[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52144-52146]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-21234]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2019-0002]
Respirable Crystalline Silica Standards for General Industry,
Maritime and Construction; 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 the proposal to
extend OMB approval of the information collection requirements
specified in the Respirable Crystalline Silica Standards for General
Industry, Maritime, and Construction.
DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by
December 2, 2019.
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 a copy of your comments and
attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2019-0002,
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of
Labor, Room N-3653, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210.
Deliveries (hand, express mail, messenger, and courier service) are
accepted during the OSHA Docket Office's normal business hours, 10:00
a.m. to 3:00 p.m., ET.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and the
OSHA docket number (OSHA-2019-0002) 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 above address. 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 through the website. All submissions,
including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and
copying at the OSHA Docket Office. You may also contact Theda Kenney at
(202) 693-2222 to obtain a copy of the ICR.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Seleda Perryman or Theda Kenney,
Directorate of Standards and Guidance, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor,
telephone (202) 693-2222.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Department of Labor, as part of a continuing effort to reduce
paperwork and respondent (i.e., employer) burden, conducts a
preclearance process to provide the public with an opportunity to
comment on proposed and continuing information collection requirements
in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(2)(A)). This program ensures that information is in the desired
format, the reporting burden (time and costs) is minimal, the
collection instruments are clearly understood, and OSHA's estimate of
the information collection burden is accurate. The Occupational Safety
and
[[Page 52145]]
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 (see 29 U.S.C. 657). The OSH Act also requires OSHA to obtain
such information with a minimum burden upon employers, especially those
operating small businesses, and to reduce to the maximum extent
feasible unnecessary duplication of effort in obtaining said
information (see 29 U.S.C. 657).
The Respirable Crystalline Silica Standards for general industry
and maritime (29 CFR 1910.1053) and construction (29 CFR 1926.1053)
contain the following information collection requirements: Conducting
worker exposure assessments and notifying workers of the assessment
results and any corrective actions being taken; establishing,
implementing, reviewing, evaluating, and updating a written exposure
control plan and making the plan available to workers and designated
representatives; creating and submitting air quality permit
notifications; establishing a respiratory protection program; providing
qualitative fit-testing and maintaining records; providing medical
surveillance to workers; providing the physician or other licensed
health care provider (PLHCP), or the specialist, with specific
information; ensuring that the PLHCP, or specialist, explains the
results of the medical examination to the employee and provides each
employee with a copy of their written medical report; obtaining a
written medical opinion from the PLHCP, or specialist, and ensuring
that each employee receives a copy of the opinion; and making and
maintaining air monitoring data, objective data, and medical
surveillance records; and providing workers and designated
representatives with access to these records. The records are used by
workers, employers, and OSHA to determine the effectiveness of the
employer's compliance efforts.
II. Special Issues for Comment
OSHA has a particular interest in comments on the following issues:
Whether the proposed information collection 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 information collection 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
OSHA is requesting that OMB extend its approval of the information
collection requirements contained in the Respirable Crystalline Silica
Standards for General Industry, Maritime and Construction. The agency
requests approval for an adjustment increase of 347,653 burden hours
(from 12,118,364 to 12,466,017). The requested adjustment increase is
associated with the agency's correction of several administrative
errors in the previous ICR. Specifically, the adjustment would include
additional burden hours for the development and updating of the written
exposure control plan associated with medium-sized general industry
establishments. In addition, the adjustment would add additional burden
hours for employers to provide information to a physician or other
licensed health care professional in association with employee periodic
medical examinations. These burden hours were displayed in the previous
ICR spreadsheets as costs incurred after the initial year of standard
implementation, but were not included in the burden hour totals in the
previous ICR. The adjustment also would add additional burden hours for
managers to ensure worker receipt of the PLHCP and specialist's written
medical report and distribute the PLHCP and specialist's written
medical opinion to workers and the employer in association with
employee initial, periodic, and additional medical examinations. The
request seeks approval to maintain all other previously approved burden
hours.
The agency also requests approval to maintain the previously
approved operation and maintenance costs of $393,789,901.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Title: Respirable Crystalline Silica Standards for General Industry
and Maritime (29 CFR 1910.1053) and Construction (29 CFR 1926.1053).
OMB Control Number: 1218-0266.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profits.
Number of Respondents: 682,581.
Frequency: Biennially, Once, On occasion, Quarterly, Semi-annually,
Annually.
Average Time per Response: Various.
Estimated Number of Responses: 8,170,908.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 12,466,017.
Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $393,789,901.
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 (fax); or (3) by hard copy. All
comments, attachments, and other materials must identify the agency
name and the OSHA docket number (Docket No. OSHA-2019-0002) for the
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 electronic
comments by your name, date, and the docket number so that 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 social security numbers and
dates 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 through this
website. All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available
for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. Information on
using the http://www.regulations.gov website to submit comments and
access the docket is available at the website's ``User Tips'' link.
Contact the OSHA Docket Office for information about materials not
available through the website, and for assistance in using the internet
to locate docket submissions.
[[Page 52146]]
V. Authority and Signature
Loren Sweatt, Principal Deputy 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 September 25, 2019.
Loren Sweatt,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety
and Health.
[FR Doc. 2019-21234 Filed 9-30-19; 8:45 am]
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