[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 247 (Wednesday, December 26, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76075-76076]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-30958]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. OSHA-2012-0020]


Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee (WPAC)

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

ACTION: Announcement of WPAC meeting.

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SUMMARY: WPAC will meet January 29, 2013, in Washington, DC.

DATES: WPAC meeting. WPAC will meet from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on 
Tuesday, January 29, 2013.
    Submission of comments, requests to speak, speaker presentations 
and requests for special accommodations. Comments, requests to speak at 
the WPAC meeting, speaker presentations and requests for special 
accommodations for the WPAC must be submitted (postmarked, sent, 
transmitted) by January 18, 2013.

ADDRESSES: WPAC meeting. WPAC will meet in Room N4437 A/B/C, U.S. 
Department of Labor, Francis Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20210.
    Submission of comments, requests to speak and speaker 
presentations. You may submit comments, requests to speak at the WPAC 
meeting and speaker presentations, identified by the docket number in 
this Federal Register notice (Docket No. OSHA-2012-0020), by one of the 
following methods:
    Electronically. You may submit materials, including attachments, 
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal. Follow the online instructions for making submissions.
    Facsimile. If your submission, including attachments, does not 
exceed 10 pages, you may fax it to the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-
1648.
    Mail, express delivery, messenger or courier service. You may 
submit your materials to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2012-
0020, Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-2350 (TTY (877) 889-
5627). Deliveries (hand, express mail, messenger, courier service) are 
accepted during the Department of Labor's and OSHA Docket Office's 
normal business hours, 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., e.t., weekdays.
    Requests for special accommodations. Please submit requests for 
special accommodations for the WPAC meeting to Ms. Veneta Chatmon, 
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].
    Instructions. All submissions must include the Agency name and 
docket number for this Federal Register notice (Docket No. OSHA-2012-
0020). Because of security-related procedures, submission by regular 
mail may result in significant delay in receipt. Please contact the 
OSHA Docket Office for information about security procedures for making 
submissions. For additional information about submitting comments, 
requests to speak and speaker presentations, see the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of this notice.
    Comments, requests to speak and speaker presentations, including 
personal information provided, will be placed in the public docket and 
may be available online. Therefore, OSHA cautions interested parties 
about submitting personal information, such as social security numbers 
and birthdates.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For press inquiries. Mr. Frank 
Meilinger, OSHA, Office of Communications, U.S. Department of Labor, 
Room N-3647, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210; 
telephone (202) 693-1999; email [email protected].
    For general information about WPAC and WPAC meetings. Ms. Laura 
Seeman, OSHA, Directorate of Whistleblower Programs, U.S. Department of 
Labor, Room N-4624, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210; 
telephone (202) 693-2199; email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

WPAC Meeting

    WPAC will meet Tuesday, January 29, 2013, in Washington, DC. WPAC 
meetings are open to the public.
    WPAC advises the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) and Assistant 
Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health (Assistant 
Secretary) on ways to improve the fairness, efficiency and transparency 
of OSHA's whistleblower investigations. WPAC operates in compliance 
with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 2) and its 
implementing regulations (41 CFR Part 102-3).
    The tentative agenda of the WPAC meeting includes:
    Remarks from the Assistant Secretary;
    Presentation by the Director of OSHA's Directorate of Whistleblower 
Programs on recent initiatives;
    Remarks and explanation of meeting order and agenda from WPAC 
Chair;
    Discussion on such topics such as improving customer service to 
workers and employers, improving the investigative and enforcement 
process, improvements of regulations governing OSHA investigations, and 
recommendations for cooperative activities with federal agencies 
responsible for areas also covered by the whistleblower protection 
statutes enforced by OSHA;
    Public comments.
    OSHA transcribes WPAC meetings and prepares detailed minutes of the 
meetings. OSHA places the meeting transcripts and minutes in the public 
record of the meeting. The public record also includes speaker 
presentations,

[[Page 76076]]

comments and other materials submitted to WPAC.

Public Participation

    WPAC meetings. WPAC meetings are open to the public. Any individual 
attending meetings at the U.S. Department of Labor must enter the 
building at the Visitors' Entrance, 3rd and C Streets NW., and pass 
through Building Security. Attendees must have valid photo 
identification to enter the building. Please contact Ms. Seeman for 
additional information about building security measures for attending 
the WPAC meeting.
    Individuals needing special accommodations to attend the WPAC 
meeting should contact Ms. Chatmon.
    Submission of written comments, requests to speak and speaker 
presentations. Interested parties must submit written comments, 
requests to speak at the WPAC meeting and speaker presentations by 
January 18, 2013, using one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES 
section. All submissions must include the Agency name and docket number 
for this Federal Register notice (Docket No. OSHA-2012-0020). OSHA will 
provide submissions to WPAC members prior to the meeting.
    Because of security-related procedures, submissions by regular mail 
may result in significant delay in receipt. Please contact the OSHA 
Docket Office for information about security procedures for submitting 
materials by hand delivery, express delivery, messenger or courier 
service.
    Requests to speak must state the amount of time requested to speak, 
the interest the individual represents (e.g., organization name), if 
any, and a brief outline of the presentation. Electronic speaker 
presentations (e.g., PowerPoint) must be compatible with PowerPoint 
2010 and other Microsoft 2010 formats. Requests to address WPAC may be 
granted at the discretion of the WPAC chair and as time permits.
    Public Docket of the WPAC meeting. OSHA puts comments, requests to 
speak and speaker presentations, including any personal information you 
provide, in the public record of this WPAC meeting without change and 
those documents may be available online at http://www.regulations.gov. 
Therefore, OSHA cautions individuals about submitting certain personal 
information such as social security numbers and birthdates.
    OSHA also puts the meeting transcripts and minutes and other 
documents from the WPAC meeting in the public record of the WPAC 
meeting. Although all submissions are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index, some documents (e.g., copyrighted materials) 
are not publicly available to read or download through that Web site. 
All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available for 
inspection and copying in the OSHA Docket Office.
    To read or download documents in the public record of the WPAC 
meeting, go to Docket No. OSHA-2012-0020 at http://www.regulations.gov. 
Please contact the OSHA Docket Office for information about materials 
not available through that Web site and for assistance in using the 
Internet to locate submissions and other documents in the public 
record.
    Electronic copies of this Federal Register notice are available at 
http://www.regulations.gov. This notice, as well as news releases and 
other relevant information, also is available at the OSHA Web site at 
http://www.osha.gov.

Authority and Signature

    David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, Assistant Secretary of Labor for 
Occupational Safety and Health, directed the preparation of this notice 
under the authority granted by the Federal Advisory Committee Act 
(FACA), as amended (5 U.S.C. App. 2), its implementing regulations (41 
CFR Part 102-3), chapter 1600 of Department of Labor Management Series 
3 (Mar. 17, 2008), Secretary of Labor's Order 1-2012 (Jan. 18, 2012), 
77 FR 3912 (Jan. 25, 2012), and the Secretary of Labor's authority to 
administer the whistleblower provisions found in Section 11(c) of the 
Occupational Safety and Health Act, 29 U.S.C. 660(c); the Surface 
Transportation Assistance Act, 49 U.S.C. 31105; the Asbestos Hazard 
Emergency Response Act, 15 U.S.C. 2651; the International Safe 
Container Act, 46 U.S.C. 80507; the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. 
300j-9(i); the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. 1367; the 
Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 U.S.C. 2622; the Solid Waste Disposal 
Act, 42 U.S.C. 6971; the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7622; the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, 
42 U.S.C. 9610; the Energy Reorganization Act, 42 U.S.C. 5851; the 
Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st 
Century, 49 U.S.C. 42121; the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, 18 U.S.C. 1514A; the 
Pipeline Safety Improvement Act, 49 U.S.C. 60129; the Federal Railroad 
Safety Act, 49 U.S.C. 20109; the National Transit Systems Security Act, 
6 U.S.C. 1142; the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, 15 U.S.C. 
2087; Section 1558 of the Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148; the 
Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, 12 U.S.C.A. 5567; the 
Seaman's Protection Act, 46 U.S.C. 2114; Section 402 of the FDA Food 
Safety Modernization Act, Public Law 111-353; and Section 31307 of the 
Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, Public Law 112-141.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on December 19, 2012.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2012-30958 Filed 12-21-12; 4:15 pm]
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