[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 233 (Tuesday, December 4, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63072-63073]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-30008]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-1218-0183(2002)]


4',4'-Methylenedianiline Standard for Construction (29 CFR 
1926.60); Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) 
Approval of Information-Collection (Paperwork) Requirements

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

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits comments concerning its proposal to increase the 
existing burden hours estimates for, and to extend OMB approval of, the 
information-collection requirements of the 4',4'-Methylenedianiline 
(MDA) Standard Construction (29 CFR 1926.60).\1\ This standard protects 
employees from the adverse health effects that may result from 
occupational exposure to MDA, including cancer, and liver and skin 
disease.
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    \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 requirements in any substantive manner, only to increase 
the burden hours imposed by the existing paperwork requirements.

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DATES: Submit written comments on or before February 4, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket Office, Docket No. 
ICR-1218-0183(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 in 
length by facsimile to (202) 693-1648.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Todd R. 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 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 clearly understandable, and 
OSHA's estimate of the information-collection burden is correct. The 
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 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 4',4'-
Methylenedianiline Standard for Construction (the ``MDA Standard'') 
protect employees from the adverse health effects that may result from 
their exposure to MDA, including cancer, and liver and skin disease. 
The major paperwork requirements specify that employers must perform 
initial, periodic, and additional exposure monitoring; within 15 days 
after receiving exposure-monitoring results, notify each employee in 
writing of their results; and routinely inspect the hands, face, and 
forearms of each employees potentially exposed to MDA for signs of 
dermal exposure to MDA. Employers must also: Establish a written 
compliance program; institute a respiratory-protective program in 
accordance with 29 CFR 1910.134 (OSHA's Respiratory Protection 
Standard); and develop a written emergency plan for any construction 
operation that could have an emergency (i.e., an unexpected and 
potentially hazard release of MDA).
    Employers are to label any material or products containing MDA, 
including containers used to store MDA-contaminated protective clothing 
and equipment. They also must inform personnel who launder MDA-
contaminated clothing of the requirement to prevent release of MDA, 
while personnel who launder or clean MDA-contaminated protective 
clothing or equipment must receive information about the potentially 
harmful effects of MDA. In addition, employers are to post warning 
signs at entrances or accessways to regulated areas, as well as

[[Page 63073]]

train employees exposed to MDA at the time of their initial assignment, 
and at least annually thereafter.
    Other paperwork provisions of the MDA Standard require employers to 
provide employees with medical examinations, including initial, 
periodic, emergency and follow-up examinations. As part of the medical-
surveillance program, employers must ensure that the examining 
physician receives specific written information, and that they obtain 
from the physician a written opinion regarding the employee's medical 
results and exposure limitations.
    The MDA Standard also specifies that employers are to establish and 
maintain exposure-monitoring and medical-surveillance records for each 
employee who is subject to these respective requirements, make any 
required record 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. Finally, 
employers who cease to do business within the period specified for 
retaining exposure-monitoring and medical-surveillance records, and who 
have no successor employer, must notify NIOSH at least 90 days before 
disposing of the records and transmit the records to NIOSH if so 
requested.

II. Special Issues for Comment

    OSHA has a particular interest in comments on the following issues:
     Whether the 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 
costs) 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 by the MDA Standard. The Agency proposes to 
increase the total burden-hour estimate from 1,523 hours to 1,609 
hours, an increase of 86 hours. The additional burden hours result in 
large part from an increase in the number of employers who develop and 
maintain objective data, or historical monitoring data, for exempted 
operations. Also, capital costs rose from $74,000 to $80,400 because 
the cost of analyzing an exposure-monitoring sample increased from $90 
to $100, while the cost of administering a medical examination rose 
from $130 to $150. 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: MDA Standard for Construction (29 CFR 1926.60).
    OMB Number: 1218-0183.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Federal government, 
State, local, and tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents: 66.
    Frequency of Recordkeeping: On occasion; semi-annually; annually.
    Average Time per Response: Varies from five minutes to provide 
information to the examining physician to two hours of perform exposure 
monitoring.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,609.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $80,400.

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 (62 FR 50017).

    Signed at Washington, DC, on November 29, 2001.
John L. Henshaw,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 01-30008 Filed 12-3-01; 8:45 am]
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