[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 34 (Friday, February 20, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 7881]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-3656]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Mine Safety and Health Administration

30 CFR Part 57

RIN 1219-AB29


Diesel Particulate Matter Exposure of Underground Metal and 
Nonmetal Miners

AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Labor.

ACTION: Proposed rule; limited reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: This document announces a limited reopening of the comment 
period on the notice of proposed rulemaking, published in the Federal 
Register on August 14, 2003, to obtain public comment on three new 
documents related to this rulemaking. We will consider these comments 
as we develop the final rule.

DATES: Comments must be received by April 5, 2004.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 1219-AB29, by any 
of the following methods:

     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``RIN 1219-
AB29'' in the subject line of the message.
     Fax: (202) 693-9441.
     Mail, Hand Delivery, or Courier: MSHA, 1100 
Wilson Blvd, Room 2350, Arlington, Virginia 22209.

    Instructions: All comments, including any personal information 
contained therein, will be posted without change to http://www.msha.gov/currentcomments.htm.
    Docket: The entire rulemaking record may be viewed in MSHA's public 
reading room at 1100 Wilson Boulevard, Room 2349, Arlington, Virginia.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marvin W. Nichols, Jr., Director, 
Office of Standards, Regulations, and Variances, MSHA, 1100 Wilson 
Blvd., Room 2350, Arlington, Virginia 22209-3939, 
[email protected], (202) 693-9440 (telephone), or (202) 693-9441 
(facsimile).

SUPPLEMENATARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On January 19, 2001, we published a rule at 66 FR 5706 that 
established new health standards for underground metal and nonmetal 
miners by requiring use of approved equipment and low sulfur fuel, and 
by setting an interim and final concentration limit for diesel 
particulate matter (DPM) in the underground mining environment. Under a 
settlement agreement reached in response to legal challenges to the 
2001 rule, we amended portions of the rule on February 27, 2002 (67 FR 
9180), and initiated this rulemaking. We published the advance notice 
of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on September 25, 2002 (67 FR 60199), and 
published the proposed rule on August 14, 2003 (68 FR 48668). The 
proposed rule would revise the interim concentration limit; designate 
elemental carbon as the surrogate for measuring DPM for the interim 
limit; allow an extension of time in which to achieve compliance with 
the interim limit; apply our longstanding hierarchy of controls used 
for other exposure-based health standards for metal and nonmetal mines, 
including engineering and administrative controls supplemented by 
respiratory protection, but prohibit rotation of miners; and revise the 
requirements for the DPM control plan. Four public hearings were held 
on the proposed rule between September 16, 2003 and October 7, 2003. 
The comment period closed on October 14, 2003. The legal challenge is 
stayed pending completion of additional rulemaking actions.

Limited Reopening of Comment Period

    We recently received new information related to this rulemaking, 
and concluded that it is in the public interest to obtain comments on 
this information. Therefore, the comment period is reopened for the 
limited purpose of obtaining public comment on:
     U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 
Center for Disease Control, National Institute of Occupational Safety 
and Health, ``The Effectiveness of Selected Technologies in Controlling 
Diesel Emissions in an Underground Mine--Isolated Zone Study at 
Stillwater Mining Company's Nye Mine,'' January 5, 2004.
    In addition, two other documents have come to the Agency's 
attention and MSHA is also seeking comments on:
     U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor 
Statistics, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Center 
for Disease Control, National Institute of Occupational Safety and 
Health, ``Respirator Usage in Private Sector Firms, 2001,'' September, 
2003.
     Chase, Gerald, ``Characterizations of Lung 
Cancer in Cohort Studies and a NIOSH Study on Health Effects of Diesel 
Exhaust in Miners,'' undated, received January 5, 2004.
    These documents can be accessed at http://www.msha.gov. We invite 
public comment on the findings of these documents and their impact on 
this rulemaking. We will disregard any comments that are outside the 
scope of these documents.

    Dated: February 13, 2004.
Dave D. Lauriski,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 04-3656 Filed 2-19-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-43-P