[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 68 (Friday, April 8, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20678-20680]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-08005]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. OSHA-2015-0017]


Rollins College; AmerenUE (Formerly Union Electric Company); and 
Outfront Media, LLC (Formerly Gannett Outdoor Companies, Operating as 
Outdoor Systems, Inc., Subsequently CBS Outdoor Systems, Inc.): 
Technical Amendment to, and Revocation of, Permanent Variances

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

ACTION: Notice.

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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 two others. 
The technical amendment involves updating the name of one employer 
granted a variance whose name has changed. The technical amendment and 
revocations result from an OSHA review 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outdated, unnecessary, or otherwise defective.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 April 8, 2016.

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 Kevin Robinson, Director, 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 recently reviewed variances currently in effect to identify 
those that are outdated, unnecessary, or otherwise defective. As part 
of this review, OSHA contacted by telephone, every employer with an 
active OSHA variance to determine if they still needed the variance. As 
a result of this review, OSHA found that one employer identified in a 
variance had a new name, and two additional employers no longer needed 
the variances because conditions at their worksite addressed by the 
variance no longer exist.
    With this notice, the Agency is correcting these technical 
deficiencies and is announcing the following: (1) Revocation of a 
permanent variance granted to Rollins College in 1974 from 29 CFR 
1910.37(i) [39 FR 11481]; (2) revocation of a permanent variance 
granted to AmerenUE (formerly Union Electric Company) in 1974 from 29 
CFR 1910.28(g)(1) [39 FR 37278]; and (3) renaming CBS Outdoor Systems, 
Inc. (formerly Gannett Outdoor Companies, operating as Outdoor Systems, 
Inc.) granted a permanent variance in 1991 from 29 CFR 
1910.27(d)(l)(ii), (d)(2), and (d)(5) [56 FR 8801] to Outfront Media, 
LLC.
    Rollins College and AmerenUE representatives confirmed by letter 
that they no longer needed the variances because conditions which 
prompted them to seek the variances no longer exist; and they now can 
comply with the standard from which OSHA granted the variances. Company 
representatives requested that OSHA revoke their respective variances. 
Additionally, an Outfront Media, LLC management representative 
requested the corporate name change and provided documentation 
supporting the request.
    Further, OSHA believes that with this notice it will be able to: 
(1) Accurately and expeditiously determine the employers covered by a 
variance; (2) enhance enforcement of the variance; (3) ensure that a 
variance identifies and covers the appropriate worksites; (4) inform 
employers and employees that the revoked variances no longer cover the 
employers, and therefore, the employers must comply with the applicable 
OSHA standards; and (5) inform employees that the applicable OSHA 
standards replacing the revoked variances will provide them with the 
necessary protection.
    The corporate name change implemented by this notice maintains the 
employer's regulatory obligations and does not alter the substantive 
requirements specified in the original variance. The variance continues 
to remain in effect and to provide employees with the safety and health 
protection afforded to them by the original variance.
    A list of variances that remain in effect by this notice is 
available on

[[Page 20679]]

OSHA's Variance Program Web site at http://www.osha.gov/dts/otpca/variances/variances_ineffect.html.
    As previously indicated, 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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   Name of employer (company)                                                     Federal
            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).
                                              OSHA-2012-0024      07/06/2012     77 FR 40088  1910.36(g)(1).
AmerenUE (formerly Union                              V-74-5      10/18/1974     39 FR 37278  1910.28(g)(1).
 Electric Company).
                                        OSHA-V05-2-2006-0785      12/09/2008     73 FR 74754
Outfront Media, LLC (formerly                         V-90-1      03/01/1991      56 FR 8801  1910.27(d)(1)(ii),
 Gannett Outdoor Companies,             OSHA-V05-2-2006-0785      12/09/2008     73 FR 74754   1910.27(d)(2),
 operating as Outdoor Systems,                                                                 and
 Inc., subsequently CBS Outdoor                                                                1910.27(d)(5).
 Systems, Inc.).
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II. Technical Amendment to, and Revocation of, Permanent Variances

A. Renaming a Company

    OSHA initially granted a permanent variance to the Gannett Outdoor 
Companies operating as Outdoor Systems, Inc. on March 1, 1991, (56 FR 
8801). Subsequently, on December 9, 2008, OSHA granted Gannett Outdoor 
Companies operating as Outdoor Systems, Inc. a name change to CBS 
Outdoor Systems, Inc. (73 FR 74754). Further, on November 11, 2015, a 
management representative of CBS Outdoor Systems, Inc. sent a letter 
and supporting documentation to OSHA stating that the former company 
and associated variance names were no longer valid, and requested the 
Agency to correct the variance using the new successor company's name 
(Exhibit OSHA-2015-0017-0004).
    CBS Outdoor Systems, Inc. notified the Agency (via letter dated 
November 11, 2014) that the company changed its name from CBS Outdoor, 
Inc. (formerly Gannett Outdoor Companies, operating as Outdoor Systems, 
Inc. for whom the initial variance was granted) to the successor 
company, Outfront Media, LLC. As, was the case with the December 9, 
2008 name change (73 FR 74754), Outfront Media, LLC will continue to 
follow the conditions specified by the variance.
    Additionally, CBS Outdoor Systems, Inc. provided supporting 
documentation including: (1) A series of documents from the State of 
Delaware (having jurisdiction where the corporation first formed), each 
acknowledging a sequential name change for the entity beginning in 1997 
as Outdoor Systems, Inc. to November of 2014, when Outdoor Systems, 
Inc. became Outfront Media, LLC (Exhibit OSHA-2015-0017-0004, 
attachment 1); and (2) an updated listing of locations (places of 
employment) potentially affected by the Outfront Media, LLC variance 
(i.e., regional centers of operation from which climbing activities 
take place in support of Outfront Media's outdoor advertising business 
(Exhibit OSHA-2015-0017-0004, attachment #2)).

B. Revoking the Permanent Variance Granted to Rollins College

    On March 28, 1974, OSHA granted Rollins College a variance from 29 
CFR 1910.37(i), which governed ceiling height for means of egress (39 
FR 11481). 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 (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. On July 6, 2012, OSHA 
published a Federal Register notice that amended the permanent variance 
granted to Rollins College to account for this renumbering of the 
standard (77 FR 40088).
    Subsequently, in a letter dated July 7, 2015, Rollins College, 
indicated that the college no longer requires or uses the variance. 
Further, the college's letter indicated that the ceiling height of the 
buildings where the variance was used in the past has been renovated 
and the means of egress are now in compliance with the applicable OSHA 
standards. As a result, the variance is no longer needed or used and 
should be revoked (Exhibit OSHA-2015-0017-0002).

C. Revoking the Permanent Variance Granted to AmerenUE

    On October 18, 1974, OSHA granted Union Electric Company a variance 
from 29 CFR 1910.28(g)(1), which required that two-point suspension 
scaffolds be a minimum of 20 inches in width (39 FR 37278). On December 
9, 2008, the Agency found that Union Electric Company had a new name 
and operated as AmerenUE. On that same date, the Agency responded to a 
request from a company officer to correct Union Electric Company's 
variance by using the company's new name. OSHA published a Federal 
Register notice announcing a technical amendment updating the variance 
grantee's name from Union Electric Company to AmerenUE (73 FR 74754).
    Subsequently, in a letter dated September 18, 2015, Ameren Missouri 
[(formerly Union Electric Company, then AmerenUE) (Exhibit OSHA-2015-
0017-0003)], indicated that the company no longer requires or uses the 
variance and requested OSHA to revoke it.

III. Decision

    Based on the information described herein, the Agency is taking the 
following actions:
    A. Revising the name of CBS Outdoor, Inc. (formerly Gannett Outdoor 
Companies, operating as Outdoor Systems, Inc. for whom the initial 
variance was granted) to the successor company, Outfront Media, LLC.
    B. Revoking the variances granted to Rollins College and AmerenUE 
(formerly Union Electric Company).

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.


[[Page 20680]]


    Signed at Washington, DC, on March 4, 2016.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2016-08005 Filed 4-7-16; 8:45 am]
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