[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 242 (Thursday, December 17, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78775-78776]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-31752]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. OSHA-2012-0034]


Hexavalent Chromium Standards; 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 comments.

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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to 
extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the 
information collection requirements contained in the Hexavalent 
Chromium Standards for General Industry (29 CFR 1910.1026), Shipyard 
Employment (29 CFR 1915.1026), and Construction (29 CFR 1926.1126).

DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by 
February 16, 2016.

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 your comments and attachments 
to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2012-0034, Occupational 
Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 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 the 
OSHA docket number (OSHA-2012-0034) for the Information Collection 
Request (ICR). 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 from the Web site. All submissions, 
including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and 
copying at the OSHA Docket Office. You may also contact Theda Kenney at 
the address below to obtain a copy of the ICR.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theda Kenney 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 collection of 
information requirements in accord 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 OSH Act) (29 U.S.C. 651 
et seq.) authorizes information collection by employers as necessary or 
appropriate for enforcement of the OSH Act or for developing 
information regarding the causes and prevention of occupational 
injuries, illnesses, and accidents (29 U.S.C. 657). The OSH Act also 
requires that OSHA obtain such information with minimum burden upon 
employers, especially those operating small businesses, and to reduce 
to the maximum extent feasible unnecessary duplication of efforts in 
obtaining information (29 U.S.C. 657).
    The collections of information in the Hexavalent Chromium (Cr(VI)) 
Standards for General Industry (29 CFR 1910.1026), Shipyard Employment 
(29 CFR 1915.1026), and Construction (29 CFR 1926.1126) (the 
``Standards'') protect workers from the adverse health effects that may 
result from occupational exposure to hexavalent chromium. The major 
collections of information in these Standards include conducting worker 
exposure monitoring, notifying workers of their chromium exposures, 
implementing medical surveillance of workers, providing examining 
physicians with specific information, implementing a respiratory 
protection program, notifying laundry personnel of chromium hazards and 
maintaining workers' exposure monitoring and medical surveillance 
records for specific periods.

II. Special Issues for Comment

    OSHA has a particular interest in comments on the following issues:
     Whether the proposed collection of information 
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 collection of information 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

    The Agency is requesting an adjustment decrease of 47,615 burden 
hours (from 541,582 to 493,967 burden hours). The decrease in burden 
hours is due to an estimated decrease of exposed workers and a 
reduction in the number of plants in specific industry sectors. There 
is also an estimated increase in operation and maintenance costs of 
$123,015, from $46,589,912 to $46,712,927. The increase in operation 
and maintenance costs is due to the increase in exposure monitoring air 
sampling costs, medical exam and testing costs, and costs of materials 
for qualitative fit testing.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

[[Page 78776]]

    Title: Hexavalent Chromium (Cr(VI)) Standards for General Industry 
(29 CFR 1910.1026), Shipyard Employment (29 CFR 1915.1026), and 
Construction (29 CFR 1926.1126).
    OMB Control Number: 1218-0252.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Number of Respondents: 75,684.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion; Quarterly; Semi-annually; 
Annually.
    Total Responses: 994,834.
    Average Time per Response: Time per response ranges from 5 minutes 
(.08 hour) to provide a copy of a written medical opinion to a worker 
to 4 hours for a worker to receive a comprehensive medical examination.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 493,967.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $46,712,927.

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; or (3) by hard copy. All 
comments, attachments, and other material must identify the Agency name 
and the OSHA docket number (Docket No. OSHA-2012-0034) for this ICR. 
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 their social security number 
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 from 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 from the Web site, and for assistance in using the Internet 
to locate docket submissions.

V. Authority and Signature

    David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, 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. 1-2012 
(77 FR 3912).

    Signed at Washington, DC, on December 14, 2015.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2015-31752 Filed 12-16-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-26-P