[Federal Register: May 23, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 98)][Notices] [Page 29536-29537]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23my05-72]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. ICR-1218-0128(2005)]
Coke Oven Emissions Standard; Extension of the Office of
Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of Information Collection
(Paperwork) Requirements
AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comment concerning its request for an
extension of the information collection requirements contained in the
Coke Oven Emissions Standard (29 CFR 1910.1029).
DATES: Comments must be submitted by the following dates:
Hard copy: Your comments must be submitted (postmarked or received)
by July 22, 2005.
Facsimile and electronic transmission: Your comments must be
received by July 22, 2005.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by OSHA Docket No. ICR-
1218-0128(2005), by any of the following methods:
Regular mail, express delivery, hand delivery, and messenger
service: Submit your comments and attachments to the OSHA Docket
Office, Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue,
NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-2350 (OSHA's TTY number
is (877) 889-5627). OSHA Docket Office and Department of Labor hours
are 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., ET.
Facsimile: If your comments are 10 pages or fewer in length,
including attachments, you may fax them to the OSHA Docket Office at
(202) 693-1648.
Electronic: You may submit comments through the Internet at http://ecomments.osha.gov.
Follow instructions on the OSHA Webpage for
submitting comments.
Docket: For access to the docket to read or download comments or
background materials, such as the complete Information Collection
Request (ICR) (containing the Supporting Statement, OMB-83-I Form, and
attachments), go to OSHA's Webpage at http://www.OSHA.gov. In addition,
the ICR, comments and submissions are available for inspection and
copying the OSHA Docket Office at the address above. You may also
contact Todd Owen at the address below to obtain a copy of the ICR. For
additional information on submitting comments, please see the ``Public
Participation'' heading in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Todd Owen, Directorate of Standard and
Guidance, OSHA, Room N-3609, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC 20210, telephone: (202) 693-2222.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce
paperwork and respondent (i.e., employer) burden, conducts a
preclearance consultation program to provide the public with an
opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing information
collection requirements in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995 (PRA-95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).
This program ensures that information is in the desired format,
reporting burden (time and costs) is minimal, collection instruments
are clearly understood, and OSHA's estimate of the information
collection burden is accurate. The Occupational Safety and Health Act
of 1970 (the Act) (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) authorizes information
collection by employers as necessary or appropriate for enforcement of
the Act or for developing information regarding the causes and
prevention of occupational injuries, illnesses, and accidents (29
U.S.C. 657).
On January 5, 2005, OSHA published the Standards Improvement
Project--Phase II, Final rule (70 FR 1112). The final rule removed and
revised provisions of standards that were outdated, duplicative,
unnecessary, or inconsistent and clarified or simplified regulatory
language. The final rule contained several revisions to collections of
information contained in the Coke Oven Emissions Standard.\1\ These
revisions included reducing the frequency with which employers must
update their compliance plans and allowing employers the option to post
employee exposure-monitoring results instead of requiring individual
notification. In addition, the final rule reduced the frequency of
medical examinations including, the urinary cytology examination; from
semi-annually to annually. Those changes reduced paperwork burden hours
while maintaining worker protection and improving consistently among
standards.
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\1\ The Office of Management and Budget approved the reduction
of 4,426 burden hours after reviewing the Information Collection
Request for the Standards Improvement Project--Phase II Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking Making, published October 31, 2002 (67 FR
66494).
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The information collection requirements in the Coke Oven Emissions
Standard provide protection for employees from the adverse health
effects associated with exposure to coke oven emissions. In this
regard, the Coke Oven Emissions Standard requires employers to monitor
employees' exposure to coke oven emissions, monitor employee health,
and provide employees with information about their exposures and the
health effects of exposures to coke oven emissions.
II. Special Issues for Comment
OSHA has a particular interest in comments on the following issues:
Whether the proposed information collection requirements
are necessary for the proper performance of the Agency's functions,
including whether the information is useful;
The accuracy of OSHA's estimate of the burden (time and
costs) of the information collection requirements, including the validity
of the methodology and assumptions used;
The quality, utility, and clarity of the information
collected; and
Ways to minimize the burden on employers who must comply;
for example, by using automated or other technological information
collection and transmission techniques.
III. Proposed Actions
OSHA proposes to extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB)
approval of the collection of information (paperwork) requirements
necessitated by the Coke Oven Emissions Standard (29 CFR 1910.1029).
The Agency is requesting a reduction in burden hours from 56,238 hours
to 51,756 hours. The 4,482 hour reduction is necessary to reflect the
January 5th final rule that reduced the frequency with which employers
must provide urinary cytology examinations to their employees from
every six months to annually.
The Agency will include this summary in its request to OMB to
extend the approval of these collection of information requirements.
Type of Review: Extension of currently approved information
collection requirements.
Title: Coke Oven Emissions Standard.
OMB Number: 1218-0128.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; Federal Government;
State, Local or Tribal Government.
Frequency: On occasion.
Average Time Per Response: Varies from 5 minutes (.08 hour) for a
secretary to maintain record to 4 hours to complete a medical
examination.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 51, 756.
Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $933,064.
IV. Public Participation--Submission of Comments on This Notice and
Internet Access to Comments and Submissions
You may submit comments and supporting materials in response to
this notice by (1) hard copy, (2) FAX transmission (facsimile), or (3)
electronically through the OSHA Webpage. Because of security-related
problems, there may be a significant delay in the receipt of comments
by regular mail. Please contact the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-
2350 (TTY (877) 889-5627) for information about security procedures
concerning the delivery of submissions by express delivery, hand
delivery and courier service.
All comments, submissions and background documents are available
for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office at the above
address. Comments and submissions posted on OSHA's Webpage are
available at http://www.OSHA.gov. Contact the OSHA Docket Office for
information about materials not available through the OSHA Webpage and
for assistance using the Webpage to locate docket submissions.
Electronic copies of this Federal Register notice as well as other
relevant documents are available on OSHA's Webpage. Since all
submissions become public, private information such as social security
numbers should not be submitted.
V. Authority and Signature
Jonathan L. Snare, Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for
Occupational Safety and Health, directed the preparation of this
notice. The authority for this notice is the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3506 et seq.), and Secretary of Labor's Order No. 5-
2002 (67 FR 65008).
Signed at Washington, DC, on May 10, 2005.
Jonathan L. Snare,
Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 05-10186 Filed 5-20-05; 8:45 am]
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