[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 12 (Thursday, January 18, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2676-2677]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00731]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2011-0027]
Respiratory Protection 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 comments.
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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comments concerning its proposal to
extend OMB approval of the information collection requirements
specified by the Respiratory Protection Standard.
DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by
March 19, 2018.
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-2011-0027, U.S.
Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration,
Room N-3653, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210.
Deliveries (hand, express mail, messenger, and courier service) are
accepted during the Docket Office's normal business hours, 10:00 a.m.
to 3:00 p.m., ET.
Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and the
OSHA docket number (OSHA-2011-0027) 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 above address. 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 website. 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: Charles McCormick or Theda Kenney,
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 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 OSH 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). The OSH Act also requires
that OSHA 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).
The Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR 1910.134; hereafter,
``the Standard'') contains information collection requirements that
require employers to: develop a written respirator program; conduct
worker medical evaluations and provide follow-up medical evaluations to
determine the worker's ability to use a respirator; provide the
physician or other licensed healthcare professional with information
about the worker's respirator and the conditions under
which the worker will use the respirator; and administer fit tests for
workers who will use negative- or positive-pressure, tight-fitting
facepieces. In addition, employers must ensure that workers store
emergency-use respirators in compartments clearly marked as containing
emergency-use respirators. For respirators maintained for emergency
use, employers must label or tag the respirator with a certificate
stating the date of the inspection, the name of the individual who did
the inspection, the findings of the inspection, required remedial
action, and the identity of the respirator.
The Standard also requires employers to ensure that cylinders used
to supply breathing air to respirators have a certificate of analysis
from the supplier stating that the breathing air meets the requirements
for Type 1--Grade D breathing air; such certification assures employers
that the purchased breathing air is safe. Compressors used to supply
breathing air to respirators must have a tag containing the most recent
change date and the signature of the individual authorized by the
employer to perform the change. Employers must maintain this tag at the
compressor. These tags provide assurance that the compressors are
functioning properly.
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 is requesting that OMB extend its approval of the information
collection requirements contained in the Respiratory Protection
Standard (29 CFR 1910.134). The Agency is requesting an adjustment
increase in the number of burden hours from 6,642,537 to 7,622,100
hours, a total increase of 979,563 burden hours. This increase is based
on updated data showing an increase in the number of covered
establishments. In addition, OSHA is requesting an adjustment increase
of $139,348,226 in operation and maintenance costs (from $232,934,143
to $372,282,369) associated with increased estimated costs for employee
medical exams, fit-testing materials and fit-tests. The Agency will
summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice and will
include this summary in the request to OMB.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Title: Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR 1910.134).
OMB Control Number: 1218-0099.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profits.
Number of Respondents: 631,607.
Frequency of Responses: Initially; Annually; On occasion.
Total Responses: 25,621,506.
Average Time per Response: Varies from 5 minutes (.08 hour) to mark
a storage compartment or protective cover to 8 hours for large
employers to gather and prepare information to develop a written plan.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 7,622,100.
Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $372,282,369.
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 (Docket No. OSHA-2011-0027) for the ICR. 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
date 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 from this
website. All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available
for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. Information on
using the http://www.regulations.gov website to submit comments and
access the docket is available at the website's ``User Tips'' link.
Contact the OSHA Docket Office for information about materials not
available from the website, and for assistance in using the internet to
locate docket submissions.
V. Authority and Signature
Loren Sweatt, Deputy 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 January 11, 2018.
Loren Sweatt,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2018-00731 Filed 1-17-18; 8:45 am]
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