[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 146 (Monday, July 30, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36625-36627]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-16214]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2007-0042]
TUV Rheinland of North America, Inc.: Applications for Expansion
of Recognition
AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In this notice, OSHA announces the applications of TUV
Rheinland of North America, Inc., for expansion of its scope of
recognition as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) and
presents the agency's preliminary finding to grant the applications.
DATES: Submit comments, information, and documents in response to this
notice, or requests for an extension of time to make a submission, on
or before August 14, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments by any of the following methods:
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-2007-0042,
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of
Labor, 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 OSHA
docket number (OSHA-2007-0042) 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 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 through the website. All submissions,
including copyrighted material, are available for
inspection at the OSHA Docket Office. You may also contact Kevin
Robinson at the contact information below to obtain a copy of the ICR.
Extension of comment period: Submit requests for an extension of
the comment period on or before August 14, 2018 to the Office of
Technical Programs and Coordination Activities, Directorate of
Technical Support and Emergency Management, Occupational Safety and
Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution
Avenue NW, Room N-3653, Washington, DC 20210, or by fax to (202) 693-
1644.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Information regarding this notice is
available from the following sources:
Press inquiries: Contact Mr. Frank Meilinger, Director, OSHA Office
of Communications, U.S. Department of Labor, telephone: (202) 693-1999;
email: meilinger.francis2@dol.gov.
General and technical information: Contact Mr. Kevin Robinson,
Director, Office of Technical Programs and Coordination Activities,
Directorate of Technical Support and Emergency Management, Occupational
Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, phone:
(202) 693-2110 or email: robinson.kevin@dol.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Notice of the Applications for Expansion
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is providing
notice that TUV Rheinland of North America, Inc. (TUVRNA), is applying
for expansion of its current recognition as an NRTL. TUVRNA requests
the addition of four (4) recognized testing and certification sites,
and two (2) additional test standards to its NRTL scope of recognition.
OSHA recognition of an NRTL signifies that the organization meets
the requirements specified in 29 CFR 1910.7. Recognition is an
acknowledgment that the organization can perform independent safety
testing and certification of the specific products covered within its
scope of recognition. Each NRTL's scope of recognition includes (1) the
type of products the NRTL may test, with each type specified by the
applicable test standard and (2) the recognized site(s) that has/have
the technical capability to perform the product-testing and product-
certification activities for test standards within the NRTL's scope.
Recognition is not a delegation or grant of government authority;
however, recognition enables employers to use products approved by the
NRTL to meet OSHA standards that require product testing and
certification.
The Agency processes applications by a NRTL for initial recognition
and for an expansion or renewal of this recognition, following
requirements in Appendix A to 29 CFR 1910.7. This appendix requires
that the agency publish two notices in the Federal Register in
processing an application. In the first notice, OSHA announces the
application and provides its preliminary finding. In the second notice,
the agency provides the final decision on the application. These
notices set forth the NRTL's scope of recognition or modifications of
that scope. OSHA maintains an informational web page for each NRTL,
including TUVRNA, which details the NRTL's scope of recognition. These
pages are available from the OSHA website at http://www.osha.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/index.html.
TUVRNA currently has five facilities (sites) recognized by OSHA for
product testing and certification, with its headquarters located at:
TUV Rheinland of North America, Inc., 12 Commerce Road, Newtown,
Connecticut 06470. A complete list of TUVRNA sites recognized by OSHA
is available at https://www.osha.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/tuv.html.
II. General Background on the Applications
TUVRNA submitted two applications, one dated March 30, 2016 (OSHA-
2007-0042-0030) and another dated April 19, 2017 (OSHA-2007-0042-0031),
to expand its recognition to include the addition of four recognized
testing and certification sites located at: TUV Rheinland (Shenzhen)
Co., Ltd. 1f East & 2-4F, Cybio Technology Building No. 1, No. 16,
Keibei 2nd Road, High-Tech Industrial Park North, Nashan District,
518057 Shenzhen China; TUV Rheinland (Shanghai) Co., Ltd, TUV Rheinland
Building No. 177, Lane 777, West Guangzhong Road, Zhabei District,
Shanghai 200072, P.R. China; TUV Rheinland Taiwan Ltd., 11F., No 758,
Sec. 4, Bade Rd., Songshan Dist., Taipei City 105, Taiwan; and TUV
Rheinland Taiwan Ltd., Taichung Branch Office, No. 9, Lane 36, Minsheng
Rod., Sec. 3, Daya District, Taichung City 428, Taiwan. TUVRNA's
applications also requested the addition of two additional test
standards to its scope of recognition. In 2017 OSHA staff performed an
on-site review of TUVRNA's testing facilities on August 7-8 at TUV
Rheinland Shanghai, August 10-11at TUV Rheinland Shenzhen, August 14-15
at TUV Rheinland Taipei, and August 16, 2017 at TUV Rheinland Taichung,
in which the assessors found some nonconformances with the requirements
of 29 CFR 1910.7. TUVRNA addressed these issues sufficiently, and OSHA
staff preliminarily determined that OSHA should grant the applications
for expansion.
Table 1 below lists the appropriate test standards found in
TUVRNA's applications for expansion for testing and certification of
products under the NRTL Program.
Table 1--Proposed List of Appropriate Test Standards for Inclusion in
TUVRNA's NRTL Scope of Recognition
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Test standard Test standard title
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NFPA 496.......................... Purged and Pressurized Enclosures
for Electrical Equipment.
UL 698A........................... Industrial and Classification of
Mercantile and Bank Burglar-Alarm
Systems.
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III. Preliminary Finding on the Applications
TUVRNA submitted acceptable applications for expansion of its scope
of recognition. OSHA's review of the application files and detailed on-
site assessments indicate that TUVRNA can meet the requirements
prescribed by 29 CFR 1910.7 for expanding recognition to include the
addition of four sites and these two test standards for NRTL testing
and certification. This preliminary finding does not constitute an
interim or temporary approval of TUVRNA's applications.
OSHA welcomes public comment as to whether TUVRNA meets the
requirements of 29 CFR 1910.7 for expansion of its recognition as a
NRTL. Comments should consist of pertinent written documents and
exhibits. Commenters needing more time to comment must submit a request
in writing, stating the reasons for the request by the due date for
comments. OSHA will limit any extension to 10
days unless the requester justifies a longer time period. OSHA may deny
a request for an extension if it is not adequately justified. To obtain
or review copies of the exhibits identified in this notice, as well as
comments submitted to the docket, contact the Docket Office,
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of
Labor, listed in ADDRESSES. These materials also are available online
at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. OSHA-2007-0042.
OSHA staff will review all comments to the docket submitted in a
timely manner. After addressing the issues raised by these comments,
staff will make a recommendation to the Assistant Secretary for
Occupational Safety and Health on whether to grant TUVRNA's
applications for expansion of its scope of recognition. The Assistant
Secretary will make the final decision on granting the applications. In
making this decision, the Assistant Secretary may undertake other
proceedings prescribed in Appendix A to 29 CFR 1910.7.
OSHA will publish a public notice of this final decision in the
Federal Register.
Authority and Signature
Loren Sweatt, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational
Safety and Health, authorized the preparation of this notice.
Accordingly, the Agency is issuing this notice pursuant to 29 U.S.C.
657(g)(2), Secretary of Labor's Order No. 1-2012 (77 FR 3912, Jan. 25,
2012), and 29 CFR 1910.7.
Signed at Washington, DC, on July 24, 2018.
Loren Sweatt,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2018-16214 Filed 7-27-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-26-P
