[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 45 (Friday, March 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13189-13190]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04583]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Mine Safety and Health Administration

[OMB Control No. 1219-0003]


Proposed Extension of Information Collection; Radiation Sampling 
and Exposure Records

AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance 
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed collections of information 
in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This program 
helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired 
format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, 
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of 
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. 
Currently, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is 
soliciting comments on the information collection for Radiation 
Sampling and Exposure Records.

DATES: All comments must be received on or before May 5, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comment as follows. Please note that late, 
untimely filed comments will not be considered.
    Electronic Submissions: Submit electronic comments in the following 
way:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments for docket number MSHA-
2020-0006. Comments submitted electronically, including attachments, to 
https://www.regulations.gov will be posted to the docket, with no 
changes. Because your comment will be made public, you are responsible 
for ensuring that your comment does not include any confidential 
information that you or a third party may not wish to be posted, such 
as your or anyone else's Social Security number or confidential 
business information.
     If you want to submit a comment with confidential 
information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, 
submit the comment as a written/paper submission.
    Written/Paper Submissions: Submit written/paper submissions in the 
following way:
     Mail/Hand Delivery: Mail or visit DOL-MSHA, Office of 
Standards, Regulations, and Variances, 201 12th Street South, Suite 
4E401, Arlington, VA 22202-5452.
     MSHA will post your comment as well as any attachments, 
except for information submitted and marked as confidential, in the 
docket at https://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sheila McConnell, Director, Office of 
Standards, Regulations, and Variances, MSHA, at 
[email protected] (email); (202) 693-9440 (voice); 
or (202) 693-9441 (facsimile).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Section 103(h) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 
(Mine Act), 30 U.S.C. 813(h), authorizes MSHA to collect information 
necessary to carry out its duty in protecting the safety and health of 
miners. Further, section 101(a) of the Mine Act, 30 U.S.C. 811, 
authorizes the Secretary of Labor to develop, promulgate, and revise as 
may be appropriate, improved mandatory health or safety standards for 
the protection of life and prevention of injuries in coal and metal and 
nonmetal mines.
    Under the authority of Section 103 of the Federal Mine Safety and 
Health Act of 1977, MSHA is required to issue regulations requiring 
operators to maintain accurate records of employee exposures to 
potentially toxic materials or harmful physical agents which are 
required to be monitored or measured under any applicable mandatory 
health or safety standard promulgated under this Act.
    Airborne radon and radon daughters exist in every uranium mine and 
in several other underground mining commodities. Radon is radioactive 
gas. It diffuses into the underground mine atmosphere through the rock 
and the ground water. Radon decays in a series of steps into other 
radioactive elements, which are solids, called radon daughters. Radon 
and radon daughters are invisible and odorless. Decay of radon and its 
daughters results in emissions of alpha energy.
    Medical doctors and scientists have associated high radon daughter 
exposures with lung cancer. The health hazard arises from breathing air 
contaminated with radon daughters which are in turn deposited in the 
lungs. The lung tissues are sensitive to alpha radioactivity.
    The amounts of airborne radon daughters to which most miners can be 
exposed with no adverse effects have been established and are expressed 
as working levels (WL). The current MSHA standard is a maximum personal 
exposure of 4 working level months per year.
    Excess lung cancer in uranium miners, just as coal workers' 
pneumoconiosis, silicosis, and other debilitating occupational 
diseases, has been recognized for many years. Thus, an adequate base of 
accurate exposure level data is essential to control miners' exposures 
and permit an evaluation of the effectiveness of existing regulations.
    The standard at 30 CFR 57.5037 established the procedures to be 
used by the mine operator in sampling mine air for the presence and 
concentrations of radon daughters. Operators are required to conduct 
weekly sampling where concentrations of radon daughters exceed 0.3 WL. 
Sampling is required bi-weekly where uranium mines have readings of 0.1 
WL to 0.3 WL and every 3 months in non-uranium underground mines where 
the readings are 0.1 WL to 0.3 WL. Mine operators are required to keep 
records of all mandatory samplings. Records must include the sample 
date, location, and results, and must be retained at the mine site or 
nearest mine office for at least 2 years.
    The standard at 30 CFR 57.5040 requires mine operators to calculate 
and record individual exposures to radon daughters on MSHA Form 4000-9 
``Record of Individual Exposure to Radon Daughters.'' The calculations 
are based on the results of the weekly sampling required by 30 CFR 
57.5037. Records must be maintained by the operator and submitted to 
MSHA annually.

II. Desired Focus of Comments

    MSHA is soliciting comments concerning the proposed information 
collection related to Radiation Sampling and Exposure Records. MSHA is 
particularly interested in comments that:
     Evaluate whether the collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, 
including whether the information has practical utility;
     Evaluate the accuracy of MSHA's estimate of the burden of 
the collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;

[[Page 13190]]

     Suggest methods to enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and
     Minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submission of responses.
    Background documents related to this information collection request 
are available at https://regulations.gov and in DOL-MSHA located at 201 
12th Street South, Suite 4E401, Arlington, VA 22202-5452. Questions 
about the information collection requirements may be directed to the 
person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION section of this notice 
from the previous collection of information.

III. Current Actions

    This information collection request concerns provisions for 
Radiation Sampling and Exposure Records. MSHA has updated the data with 
respect to the number of respondents, responses, burden hours, and 
burden costs supporting this information collection request from the 
previous information collection request.
    Type of Review: Extension, without change, of a currently approved 
collection.
    Agency: Mine Safety and Health Administration.
    OMB Number: 1219-0003.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
    Number of Respondents: 4.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Number of Responses: 404.
    Annual Burden Hours: 402 hours.
    Annual Respondent or Recordkeeper Cost: $20.
    MSHA Form: MSHA Form 4000-9, Record of Individual Exposure to Radon 
Daughters.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized in 
the request for Office of Management and Budget approval of the 
proposed information collection request; they will become a matter of 
public record and will be available at https://www.reginfo.gov.

Sheila McConnell,
Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-04583 Filed 3-5-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-43-P