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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

29 CFR Part 1903

[Docket No. C-03]

RIN 1218-AB40

Abatement Verification

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Department of Labor.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: OSHA is issuing a final regulation requiring those employers who have received a citation(s) for violation(s) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act or Act) to certify that they have abated the hazardous condition for which they were cited and to inform affected employees of their abatement actions. The abatement procedures a specific employer must follow depend on the nature of the violation(s) identified and the employer's abatement actions. If abatement occurs during or immediately after the inspection that identified the violation(s), the employer is not required to submit an abatement certification letter to OSHA. If the violation(s) is an other-than-serious violation, or a serious violation that does not require additional documentation, the employer is required to certify abatement using a simple one-page form or equivalent. In cases involving the most serious violations, additional documentation is required. The final regulation being published today codifies, simplifies, and streamlines the abatement certification procedures that OSHA has previously enforced administratively. OSHA has determined that this abatement verification regulation will reduce employers' paperwork, enhance employee participation in the abatement process, increase the number of cited hazards that are quickly abated, and streamline and standardize OSHA's abatement procedures.

DATES: This final rule is effective on May 30, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bonnie Friedman, Office of Information and Consumer Affairs, OSHA, Room N-3647, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210; telephone: (202) 219-8148.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A Table of Contents identifying the various portions of this regulatory package follows.

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. Summary and Explanation of the Regulation
    Paragraph (a). Scope and application
    Paragraph (b). Definitions
    Paragraph (c). Abatement certification
    Paragraph (d). Abatement documentation
    Paragraph (e). Abatement plans
    Paragraph (f). Progress reports
    Paragraph (g). Employee notification
    Paragraph (h). Transmitting abatement documents
    Paragraph (i). Movable equipment
III. References
IV. Pertinent Legal Authority
V. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
VI. Summary of the Final Economic Analysis
VII. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
VIII. Environmental Impact Assessment
IX. Federalism
X. State Plans

[62 FR 15324, March 31, 1997]