[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 212 (Thursday, November 1, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55208-55210]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-27450]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. NRTL-1-89]


Intertek Testing Services, NA, Inc., Application for Expansion of 
Recognition

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the application of Intertek Testing 
Services, NA, Inc., for expansion of its recognition as a Nationally 
Recognized Testing Laboratory under 29 CFR 1910.7, and presents the 
Agency's preliminary finding. This preliminary finding does not 
constitute an interim or temporary approval of this application.

DATES: Comments submitted by interested parties, or any request for 
extension of the time to comment, must be received no later than 
November 16, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments concerning this notice to: Docket 
Office, Docket NRTL1-89, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety 
and Health Administration, Room N2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-2350. Commenters may 
transmit written comments of 10 pages or less in length by facsimile to 
(202) 693-1648. Submit request for extensions concerning this notice 
to: Office of Technical Programs and Coordination Activities, NRTL 
Program, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department 
of Labor, Room N3653, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 
20210.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bernard Pasquet, Office of Technical 
Programs and Coordination Activities at the above address, or phone 
(202) 693-2110.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Notice of Application

    The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) hereby 
gives notice that Intertek Testing Services, NA, Inc. (ITSNA), has 
applied for expansion of its current recognition as a Nationally 
Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL). ITSNA's expansion request covers 
the use of an additional testing site. OSHA's current scope of 
recognition for ITSNA may be found in the following informational web 
page: http://www.osha-slc.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/its.html.
    OSHA recognition of an NRTL signifies that the organization has met 
the legal requirements in section 1910.7 of title 29, Code of Federal 
Regulations (29 CFR 1910.7). Recognition is an acknowledgment that the 
organization can perform independent safety testing and certification 
of the specific products covered within its scope of recognition and is 
not a delegation or grant of government authority. As a result of 
recognition, employers may use products ``properly certified'' by the 
NRTL to meet OSHA standards that require testing and certification.
    The Agency processes applications by an NRTL for initial 
recognition or for expansion or renewal of this recognition following 
requirements in Appendix A to 29 CFR 1910.7. This appendix requires 
that the Agency publish two notices in the Federal Register in 
processing an application. In the first notice, OSHA announces the 
application and provides its preliminary finding and, in the second 
notice, the Agency provides its final decision on an application. These 
notices set forth the NRTL's scope of recognition or modifications of 
this scope.
    The most recent notices published by OSHA for ITSNA's recognition 
covered its renewal of recognition, which OSHA announced on December 
17, 1998 (63 FR 69676) and granted on May 29, 2001 (66 FR 29178). In 
the May notice, we briefly explain the lapse in time between the two 
notices. Generally, the period between the two notices is about 1 to 2 
months.
    The current address of the ITSNA testing facilities already 
recognized by OSHA are:

ITSNA Antioch, 2200 Wymore Way, Antioch, California 94509
ITSNA Atlanta, 1950 Evergreen Blvd., Suite 100, Duluth, Georgia 30096
ITSNA Boxborough, 70 Codman Hill Road, Boxborough, Massachusetts 01719

[[Page 55209]]

ITSNA Cortland, 3933 U.S. Route 11, Cortland, New York 13045
ITSNA Los Angeles, 27611 LaPaz Road, Suite C, Laguna Niguel, California 
92677
ITSNA Madison, 8431 Murphy Drive, Middleton, Wisconsin 53562
ITSNA Minneapolis, 7250 Hudson Blvd., Suite 100, Oakdale, Minnesota 
55128
ITSNA San Francisco, 1365 Adams Court, Menlo Park, CA 94025
ITSNA Totowa, 40 Commerce Way, Unit B, Totowa, New Jersey 07512
ITSNA Vancouver, 211 Schoolhouse Street, Coquitlam, British Columbia, 
V3K 4X9 Canada
ITSNA Hong Kong, 2/F., Garment Centre, 576 Castle Peak Road, Kowloon, 
Hong Kong
ITSNA Taiwan, 14/F., Huei Fung Building, 27, Chung Shan North Road, 
Sec. 3, Taipei 10451, Taiwan

    The current address of the additional ITSNA testing site covered by 
the expansion application is: Intertek Testing Services NA Sweden AB, 
Box 1103, S-164 22, Kista, Stockholm, Sweden.

General Background on the Application

    ITSNA has submitted an application, dated February 25, 1997 (see 
Exhibit 35), to expand its recognition to include a site located in 
Stockholm, Sweden. The NRTL Program staff reviewed the application and 
determined that it was acceptable based on the guidelines that were 
then in effect. However, the program staff deferred further 
consideration of the application primarily due to processing of other 
requests submitted by ITSNA for expansion and renewal of its 
recognition, which were pending at the time the application was 
received. As explained in prior Federal Register notices, most recently 
a notice published on May 29, 2001 (66 FR 29178), consideration of 
those other requests had been deferred until December 1996.
    The program staff resumed processing of the application for 
recognition of the Stockholm facility in June 1998, and the staff 
performed an on-site review (assessment) of the facility on September 
24-25, 1998. In the on-site review report (see Exhibit 36), the program 
staff recommended a ``positive finding,'' which means a positive 
recommendation on the recognition to the Assistant Secretary. However, 
the Agency further delayed processing of the application in January 
1999 pending resolution of certain requests made by ITSNA, which also 
affected the other requests by ITSNA for expansion and for renewal of 
its recognition. In April 2000, ITSNA submitted information pertinent 
to its other requests and to its application for the Stockholm site and 
submitted additional information pertinent to the application in July 
2001. The NRTL Program staff has reviewed the information and 
determined that OSHA may proceed with processing the application for 
the Stockholm site.
    The application contains sufficient information demonstrating the 
testing capabilities of the Stockholm site listed above. The additional 
information list the personnel to be devoted to testing for ITSNA's 
NRTL operations and shows that the site listed above is a wholly-owned 
subsidiary of ITSNA. OSHA's recognition of the additional site would 
not be limited to any particular test standards. However, recognition 
of this site would be limited to performing product testing only to the 
test standards for which the site has the proper capability and 
programs, and for which OSHA has recognized ITSNA. This treatment is 
consistent with the recognition that OSHA has granted to other NRTLs 
that operate multiple sites. The Agency would not recognize the site to 
issue certifications under ITSNA's operations as an NRTL. Currently, 
ITSNA issues such certifications only at specific sites listed above, 
and OSHA must review and accept the Stockholm site before ITSNA issues 
certifications there. In addition, OSHA would permit the site to use of 
all eight of the ``supplemental'' programs. OSHA has already recognized 
ITSNA for these programs and, as a result, we are not listing them 
again in this notice, but merely providing this information as a matter 
of public interest.
    OSHA has described the ``supplemental'' programs referred to above 
in a March 9, 1995 Federal Register notice (60 FR 12980, 3/9/95). This 
notice described nine (9) programs and procedures (collectively, 
programs), eight of which (the ``supplemental programs'') an NRTL may 
use to control, audit, and accept the data relied upon for product 
certification. Such data is not normally generated at the NRTL's 
facility or by NRTL personnel. The notice also includes the criteria 
for the use by the NRTL of these eight, or supplemental, programs. An 
NRTL's initial recognition will always include the first or basic 
program, which requires that all product testing and evaluation be 
performed in-house by the NRTL that will certify the product.
    OSHA developed the programs to limit how an NRTL may perform 
certain aspects of its work and to permit the activities covered under 
the programs only when the NRTL meets certain criteria. In this sense, 
they are special conditions that the Agency places on an NRTL's 
recognition. OSHA does not consider these programs in determining 
whether an NRTL meets the requirements for recognition under 29 CFR 
1910.7. However, these programs help to define the scope of that 
recognition.

Existing Conditions

    Currently, OSHA imposes the following conditions on its recognition 
of ITSNA as an NRTL. These conditions would apply also to the 
recognition of the Stockholm site. As mentioned in previous notices, 
these conditions apply solely to ITSNA's operations as an NRTL, and are 
in addition to any other condition that OSHA normally imposes in its 
recognition of an organization as an NRTL. These conditions are listed 
in this notice mainly for information.
    (1) ITSNA may perform safety testing for hazardous location 
products only at the specific ITSNA sites that OSHA has recognized, and 
that have been pre-qualified for such testing by the ITSNA Chief 
Engineer. In addition, all safety test reports for hazardous location 
products must undergo a documented review and approval at the Cortland 
testing facility by a test engineer qualified in hazardous location 
safety testing, prior to ITSNA's initial or continued authorization of 
the certifications covered by these reports.
    (2) ITSNA may not test and certify any products for a client that 
is a manufacturer or vendor that is either owned in excess of 2% by 
ITSLtd or affiliated organizationally with ITSNA, including Compliance 
Design.

Preliminary Finding

    ITSNA has submitted an acceptable request for expansion of its 
recognition as an NRTL. As previously mentioned, in connection with the 
request, OSHA has performed an on-site review (evaluation) of the ITSNA 
Stockholm, Sweden, facility (site). ITSNA has addressed the 
discrepancies noted by the assessors following the review, and the 
assessors included the resolution in the on-site review reports (see 
Exhibit 36).
    Following a review of the application file, the on-site review 
report, and other pertinent information, the NRTL Program staff has 
concluded that OSHA can grant to ITSNA the expansion of recognition for 
the Stockholm, Sweden, site listed above, subject to the conditions as 
noted. The staff therefore recommended to the Assistant Secretary that 
the application be preliminarily approved.

[[Page 55210]]

    Based upon the recommendations of the staff, the Assistant 
Secretary has made a preliminary finding that Intertek Testing 
Services, NA, Inc., can meet the requirements as prescribed by 29 CFR 
1910.7 for the expansion of recognition, subject to the above 
conditions. This preliminary finding, however, does not constitute an 
interim or temporary approval of the applications for ITSNA.
    OSHA welcomes public comments, in sufficient detail, as to whether 
ITSNA has met the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.7 for expansion of its 
recognition as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory. Your comment 
should consist of pertinent written documents and exhibits. To consider 
it, OSHA must receive the comment at the address provided above (see 
ADDRESSES), no later than the last date for comments (see ``DATES'' 
above). You may obtain or review copies of ITSNA's application, the on-
site review report, and all submitted comments, as received, by 
contacting the Docket Office, Room N2625, Occupational Safety and 
Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, at the above address. 
You should refer to Docket No. NRTL1-89, the permanent record of public 
information on ITSNA's recognition.
    The NRTL Program staff will review all timely comments and, after 
resolution of issues raised by these comments, will recommend whether 
to grant ITSNA's expansion request. The Assistant Secretary will make 
the final decision on granting the expansion, and in making this 
decision, may undertake other proceedings that are prescribed in 
Appendix A to 29 CFR section 1910.7. OSHA will publish a public notice 
of this final decision in the Federal Register.

    Signed at Washington, DC this 22d day of October, 2001.
John L. Henshaw,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-27450 Filed 10-31-01; 8:45 am]
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