[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 21, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58525-58526]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-29138]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-1218-0126(2002)]


Acrylonitrile Standard (29 CFR 1910.1045); Extension of the 
Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of the Information-
Collection (Paperwork) Requirements

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

ACTION: Request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: OSHA solicits comments concerning its request to increase the 
existing burden-hour estimates for, and to extend OMB approval of, the 
collection-of-information requirements of the Acrylonitrile Standard 
(29 CFR 1910.1045).\1\ This standard protects employees from the 
adverse health effects that may result from occupational exposure to 
acrylonitrile, including cancer, skin irritation, and dermatitis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Based on its assessment of the paperwork requirements 
contained in this standard, the Agency estimates that the total 
burden hours increased compared to its previous burden-hour 
estimate. Under this notice, OSHA is not proposing to revise these 
paperwork requirement in any substantive manner, only to decrease 
the burden hours imposed by the existing paperwork requirements.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATES: Submit written comments on or before January 22, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket Office, Docket No. 
ICR-1218-0126(2002), OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-2625, 200 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-
2350. Commenters may transmit written comments of 10 pages or less by 
facsimile to (202) 693-1648.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Todd Owen, Directorate of Policy, 
OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-3641, 200 Constitution Avenue, 
NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-2444. A copy of the 
Agency's Information-Collection Request (ICR) supporting the need for 
the information collections specified in the Acrylonitrile Standard is 
available for inspection and copying in the Docket Office, or by 
requesting a copy from Todd Owen at (202) 693-2444. For electronic 
copies of the ICR, contact OSHA on the Internet at http://www.osha.gov/comp-links.html, and select ``Information Collection Requests.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:   

I. Background

    The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce 
paperwork and respondent (i.e., employer) burden, conducts a 
preclearance consultation program to provide the public with an 
opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing information-
collection requirements in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (PRA-95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This program ensures that 
information is in the desired format, reporting burden (time and cost) 
is minimal, collection instruments are understandable, and OSHA's 
estimate of the information-collection burden is correct. The 
Occupational Safety and Health Act of the 1970 (the ``Act'') authorizes 
information collection by employers as necessary or appropriate for 
enforcement of the Act, or for developing information regarding the 
causes and prevention of occupational injuries, illnesses, and 
accidents (29 U.S.C. 657).
    The information-collection requirements specified in the 
Acrylonitrile Standard (Sec. 1910.1045; the ``Standard'') protect 
employees from the adverse health effects that may result from 
occupational exposure to acrylonitrile, including cancer, skin 
irritation, and determatitis. The major information-collection 
provisions of the Standard require employers to establish a regulated 
area, to report an emergency (and any available facts related to the 
emergency) to the nearest OSHA Area Office within 72 hours of its 
occurrence, and to perform exposure monitoring; exposure monitoring 
includes initial monitoring to determine the extent of employee 
exposure to acrylonitrile, periodic (i.e., at least quarterly) 
monitoring if employees' acrylonitrile exposures equal or exceed the 
action level (AL), and additional monitoring if any change occurs in 
production, processes, controls, or personnel. Employers must also 
notify each employee, in writing, of their exposure-monitoring results 
within five working days after receiving these results, establish a 
written compliance program, institute a respiratory-protection program 
in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.134 (OSHA's Respiratory Protection 
Standard), develop and implement a written emergency plan for each 
workplace in which liquid acrylonitrile is present, and inform laundry 
personnel who clean or launder protective clothing of the potentially 
harmful effects of acrylonitrile.
    Other paperwork requirements of the Standard specify that employers 
must provide employees with medical examinations, including initial 
examinations for new employees prior to their job assignments, periodic 
(i.e., at least annually) medical examinations if employees' 
acrylonitrile exposures are at or above the Al, and employment-
termination examinations to employees covered by the medical-
surveillance program. As part of the medical-surveillance program, 
employers must provide specific written information to the examining 
physicians, and obtain from these physicians a written opinion 
regarding the employees' medical results and exposure limitations.
    Additional provisions of the Standard require employers to train 
the following

[[Page 58526]]

employees prior to their initial assignments, and at least annually 
thereafter: Employees expose to acrylonitrile above the AL, those 
having exposures maintained below the AL by engineering controls and 
work practices, and those who have potential skin or eye contact with 
acrylonitrile. In addition, employers must post a warning sign in each 
work area that has an acrylonitrile concentration above the permissible 
exposure limit, and affix a label to containers of liquid acrylonitrile 
and acrylonitrile-based materials.
    The Standard also requires employers to maintain records of 
objective data that exempt them from most of the Standard's paperwork 
requirements, establish and maintain exposure-monitoring and medical-
surveillance records for each employee who is subject to these 
respective requirements, make any record required by the Standard 
available to OSHA compliance officers and the National Institute for 
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for examination and copying, and 
provide exposure-monitoring and medical-surveillance records to 
employees and their designated representatives on request. Finally, 
employers who cease to do business without a successor employer to 
receive and retain records for the required periods, and employers who 
plan to dispose of records at the end of the required retention 
periods, must transfer these records to NIOSH.
    Employees and their designated representatives use exposure-
monitoring and medical-surveillance records to assess employee medical 
status over the course of employment, to evaluate the effectiveness of 
an employer's exposure-reduction program, and for other reasons. In 
addition, the required records may result in both direct and indirect 
improvements in the detection, treatment, and prevention of 
occupational exposure to acrylonitrile. OSHA compliance officers use 
these records to assess employer compliance with the major requirements 
of the Standard, while NIOSH may compile these records for research 
purposes. In addition, with NIOSH serving as a repository for exposure-
monitoring and medical-surveillance records, employees have continuous 
access to their records if needed for health or other reasons.

II. Special Issues for Comment

    OSHA has a particular interest in comments on the following issues:
     Whether the proposed information-collection requirements 
are necessary for the proper performance of the Agency's functions, 
including whether the information is useful;
     The accuracy of OSHA's estimate of the burden (time and 
cost) of the information-collection requirements, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     The quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
collected; and
     Ways to minimize the burden on employers who must comply; 
for example, by using automated or other technological information-
collection and -transmission techniques.

III. Proposed Actions

    OSHA is proposing to increase the existing burden-hour estimate 
for, and to extend OMB approval of, the collection-of-information 
requirements specified in the Standard. In this regard, the agency is 
proposing to increase the total burden-hour estimate from 4,428 hours 
to 4,433 hours, an increase of five hours. Additional burden hours for 
employee training accounted for much of the net increase in estimated 
burden hours. In addition, capital costs rose from $197,314 to $222,765 
because of an increase in the cost of medical examinations. OSHA will 
summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice, and will 
include this summary in its request to OMB to extend the approval of 
this information-collection requirements.
    Type of Review: Extension of currently approved information-
collection requirements.
    Title: Acrylonitrile (29 CFR 1910.1045).
    OMB Number: 1218-0126.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit 
institutions; Federal government; State, local, or tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents: 23.
    Frequency of Recordkeeping: Occasionally.
    Average Time per Response: Varies from five minutes to maintain 
employee exposure-monitoring and medical records to one and one-half 
hours for an employee to receive a medical examination.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 4,433.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $222,765.

IV. Authority and Signature

    John L. Henshaw, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational 
Safety and Health, directed the preparation of this notice. The 
authority for this notice is the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3506) and Secretary of Labor's Order No. 3-2000 (65 FR 50017).

    Signed at Washington, DC, on November 15, 2001.

John L. Henshaw,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 01-29138 Filed 11-20-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-26-M