[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 75 (Tuesday, April 19, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23268-23270]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-08310]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2011-0197]
Occupational Safety and Health State Plans; 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 request to extend
OMB's approval of information collection regarding the State Plans
program and regulations for the development and enforcement of state
occupational safety and health standards.
DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by
June 21, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Electronically: You may submit comments, including
attachments, electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, the Federal
eRulemaking Portal. Follow the instructions online for submitting
comments.
Docket: To read or download comments or other material in the
docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov. Documents in the docket 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 through the OSHA
Docket Office. Contact the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-2350 (TTY
(877) 889-5627) for
assistance in locating docket submissions.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and the
OSHA docket number for this Federal Register notice (OSHA-2017-0012).
OSHA will place comments, including personal information, in the public
docket, which may be available online. Therefore, OSHA cautions
interested parties about submitting personal information such as Social
Security numbers and birthdates. For further information on submitting
comments, see the ``Public Participation'' heading in the section of
this notice titled SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Seleda Perryman or Theda Kenney,
Directorate of Standards and Guidance, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor,
telephone (202) 693-2222.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Department of Labor, as part of a continuing effort to reduce
paperwork and respondent (i.e., the State plans) burden, conducts a
preclearance process 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, the reporting burden (time and costs) is minimal, the
collection instruments are clearly understood, and OSHA's estimate of
the information collection burden is accurate. OSHA is soliciting
comments concerning the extension of the information collection
requirements contained in the series of regulations establishing
requirements for the submission, initial approval, continuing approval,
final approval, monitoring, and evaluation of OSHA-approved State
Plans:
29 CFR part 1902, State Plans for the Development and
Enforcement of State Standards;
29 CFR part 1953, Changes to State Plans for the
Development and Enforcement of State Standards;
29 CFR part 1954, Procedures for the Evaluation and
Monitoring of Approved State Plans; and
29 CFR part 1956, State Plans for the Development and
Enforcement of State Standards Applicable to State and Local Government
Employees in States Without Approved Private Employee Plans.
Section 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (29 U.S.C.
667) offers an opportunity to the states to assume responsibility for
the development and enforcement of state standards through the
mechanism of an OSHA-approved State Plan. Absent an approved plan,
states are precluded from enforcing occupational safety and health
standards in the private sector with respect to any issue for which
Federal OSHA has promulgated a standard. Once approved and operational,
the state adopts standards and provides most occupational safety and
health enforcement and compliance assistance in the state under the
authority of its plan, instead of Federal OSHA. States also must extend
their jurisdiction to cover state and local government employees and
may obtain approval of State Plans limited in scope to these workers.
To obtain and maintain State Plan approval, a state must submit various
documents to OSHA describing program structure and operation, including
any modifications thereto as they occur, in accordance with the
identified regulations. OSHA funds 50 percent of the costs required to
be incurred by an approved State Plan, with the state at least matching
and providing additional funding at its discretion.
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
The agency is requesting an adjustment decrease to adjust the
number of burden hours associated with the developmental steps
necessary for certain states in the developmental process, including
Maine, Illinois, and Virgin Islands. In addition, the number of CASPAs
and State Plan Changes was modified to depict more realistically the
current trends in these numbers. As a result, the total burden hours
have decreased slightly from 11,369 to 11,055 (a decrease of 314 burden
hours).
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Title: Occupational Safety and Health Plans.
OMB Control Number: 1218-0247.
Affected Public: Designated state government agencies that are
seeking or have submitted and obtained approval for State Plans for the
development and enforcement of occupational safety and health
standards.
Number of Respondents: 28.
Frequency: On occasion; Quarterly; Annually.
Average Time per Response: Various.
Estimated Total Number of Responses: 1,255.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 11,055.
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. Please
note: While OSHA's Docket Office is continuing to accept and process
submissions by regular mail, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Docket
Office is closed to the public and not able to receive submissions to
the docket by hand, express mail, messenger, and courier service. All
comments, attachments, and other material must identify the agency name
and the OSHA docket number for this ICR (Docket No. OSHA-2011-0861).
You may supplement electronic submissions by uploading document files
electronically. If you wish to mail additional materials in reference
to an electronic or a 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 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.
Comments and submissions are posted without change at http://www.regulations.gov. Therefore, OSHA cautions commenters about
submitting personal information, such as their social security number
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
James S. Frederick, 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 April 11, 2022.
James S. Frederick,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2022-08310 Filed 4-18-22; 8:45 am]
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