[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 4 (Friday, January 5, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 702-703]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00047]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
29 CFR Part 1952
California Occupational Safety and Health State Plan; Operational
Status Agreement
AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Labor.
ACTION: Notification of revisions to the California State Plan's
Operational Status Agreement.
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SUMMARY: This document announces a new Operational Status Agreement
between the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and
the California State Plan, which specifies the areas of State
responsibility and delineates continuing Federal responsibilities.
DATES: Effective January 5, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
For press inquiries: Francis Meilinger, OSHA Office of
Communications; telephone: (202) 693-1999; email:
[email protected].
For general and technical information: Douglas J. Kalinowski,
Director, OSHA Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs;
telephone: (202) 693-2200; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
California administers an OSHA-approved State Plan to develop and
enforce occupational safety and health standards for public-sector and
private-sector employers, pursuant to the provisions of Section 18 of
the Occupational Safety and Health Act (the OSH Act), 29 U.S.C. 667.
The California Occupational Safety and Health State Plan received
initial Federal OSHA approval on May 1, 1973 (38 FR 10717), pursuant to
Section 18(c) of the OSH Act (29 U.S.C. 667(c)), and the Division of
Occupational Safety and Health of the California Department of
Industrial Relations (DIR) was designated as the state agency
responsible for administering the State Plan. Pursuant to Section 18(e)
of the Act, 29 U.S.C. 667(e), as implemented by 29 CFR 1954.3, OSHA and
California DIR entered into an initial Operational Status Agreement
(OSA) on October 3, 1989, whereby concurrent Federal enforcement
authority was suspended with regard to Federal occupational safety and
health standards in issues covered by the State Plan. The 1989 OSA was
published in the Federal Register on July 12, 1990 (55 FR 28612).
Subsequently, on April 30, 2014, OSHA and California DIR signed a new
OSA, which replaced the prior 1989 OSA. The new 2014 OSA was published
in the Federal Register on June 2, 2017 (82 FR 25631).
II. Notification of New Operational Status Agreement
On September 15, 2022, OSHA and California DIR signed a new OSA,
which replaced the prior 2014 OSA. The new OSA remains largely the same
as the 2014 OSA, but includes a few necessary clarifications and
corrections, as briefly described herein. First, the 2022 OSA clarifies
that Federal OSHA enforcement authority within U.S. military
installations applies when the installations' borders are ``secured''
and access is controlled, but that California DIR continues to have
enforcement authority over state and local government employers on such
military installations. Second, the 2022 OSA defines the ``Federal
enclaves'' over which Federal OSHA retains enforcement authority, and
revises the specific list of recognized Federal enclaves to bring that
list up to date. Third, the 2022 OSA clarifies the scope of Federal
OSHA enforcement authority over employers operating on Native American
Reservations or Trust lands, including that California DIR continues to
have enforcement authority over state and local government employers
operating on such lands and over Tribal member employers operating
outside of such lands. Fourth, and finally, the 2022 OSA clarifies that
the definition of ``maritime employment'' over which Federal OSHA
maintains enforcement authority includes all afloat dredging and pile-
driving and similar operations on navigable waters, and all floating
drilling platforms on navigable waters.
Effective immediately, Federal OSHA and California DIR will
exercise their respective enforcement authorities according to the
terms of the 2022 OSA between them. As detailed in the 2022 OSA,
Federal enforcement responsibility under the OSH Act will continue to
be exercised with regard to: Federal Government employers, including
the United States Postal Service (USPS), as well as contractors
[[Page 703]]
and contractor-operated facilities engaged in USPS mail operations;
private sector employers within the secured borders of all United
States military installations where access is controlled; private
sector employers within the borders of Federal enclaves, including
property where the Federal government reserved jurisdiction when the
State of California entered the Union and where Federal properties were
acquired from the State of California with the consent of the State
legislature; private sector employers and Native American-owned or
tribal workplaces within the borders of all U.S. Government recognized
Native American Reservations or on lands held in Trust for the various
tribes in California; and maritime employment (except marine
construction, which the State covers on bridges, and on shore) on the
navigable waters of the United States. Federal responsibility will also
continue to be exercised with regard to investigation and inspection
for the purpose of carrying out the monitoring obligations under
Section 18(f) of the OSH Act, 29 U.S.C. 667(f), as implemented by 29
CFR part 1954, and the enforcement of complaints filed with Federal
OSHA under the OSH Act's whistleblower provision, Section 11(c), 29
U.S.C. 660(c). For further information please visit https://www.osha.gov/stateplans/ca.
Authority and Signature
Douglas L. Parker, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational
Safety and Health, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20210, authorized the preparation of this notice.
OSHA is issuing this notification under the authority specified by
Section 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C.
667), Secretary of Labor's Order No. 8-2020 (85 FR 58393 (Sept. 18,
2020)), and 29 CFR parts 1902 and 1953.
Signed in Washington, DC.
Douglas L. Parker,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2024-00047 Filed 1-4-24; 8:45 am]
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