[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 118 (Monday, June 22, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29517-29518]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-14578]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. OSHA-2009-0015]


The Hexavalent Chromium Standard; 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 public comment.

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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits comments concerning its proposal to extend OMB 
approval of the information collection requirements contained in the 
Hexavalent Chromium (VI) (29 CFR 1910.1026) Standard, and on a 
potential change to burden hour and cost estimates to the Standard's 
employee exposure notification requirement in response to a court 
remand.

DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by 
August 21, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Electronically: You may submit comments and attachments 
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal. Follow the instructions online for submitting 
comments.
    Facsimile: If your comments, including attachments, are not longer 
than 10 pages, you may fax them to the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-
1648.
    Mail, hand delivery, express mail, messenger, or courier service: 
When using this method, you must submit three copies of your comments 
and attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2009-0015, 
U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 
DC 20210. Deliveries (hand, express mail, messenger, and courier 
service) are accepted during the Department of Labor's and Docket 
Office's normal business hours, 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., e.t.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and OSHA 
docket number for the Information Collection Request (ICR) (OSHA-2009-
0015). All comments, including any personal information you provide, 
are placed in the public docket without change, and may be made 
available online at http://www.regulations.gov. For further information 
on submitting comments see the ``Public Participation'' heading in the 
section of this notice titled ``SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.''
    Docket: To read or download comments or other material in the 
docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the OSHA Docket Office at 
the address above. All documents in the docket (including this Federal 
Register notice) are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index; 
however, some information (e.g., copyrighted material) is not publicly 
available to read or download through the Web site. All submissions, 
including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and 
copying at the OSHA Docket Office. You may contact Jamaa Hill at the 
address below to obtain a copy of the ICR.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jamaa N. Hill or Todd Owen, 
Directorate of Standards and Guidance, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, 
Room N-3609, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; 
telephone (202) 693-2222.

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 costs) is minimal, collection instruments 
are clearly understood, and OSHA's estimate of the information 
collection burden is accurate. The Occupational Safety and Health Act 
of 1970 (the Act) (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) 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).
    OSHA published the final rule governing occupational exposure to 
hexavalent chromium on February 28, 2006. The information collection 
requirements specified in the Chromium (VI) standard protect employees 
from the adverse health effects that may result from occupational 
exposure to hexavalent chromium. The major information collection 
requirements in the Standard include conducting employee exposure 
monitoring, notifying employees of their chromium (VI) exposures, 
implementing medical surveillance of employees, providing examining 
physicians with specific information, implementing a respiratory 
protection program, demarcating regulated areas, implementing employee 
information and training programs, notifying laundry personnel of 
chromium (VI) hazards, and maintaining employees' exposure monitoring 
and medical surveillance records for specific periods.
    A number of parties subsequently challenged several provisions of 
the final CR(VI) standards in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the Third Circuit (see Public Citizen and Edison Electric Institute v. 
U.S. Department of Labor, XX F.3d XXXX (3d Cir. 2009)). In its 
decision, the court found that OSHA failed to explain why the Cr(VI) 
standards require employee notification only of chromium exposures 
exceeding the permissible exposure limit, noting that prior health 
standards required notification of all exposure monitoring results. The 
court remanded the standards, and ordered OSHA to provide an 
explanation for not including notification of all exposure monitoring 
results, or to revise the standards appropriately. OSHA currently is 
considering how to respond to the court's remand order.

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 
costs) of the

[[Page 29518]]

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 requesting that OMB extend its approval of the information 
collection requirements contained in the Chromium (VI) Standard (29 CFR 
1910.1026).
    The Agency will summarize the comments submitted in response to 
this notice and will include this summary in the request to OMB.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Title: Hexavalent Chromium Standard (29 CFR 1910.1026).
    OMB Number: 1218-0252.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; Federal Government; 
State, Local, or Tribal Government.
    Number of Respondents: 78,126.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Average Time per Response: Time per response ranges from 15 minutes 
(.25 hour) to notify employees of exposure monitoring results to 20 
hours to conduct exposure monitoring.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 725,319 hours.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $47,751,607.

IV. Public Participation--Submission of Comments on this Notice and 
Internet Access to Comments and Submissions

    You may submit comments in response to this document as follows: 
(1) Electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal; (2) by facsimile (FAX); or (3) by hard copy. All 
comments, attachments, and other material must identify the Agency name 
and the OSHA docket number for the ICR (Docket No. OSHA-2009-0015). You 
may supplement electronic submissions by uploading document files 
electronically. If you wish to mail additional materials in reference 
to an electronic or facsimile submission, you must submit them to the 
OSHA Docket Office (see the section of this notice titled ADDRESSES). 
The additional materials must clearly identify your electronic comments 
by your name, date, and the docket number so the Agency can attach them 
to your comments.
    Because of security procedures, the use of regular mail may cause a 
significant delay in the receipt of comments. For information about 
security procedures concerning the delivery of materials by hand, 
express delivery, messenger, or courier service, please contact the 
OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-2350 (TTY (877) 889-5627).
    Comments and submissions are posted without change at http://www.regulations.gov. Therefore, OSHA cautions commenters about 
submitting personal information such as social security numbers and 
date of birth. Although all submissions are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index, some information (e.g., copyrighted 
material) is not publicly available to read or download through this 
Web site. All submissions, including copyrighted material, are 
available for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. 
Information on using the http://www.regulations.gov Web site to submit 
comments and access the docket is available at the Web site's ``User 
Tips'' link. Contact the OSHA Docket Office for information about 
materials not available through the Web site, and for assistance in 
using the Internet to locate docket submissions.

V. Authority and Signature

    Jordan Barab, Acting 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 et seq.) and Secretary of Labor's Order No. 5-2007 (72 FR 
31160).

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 17th day of June 2009.
Jordan Barab,
Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. E9-14578 Filed 6-19-09; 8:45 am]
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