[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 121 (Tuesday, June 23, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37692-37693]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-13410]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; Radiation Sampling and Exposure Records

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting this Mining Safety 
and Health Administration (MSHA)-sponsored information collection 
request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review 
and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

DATES: The OMB will consider all written comments that agency receives 
on or before July 23, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
    Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the collection of information 
is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the 
Department, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) if the information will be processed and used in a timely 
manner; (3) the accuracy of the agency's estimates of the burden and 
cost of the collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (4) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information collection; and (5) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anthony May by telephone at 202-693-
4129 (this is not a toll-free number) or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 biweekly where uranium mines have 
readings of 0.1 WL to 0.3 WL and every 3 months in non-

[[Page 37693]]

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. For additional substantive information 
about this ICR, see the related notice published in the Federal 
Register on March 6, 2020 (85 FR 13189).
    This information collection is subject to the PRA. A Federal agency 
generally cannot conduct or sponsor a collection of information, and 
the public is generally not required to respond to an information 
collection, unless the OMB approves it and displays a currently valid 
OMB Control Number. In addition, notwithstanding any other provisions 
of law, no person shall generally be subject to penalty for failing to 
comply with a collection of information that does not display a valid 
OMB Control Number. See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6.
    DOL seeks PRA authorization for this information collection for 
three (3) years. OMB authorization for an ICR cannot be for more than 
three (3) years without renewal. The DOL notes that information 
collection requirements submitted to the OMB for existing ICRs receive 
a month-to-month extension while they undergo review.
    Agency: DOL-MSHA.
    Title of Collection: Radiation Sampling and Exposure Records.
    OMB Control Number: 1219-0003.
    Affected Public: Private Sector: Businesses or other for-profits.
    Total Estimated Number of Respondents: 4.
    Total Estimated Number of Responses: 404.
    Total Estimated Annual Time Burden: 402 hours.
    Total Estimated Annual Other Costs Burden: $20.

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D).

    Dated: June 16, 2020.
Anthony May,
Acting Departmental Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-13410 Filed 6-22-20; 8:45 am]
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