[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 136 (Tuesday, July 16, 2013)][Notices][Pages 42549-42551]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-16974]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2009-0042]
Conflict of Interest and Disclosure Form; Extension of the Office
of Management and Budget's Approval of Information Collection
(Paperwork) Requirements
AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to
extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the
information collection requirements contained in the proposed Conflict
of Interest (COI) and Disclosure Form which will be used to determine
whether or not a conflict of interest exists for a potential peer
review panel member.
DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by
September 16, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Electronically: You may submit comments and attachments
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal
eRulemaking Portal. Follow the instructions online for submitting
comments.
Facsimile: If your comments, including attachments, are not longer
than 10 pages you may fax them to the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-
1648.
Mail, hand delivery, express mail, messenger, or courier service:
When using this method, you must submit a copy of your comments and
attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2009-0042, U.S.
Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration,
Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210.
Deliveries (hand, express mail, messenger, and courier service) are
accepted during the Department of Labor's and Docket Office's normal
business hours, 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., e.t.
Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and OSHA
docket number (OSHA-2009-0042) for the Information Collection Request
(ICR). All comments, including any personal information you provide,
are placed in the public docket without change, and may be made
available online at http://www.regulations.gov. For further information
on submitting comments see the "Public Participation" heading in the
section of this notice titled SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
Docket: To read or download comments or other material in the
docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the OSHA Docket Office at
the address above. All documents in the docket (including this Federal
Register notice) are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index;
however, some information (e.g., copyrighted material) is not publicly
available to read or download from the Web site. All submissions,
including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and
copying at the OSHA Docket Office. You may also contact Theda Kenney at
the address below to obtain a copy of the ICR.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theda Kenney or Todd Owen, Directorate
of Standards and Guidance, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, 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 accord 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 OSH Act) (29 U.S.C. 651
et seq.) authorizes information collection by employers as necessary or
appropriate for enforcement of the OSH Act or for developing
information regarding the causes and prevention of occupational
injuries, illnesses, and accidents (29 U.S.C. 657). The OSH Act also
requires OSHA to obtain such information with minimum burden upon
employers, especially those operating small businesses, and to reduce
to the maximum extent feasible unnecessary duplication of efforts in
obtaining information (29 U.S.C. 657).
OSHA conducts peer reviews to review a draft product for quality by
specialists in the field who were not involved in producing the draft.
The selection of participants in a peer review is based on expertise,
with due consideration of independence. The Office of Management and
Budget published the "Final Information Quality Bulletin for Peer
Review" on December 15, 2004. The Bulletin states "... the agency
must address reviewers' potential conflicts of interest (including
those stemming from ties to regulated businesses and other
stakeholders) and independence from the agency." The Bulletin requires
agencies to adopt or adapt the committee selection policies employed by
the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) when selecting peer reviewers
who are not government employees. To fulfill this requirement, OSHA has
developed a Conflict of Interest (COI) and Disclosure Form, based on
NAS' Conflict of Interest Disclosure form. This form will be used to
determine whether or not a conflict exists for a potential peer review
panel member.
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 OMB's approval of the COI form, retaining
OSHA's current burden hour estimate of 27 hours. The Agency will
summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice, and will
include this summary in its request to OMB.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Title: OSHA's Conflict of Interest (COI) and Disclosure Form.
OMB Control Number: 1218-0255.
Affected Public: Individuals and households.
Number of Respondents: 36.
Frequency of Response: On occasion.
Total Responses: 36.
Average Time per Response: OSHA estimates it will take 30 minutes
(.5 hour) to complete the COI short form, and one (1) hour to complete
the COI long form.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 27.
Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $0.
IV. Public Participation--Submission of Comments on This Notice and
Internet Access to Comments and Submissions
You may submit comments in response to this document as follows:
(1) Electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal
eRulemaking Portal; (2) by facsimile (fax); or (3) by hard copy. All
comments, attachments, and other material must identify the Agency name
and the OSHA docket number for the ICR (Docket No. OSHA-2009-0042). You
may supplement electronic submissions by uploading document files
electronically. If you wish to mail additional materials in reference
to an electronic or facsimile submission, you must submit them to the
OSHA Docket Office (see the section of this notice titled ADDRESSES).
The additional materials must clearly identify your electronic comments
by your name, date, and the docket number so the Agency can attach them
to your comments.
Because of security procedures, the use of regular mail may cause a
significant delay in the receipt of comments. For information about
security procedures concerning the delivery of materials by hand,
express delivery, messenger, or courier service, please contact the
OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-2350, (TTY (877) 889-5627). Comments
and submissions are posted without change at http://www.regulations.gov. Therefore,
OSHA cautions commenters about submitting personal information such as
Social Security numbers and dates of birth. Although all submissions
are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index, some information
(e.g., copyrighted material) is not publicly available to read or
download through this Web site. All submissions, including copyrighted
material, are available for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket
Office. Information on using the http://www.regulations.gov Web site to
submit comments and access the docket is available at the Web site's
"User Tips" link. Contact the OSHA Docket Office for information
about materials not available through the Web site and for assistance
in using the Internet to locate docket submissions.
V. Authority and Signature
David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, 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. 1-2012
(77 FR 3912).
Signed at Washington, DC, on July 9, 2013.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2013-16974 Filed 7-15-13; 8:45 am]
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