[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 159 (Wednesday, August 16, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50017-50018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-20762]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary

[Secretary's Order 3-2000]


Delegation of Authority and Assignment of Responsibility to the 
Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health

    1. Purpose. To delegate authority and assign responsibility to the 
Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health.
    2. Directives Affected. This Order repeals Secretary's Order 6-96 
(Occupational Safety and Health).
    3. Background. This Order, which repeals and supersedes Secretary's 
Order 6-96, constitutes the basic Secretary's Order for the 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Specifically, 
this delegates and assigns responsibility to OSHA for enforcement of 
Section 519 (Protection of employees providing air safety information) 
of Public Law 106-81 (106th Cong.), the Wendell H. Ford Aviation 
Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century, 49 U.S.C. 40101 note. 
Additionally, this Order includes an express delegation to the 
Assistant Secretary of the authority, implicitly delegated in prior 
Orders, to invoke appropriate claims of governmental privilege.
    All other authorities and responsibilities set forth in this Order 
were delegated or assigned previously to the Assistant Secretary for 
OSHA in Secretary's Order 6-96, and this Order continues those 
delegations and assignments in full force and effect, except as 
expressly modified herein.
    4. Delegation of Authority and Assignment of Responsibility.
    a. The Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health
    (1) The Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health is 
delegated authority and assigned responsibility for administering the 
safety and health programs and activities of the Department of Labor, 
except as provided in subparagraph 4.a.(2) below, under the designated 
provisions of the following statutes:
    (a) The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 U.S.C. 651, 
et seq.
    (b) The Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act of 1936, as amended, 41 
U.S.C. 35, 37-41, 43-45.
    (c) The McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act of 1965, as amended, 
41 U.S.C. 351-354, 356-357.
    (d) The Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, as amended, 
40 U.S.C. 329, 333.
    (e) The Maritime Safety Act of 1958, 33 U.S.C. 941.
    (f) The National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 
1965, 20 U.S.C. 954(i)(2).
    (g) 5 U.S.C. 7902 and any Executive Order thereunder.
    (h) Executive Order 12196 (``Occupational Safety and Health 
Programs for Federal Employees'') of February 26, 1980.
    (i) 49 U.S.C. 31105, the whistleblower provision of the Surface 
Transportation Assistance Act of 1982.
    (j) Section 211 of the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act of 
1986, 15 U.S.C. 2651.
    (k) Section 7 of the International Safe Container Act, 46 U.S.C. 
App. 1505.
    (l) Section 1450(i) of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. 300j-
9(i).
    (m) Section 211 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as 
amended, 42 U.S.C. 5851.
    (n) Section 110 (a)-(d) of the Comprehensive Environmental 
Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, 42 U.S.C. 9610 (a)-
(d).
    (o) Section 507 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 
U.S.C. 1367.
    (p) Section 23 of the Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 U.S.C. 2622.
    (q) Section 7001 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, 42 U.S.C. 6971.
    (r) Section 322 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7622.
    (s) Section 519 of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and 
Reform Act For the 21st Century, 49 U.S.C. 40101 note.
    (t) Responsibilities of the Secretary of Labor with respect to 
safety and health provisions of any other Federal statutes except those 
related to mine safety and health, the issuance of child labor 
hazardous occupation orders, and Department of Labor employee safety 
and health, which are administered pursuant to Secretary's Orders 3-78, 
5-96, and 5-95, respectively.
    (2) The authority of the Assistant Secretary for Occupational 
Safety and Health under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 
does not include authority to conduct inspections and investigations, 
issue citations, assess and collect penalties, or enforce any other 
remedies available under the statute, or to develop and issue 
compliance interpretations under the statute, with regard to the 
standards on:
    (a) field sanitation, 29 C.F.R. 1928.110; and
    (b) temporary labor camps, 29 C.F.R. 1910.142, with respect to any 
agricultural establishment where employees are engaged in 
``agricultural employment'' within the meaning of the Migrant and 
Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, 29 U.S.C. 1802(3), 
regardless of the number of employees, including employees engaged in 
hand packing of produce into containers, whether done on the ground, on 
a moving machine, or in a temporary packing shed, except that the 
Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health retains 
enforcement responsibility over temporary labor camps for employees 
engaged in egg, poultry, or red meat production, or the post-harvest 
processing of agricultural or horticultural commodities.
    Nothing in this Order shall be construed as derogating from the 
right of States operating OSHA-approved State plans under 29 U.S.C. 667 
to continue to enforce field sanitation and temporary labor camp 
standards if they so choose. The Assistant Secretary for OSHA retains 
the authority to monitor the activity of such States with respect to 
field sanitation and temporary labor camps. Moreover, the Assistant 
Secretary for OSHA retains all other agency authority and 
responsibility under the Occupational Safety and Health Act with regard 
to the standards on field sanitation and temporary labor camps, such as 
rulemaking authority.
    (3) The Assistant Secretary for OSHA is hereby delegated authority 
and assigned responsibility to invoke all appropriate claims of 
governmental privilege, arising from the functions of OSHA, following 
personal consideration of the matter, and in accordance with the 
following guidelines:
    (a) Informant's Privilege (to protect from disclosure the identity 
of any person who has provided information to OSHA in matters arising 
under an authority delegated or assigned in this paragraph): A claim of 
privilege may be asserted where the Assistant Secretary has determined 
that disclosure of the privileged matter may: (1) Interfere with an 
investigative or enforcement action taken by OSHA under an authority 
delegated or assigned to OSHA in this paragraph; (2) adversely affect 
persons who have provided information to OSHA; or (3) deter other 
persons from

[[Page 50018]]

reporting a violation of law or other authority delegated or assigned 
to OSHA in this paragraph.
    (b) Deliberative Process Privilege (to withhold information which 
may disclose pre-decisional intra-agency or inter-agency deliberations, 
including the analysis and evaluation of fact, written summaries of 
factual evidence, and recommendations, opinions or advice on legal or 
policy matters in matters arising under this paragraph): A claim of 
privilege may be asserted where the Assistant Secretary has determined 
that disclosure of the privileged matter would have an inhibiting 
effect on the agency's decision-making processes.
    (c) Privilege for Investigational Files Compiled for Law 
Enforcement Purposes (to withhold information which may reveal OSHA's 
confidential investigative techniques and procedures): The 
investigative file privilege may be asserted where the Assistant 
Secretary has determined the disclosure of the privileged matter may 
have an adverse impact upon OSHA's implementation of an authority 
delegated or assigned in this paragraph, by: (1) Disclosing 
investigative techniques and methodologies; (2) deterring persons from 
providing information to OSHA; (3) prematurely revealing the facts of 
OSHA's case; or (4) disclosing the identities of persons who have 
provided information under an express or implied promise of 
confidentiality.
    (d) Prior to filing a formal claim of privilege, the Assistant 
Secretary shall personally review all documents sought to be withheld 
(or, in case where the volume is so large that all of them cannot be 
personally reviewed in a reasonable time, an adequate and 
representative sample of such documents), together with a description 
or summary of the litigation in which the disclosure is sought.
    (e) In asserting a claim of governmental privilege, the Assistant 
Secretary may ask the Solicitor of Labor, or the Solicitor's 
representative, to file any necessary legal papers or documents.
    (4) The Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health is 
also delegated authority and assigned responsibility for:
    (a) Serving as Chairperson of the Federal Advisory Council on 
Occupational Safety and Health, as provided for by Executive Order 
12196.
    (b) Coordinating Agency efforts with those of other officials or 
agencies having responsibilities in the occupational safety and health 
area.
    b. The Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health and 
the Assistant Secretary for Employment Standards are directed to confer 
regularly on enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Act with 
regard to the standards on field sanitation and temporary labor camps 
(see subparagraph 4.a.(2) of this Order), and to enter into any 
memoranda of understanding which may be appropriate to clarify 
questions of coverage which arise in the course of such enforcement.
    c. The Solicitor of Labor shall have the responsibility for 
providing legal advice and assistance to all officers of the Department 
relating to the administration of the statutory provisions and 
Executive Orders listed above. The bringing of legal proceedings under 
those authorities, the representation of the Secretary and/or other 
officials of the Department of Labor, and the determination of whether 
such proceedings or representations are appropriate in a given case, 
are delegated exclusively to the Solicitor.
    d. The Commissioner of Labor Statistics is delegated authority and 
assigned responsibility for:
    (1) Furthering the purpose of the Occupational Safety and Health 
Act by developing and maintaining an effective program of collection, 
compilation, analysis, and publication of occupational safety and 
health statistics consistent with the provisions of Secretary's Orders 
4-81 and 5-95.
    (2) Making grants to states or political subdivisions thereof in 
order to assist them in developing and administering programs dealing 
with occupational safety and health statistics under Sections 18, 23, 
and 24 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
    (3) Coordinating the above functions with the Assistant Secretaries 
for Occupational Safety and Health and Employment Standards.
    5. Reservation of Authority and Responsibility.
    a.The submission of reports and recommendations to the President 
and the Congress concerning the administration of the statutory 
provisions and Executive Orders listed in subparagraph 4.a. above is 
reserved to the Secretary.
    b. The commencement of legal proceedings under the statutory 
provisions listed in subparagraph 4.a. above, except proceedings before 
Department of Labor administrative law judges and the Administrative 
Review Board under the statutes identified in subparagraph 4.a.(1)(i) 
or subparagraphs 4.a.(1)(l-s) above, is reserved to the Secretary. The 
Solicitor will determine in each case whether such legal proceedings 
are appropriate and may represent the Secretary in litigation as 
authorized by law.
    c. Nothing in this Order shall limit or modify the delegation of 
authority and assignment of responsibility to the Administrative Review 
Board by Secretary's Order 2-96 (April 17, 1996).
    6. Redelegation of Authority. The Assistant Secretary for 
Occupational Safety and Health, the Solicitor of Labor, and the 
Commissioner of Labor Statistics may redelegate authority delegated in 
this Order.
    7. Effective Date. This delegation of authority and assignment of 
responsibility shall be effective immediately.

    Dated: July 18, 2000.
Alexis M. Herman,
Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 00-20762 Filed 8-15-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-23-P