[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 176 (Tuesday, September 11, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45978-45979]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-19689]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2013-0027]
Addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding With the Department
of Energy (August 28, 1992); Oak Ridge, Tennessee Properties
AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This is a notice of an addendum to the interagency Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL),
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE). The MOU establishes specific interagency
procedures for the transfer of occupational safety and health coverage
for privatized facilities, properties, and operations from DOE to OSHA
and state agencies acting under state plans approved by OSHA.
DATES: The expansion of the scope of recognition becomes effective on
September 11, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Information regarding this notice is
available from the following sources:
Press inquiries: Contact Mr. Frank Meilinger, Director, OSHA Office
of Communications, U.S. Department of Labor, telephone: (202) 693-1999;
email: [email protected].
General and technical information: Contact Mr. Kevin Robinson,
Director, OSHA Office of Technical Programs and Coordination
Activities, Directorate of Technical Support and Emergency Management,
U.S. Department of Labor, telephone: (202) 693-2110 or email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
DOE and OSHA entered into a MOU on August 10, 1992, delineating
regulatory authority over the occupational safety and health of
contractor employees at DOE government-owned or leased, contractor-
operated (GOCO) facilities. In general, the MOU recognizes that DOE
exercises statutory authority under section 161(f) of the Atomic Energy
Act of 1954, as amended, (42 U.S.C. 2201(f)), relating to the
occupational safety and health of private-sector employees at these
facilities.
Section 4(b)(1) of the Occupational Safety Health Act of 1970 (OSH
Act) (29 U.S.C. 653(b)(1), exempts from OSHA authority working
conditions with respect to which other federal agencies have exercised
statutory authority to prescribe or enforce standards or regulations
affecting occupational safety and health. The 1992 MOU acknowledges
DOE's extensive program for the regulation of contractor health and
safety, which requires contractor compliance with all OSHA standards as
well as additional requirements prescribed by DOE, and concludes with
an agreement by the agencies that the provisions of the OSH Act will
not apply to GOCO sites for which DOE has exercised authority to
regulate occupational safety and health under the Atomic Energy Act.
The 1992 MOU has expired.
In light of DOE's policy emphasis on privatization activities, OSHA
and DOE entered into a second MOU on July 25, 2000, that establishes
interagency procedures to address regulatory authority for occupational
safety and health at specified privatized facilities and operations on
sites formerly controlled by DOE. The July 25, 2000, MOU covers
facilities and operations on lands no longer controlled by DOE, which
are not conducting activities for or on behalf of DOE and where there
is no likelihood that any employee exposure to radiation from DOE
sources would be 25 millirems per year (mrem/yr) or more.
II. Notice of Transfer
In an email dated February 2, 2018, DOE requested that OSHA or, as
appropriate, the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (TOSHA) accept occupational safety and health regulatory
authority over employees at the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak
Ridge, Tennessee, six parcels of land pursuant to the MOU on Safety and
Health Enforcement at Privatized Facilities and Operations dated July
25, 2000. Other facilities and properties at the East Tennessee
Technology Park were transferred to TOSHA jurisdiction under this MOU
by Federal Register notices 74 FR 120 (January 2, 2009), 74 FR 39977
(August 10, 2009), 76 FR 80408 (December 23, 2011) and 79 FR 29456 (May
22, 2014).
The six parcels of land, which are located at the East Tennessee
Technology Park in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and were transferred by deed
to the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee (CROET) are
described as follows:
Land Parcel ED-11 Consists of five tracts of land
separated by roadways: ED-11A (11.67 acres), ED-11B (2.25 acres), ED-
11C (0.49 acres), ED-11D
[[Page 45979]]
(0.31 acres), and ED-11E (0.15 acres). No buildings are included in
this transfer;
Land Parcel ED-12 Consists of five tracts of land
separated by roadways: ED-12A (5.88 acres), ED-12B (2.57 acres), ED-12C
(1.75 acres), ED-12D (2.99 acres), and ED-12E (0.16 acres). No
buildings are included in this transfer;
Land Parcel ED-3 Consists of two tracts of land separated
by roadways. The southern tract (111 acres), and the northern tract
(2.5 acres). No buildings are included in this transfer;
Land Parcel ED-3 West Consists of one tract of
approximately 72 acres. No buildings are included in this transfer;
Land Parcel K-31 Consists of one tract of approximately 61
acres. No buildings are included in this transfer. Any existing
buildings will be destroyed before the transfer takes place; and
Land Parcel K-33 Consists of one tract of approximately
136.4 acres. No buildings are included in this transfer.
OSHA's Regional Office in Atlanta, Georgia, working with the OSHA
Nashville Area Office and TOSHA, determined that TOSHA is willing to
accept authority over the occupational safety and health of public-
sector and private-sector employees at the six parcels of land at the
East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, that were
transferred by deed to CROET. In a letter from OSHA to DOE dated May
21, 2018, OSHA stated that TOSHA is satisfied with DOE assurances that
(1) there is no likelihood that any employee at facilities in the
vicinity of these land parcels will be exposed to radiation levels that
will be 25 millirems per year (mrem/yr) or more, and; (2) transfer of
authority to TOSHA is free from regulatory gaps and does not diminish
the safety and health protection of the employees.
Accordingly, TOSHA accepts and maintains health and safety
regulatory authority over employees in the vicinity of Land Parcels ED-
11, ED-12, ED-3, ED-3 West, K-31 and K-33.
III. Authority and Signature
Loren Sweatt, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational
Safety and Health, authorized the preparation of this notice. This
Federal Register notice provides public notice and serves as an
addendum to the 1992 OSHA/DOE MOU. Accordingly, the Agency is issuing
this notice pursuant to Section 8(g)(2) of the Occupational Health and
Safety Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 657(g)(2)), Secretary of Labor's Order
No. 1-2012 (77 FR 3912, Jan. 25, 2012).
Signed at Washington, DC, on September 5, 2018.
Loren Sweatt,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2018-19689 Filed 9-10-18; 8:45 am]
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