[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 217 (Friday, November 8, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60455-60457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24374]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. OSHA-2011-0862]


Hazardous Wastes Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) 
Standard; 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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comments concerning the proposal to 
extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the 
information collection requirements specified in the Hazardous Waste 
Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) Standard.

DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by 
January 7, 2020.

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

[[Page 60456]]

using this method, you must submit a copy of your comments and 
attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, OSHA Docket No. OSHA-2011-0862, 
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 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-2011-0862) for the Information Collection 
Request (ICR). All comments, including any personal information you 
provide such as social security numbers and date of births, 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 from the website. All submissions, 
including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and 
copying at the OSHA Docket Office. You also may contact Theda Kenney or 
Seleda Perryman at (202) 693-2222 to obtain a copy of the ICR.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theda Kenney or Seleda Perryman, 
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 consultation program 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 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 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 Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard (29 
CFR 1910.120) specifies a number of collection of information 
(paperwork) requirements. Employers can use the information collected 
under the HAZWOPER rule to develop the various programs the Standard 
requires and to ensure that their workers are trained properly about 
the safety and health hazards associated with hazardous waste 
operations and emergency response to hazardous waste releases. OSHA 
will use the records developed in response to this Standard to 
determine adequate compliance with the Standard's safety and health 
provisions. The employer's failure to collect and distribute the 
information required in this standard will affect significantly OSHA's 
effort to control and reduce injuries and fatalities. Such failure 
would also be contrary to the direction Congress provided in Superfund 
Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA).

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 the approval of the collection 
of information (paperwork) requirements contained in the Hazardous 
Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) Standard. OSHA is 
requesting an adjustment decrease of 1,256 burden hours from the 
previous submission (from 261,551 hours to 260,295 hours).
    The agency will summarize any comments submitted in response to 
this notice and will include this summary in the request to OMB.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Title: Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) 
Standard (29 CFR 1910.120).
    OMB Number: 1218-0202.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; Not-for-profit 
organizations; Federal Government; State, Local, or Tribal Government.
    Number of Respondents: 29,727.
    Frequency of Response: Business or other for-profits; Not-for-
profit organizations; Federal Government; State, Local, or Tribal 
Government.
    Total Responses: 1,468,062.
    Average Time per Response: Various.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 260,295.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $10,127,325.

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 material must identify the agency name 
and the OSHA docket number (Docket No. OSHA-2011-0862) 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.
    Due to 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).

[[Page 60457]]

    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 from 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 
from the website, and for assistance in using the internet to locate 
docket submissions.

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 November 1, 2019.
Loren Sweatt,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety 
and Health.
[FR Doc. 2019-24374 Filed 11-7-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-26-P