[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 130 (Friday, July 6, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40088-40090]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16513]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. OSHA-2012-0024]


Rollins College; T.A. Loving Co.; US Ecology Idaho, Inc.; and 
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.: Technical Amendment to, and 
Revocation of, Permanent Variances

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

ACTION: Notice of technical amendment to, and revocation of, permanent 
variances.

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SUMMARY: With this notice, the Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration (``OSHA'' or ``the Agency'') is making a technical 
amendment to an existing permanent variance, and revoking several 
others. The technical amendment and revocations result from an OSHA 
review

[[Page 40089]]

to identify variances that are outdated, unnecessary, or otherwise 
defective.

DATES: The effective date of the technical correction and revocation of 
the permanent variances is July 6, 2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
    General information and press inquiries. Contact Frank Meilinger, 
Director, OSHA Office of Communications, Room N-3647, U.S. Department 
of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone: 
(202) 693-1999. Email: [email protected].
    Technical information. Contact Stefan Weisz, Office of Technical 
Programs and Coordination Activities, Room N-3655, OSHA, U.S. 
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210; 
telephone: (202) 693-2110; fax: (202) 693-1644. Email: 
[email protected].
    Copies of this Federal Register notice. Electronic copies of this 
notice are available at http://www.regulations.gov. Electronic copies 
of this notice, as well as news releases and other relevant 
information, are available on OSHA's Web site at http://www.osha.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    OSHA reviewed variances currently in effect to identify variances 
that are outdated, unnecessary, or otherwise defective; as part of this 
review, OSHA contacted by telephone every employer having a variance to 
ask them if they still needed the variance. Based on this review, OSHA 
identified four defective variances. The first of these variances 
requires a technical correction because OSHA, after granting the 
variance, renumbered the standard from which it granted the variance. 
The Agency also determined that the remaining three variances are no 
longer necessary because the employers that received the variances 
indicated that the requirement for the variances no longer exists, and 
that they now can comply with the standard from which OSHA granted the 
variance. With this notice, the Agency is correcting these problems. 
OSHA believes this notice will ensure that the first variance is 
consistent with the standard's existing enumeration and, for the 
revoked variances, this notice will notify employers and employees that 
the variances no longer cover the employers, and that the employers 
must comply with the appropriate OSHA standard.
    The technical amendment implemented by this notice does not alter 
the substantive requirements of the first variance, which still remains 
in effect, so this corrected variance will continue to provide 
employees with the safety and health protection afforded to them by the 
original variance. For the variances revoked by this notice, existing 
OSHA standards will provide employees with the necessary protection.
    With this notice, the Agency is making only a technical correction 
to an existing variance, and revoking variances that employers no 
longer need for employee protection. Accordingly, this notice will not 
have a substantive effect on employers or employees; OSHA, therefore, 
finds that public notice-and-comment procedures specified under Section 
6(d) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655), 
and by 29 CFR 1905.11 or 1905.13, are unnecessary.
    The following table provides details about the variances addressed 
by this notice:

 
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                                                                            Federal
 Name of employer  (company) affected    Variance No.    Date granted    Register cite       OSHA standards
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Rollins College.......................         V-74-16      03/28/1974     39 FR 11481  1910.37(i).
T.A. Loving Co........................         V-74-43      04/13/1976     41 FR 15483  1918.66(f)(1)(i).
US Ecology Idaho, Inc. (formerly                V-93-1      06/07/1994     59 FR 29440  1910.106(b)(2)(viii)(f).
 Envirosafe Services, Inc.).
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.              V-77-9      01/20/1978      43 FR 2945  1910.217(c)(3)(i)(e) and
 (formerly The West Co.).                                                                1910.217(c)(3)(ii).
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II. Technical Amendment to, and Revocation of, Permanent Variances

A. Technical Amendment of the Permanent Variance Granted to Rollins 
College

    OSHA granted Rollins College a variance from 29 CFR 1910.37(i), 
which governed ceiling height for means of egress (see table above for 
details). The Agency renumbered this provision (to 29 CFR 
1910.36(g)(1)) in a subsequent rulemaking that revised its means-of-
egress standards to improve the clarity and comprehensibility of these 
standards (see 67 FR 67962, November 7, 2002). While this rulemaking 
renumbered 29 CFR 1910.37(i) as 29 CFR 1910.36(g)(1), it did not revise 
the substantive requirements of the provision.

B. Revoking Permanent Variances

    1. T. A. Loving Co. The Agency granted T. A. Loving Co. a variance 
permitting it to use dynamometers instead of load-indicating devices on 
mobile cranes (see the table above for details). In response to OSHA's 
telephone call, T. A. Loving's representative indicated that the 
variance is no longer needed. T. A. Loving requested in a subsequent 
letter that OSHA revoke the variance (Ex. 1--OSHA-2012-0024).
    2. US Ecology Idaho, Inc. The Agency granted Envirosafe Services, 
Inc. (now US Ecology Idaho, Inc.), a variance to make and break filling 
and emptying connections inside, instead of outside, a building during 
the transfer of flammable/combustible liquids as required by the OSHA 
standard (see the table above for details). In response to OSHA's 
telephone call, US Ecology Idaho's representative indicated that the 
variance is no longer necessary. Later, US Ecology Idaho requested in a 
letter that OSHA revoke the variance (Ex. 2--OSHA-2012-0024).
    3. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. The Agency granted The West 
Co. (now West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.) a variance to use power 
presses with safety blocks and a sliding barrier that did not conform 
to OSHA's distance and guarding requirements (see the table above for 
details). In response to OSHA's telephone call, West Pharmaceutical 
Services' representative indicated that the company no longer needed 
the variance. West Pharmaceutical Services then requested in a letter 
that OSHA revoke the variance (Ex. 3--OSHA-2012-0024).

III. Decision

    Based on the information described herein, including the finding 
that this notice will not alter the substantive requirements of the 
variance and will maintain the protection afforded to employees by the 
variances, the Agency is taking the following actions:
    A. Correcting the Rollins College variance by updating the 
designation of

[[Page 40090]]

the provision from which OSHA granted the variance from 29 CFR 
1910.37(i) to 29 CFR 1910.36(g)(1).
    B. Revoking the variances granted to T. A. Loving Co., US Ecology 
Idaho, Inc., and West Pharmaceutical Services. The variances granted to 
T. A. Loving Co. and West Pharmaceutical Services included facilities 
in North Carolina, a state with an OSHA-approved State Plan under 
Section 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (29 U.S.C. 667). 
OSHA will notify North Carolina of the revocation of these variances.

IV. Authority and Signature

    David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, Assistant Secretary of Labor for 
Occupational Safety and Health, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC, authorized the preparation of 
this notice. OSHA is issuing this notice under the authority specified 
by Section 6(d) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 
U.S.C. 655), Secretary of Labor's Order No. 1-2012 (76 FR 3912), and 29 
CFR part 1905.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on June 29, 2012.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2012-16513 Filed 7-5-12; 8:45 am]
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