[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 21, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17020-17021]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-05716]



[[Page 17020]]

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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 by the Office of Standards, 
Regulations, and Variances on or before May 22, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Comments concerning the information collection requirements 
of this notice may be sent by any of the methods listed below. Please 
note that late, untimely filed comments will not be considered.
     Federal E-Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments for docket 
number MSHA-2022-0072.
     Mail/Hand Delivery: DOL-MSHA, Office of Standards, 
Regulations, and Variances, 201 12th Street South, Suite 4E401, 
Arlington, VA 22202-5452. Before visiting MSHA in person, call 202-693-
9455 to make an appointment, in keeping with the Department of Labor's 
COVID-19 policy. Special health precautions may be required.
     MSHA will post all comments 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: S. Aromie Noe, Director, Office of 
Standards, Regulations, and Variances, MSHA, at 
[email protected] (email); (202) 693-9440 (voice); 
or (202) 693-9441 (facsimile). These are not toll-free numbers.

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.
    30 CFR 57.5037 (Radon daughter exposure monitoring) establishes 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 to 0.3 WL and every 3 months in non-uranium underground 
mines where the readings are 0.1 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.
    30 CFR 57.5040 (Exposure records) 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 (Radon daughter exposure monitoring). 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;
     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.
    The information collection request will be available on https://www.regulations.gov. MSHA cautions the commenter against providing any 
information in the submission that should not be publicly disclosed. 
Full comments, including personal information provided, will be made

[[Page 17021]]

available on www.regulations.gov and www.reginfo.gov.
    The public may also examine publicly available documents at DOL-
MSHA, Office of Standards, Regulations, and Variances, 201 12th Street 
South, Suite 4E401, Arlington, VA 22202-5452. Sign in at the 
receptionist's desk on the 4th floor via the East elevator. Before 
visiting MSHA in person, call 202-693-9455 to make an appointment, in 
keeping with the Department of Labor's COVID-19 policy. Special health 
precautions may be required.
    Questions about the information collection requirements may be 
directed to the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section of this notice.

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.

Song-ae Aromie Noe,
Certifying Officer, Mine Safety and Health Administration.
[FR Doc. 2023-05716 Filed 3-20-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-43-P