is already part of the rulemaking record, and participants who 
have submitted written testimony in advance will not be permitted to 
read that testimony at the hearing. Instead, they should use their oral 
presentation to summarize and clarify their written submissions. 
Participants may provide additional copies of their testimony for the 
convenience of other hearing participants.
    Participants who have filed Notices of Intention to Appear but have 
not substantially complied with the requirements for the submission of 
written testimony and documentary evidence will be allowed a maximum 
time of 10 minutes for their presentations at the hearing and will be 
expected to respond to questions following their presentations. If time 
permits, the Administrative Law Judge may allow persons who have not 
filed Notices of Intention to Appear an opportunity to testify at the 
close of the day.
    5. Questioning of Public Witnesses. Participants who have filed 
Notices of Intention to Appear may ask questions on relevant issues 
following a presentation. Representatives of OSHA may also question 
witnesses. The Administrative Law Judge shall allocate the time allowed 
in the schedule among questioners. The judge may adjust this time so 
long as the testimony and questioning of all witnesses scheduled for 
each day is completed that day.
    Questions must be as brief as possible and must be designed to 
clarify a presentation or elicit information that is within the 
competence or expertise of the witness. Participants may not ask 
questions that are outside the scope of the matters addressed by this 
rulemaking.
    The Administrative Law Judge shall not permit duplicative, 
argumentative, or irrelevant questions. Questioners will not be 
permitted to use the question periods to present their own testimony 
and views on issues.
    Participants having similar interests are encouraged to designate 
one representative who can conduct the questioning on their behalf. 
When an organization is represented by more than one person, only one 
person from that organization may question each witness or panel.
    After all questioners have had an opportunity to question a witness 
or panel, if a questioner still has important relevant questions that 
have not been asked, the questioner may request permission from the 
Administrative Law Judge to ask additional questions. Permission may be 
granted based on the time available and the witness schedule.

III. Post-Hearing Submissions

    At the close of the hearing, those participants who have filed 
Notices of Intention to appear will have the opportunity to file 
additional evidence and data relevant to the proceeding, and to file 
final written briefs. Additional information and data relevant to the 
proceeding must be postmarked within 45 days of the close of the 
hearing; briefs must be postmarked 90 days after the close of the 
hearing. No reply briefs are to be filed.
    At the close of the post-hearing comment period, the hearing record 
will be closed and certified by the Administrative Law Judge to the 
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.

    Authority: This document was prepared under the direction of 
Charles N. Jeffress, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational 
Safety and Health, U. S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution 
Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210. It is issued under sections 4, 6, 
and 8 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 
653, 655, 657), Secretary of Labor's Order No. 6-96 (62 FR 111), and 
29 CFR part 1911.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 1st day of March, 2000.
Charles N. Jeffress,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 00-5422 Filed 3-6-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-26-P