[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 57 (Monday, March 24, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15541-15542]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-5837]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2007-0086]
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 comment.
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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comment concerning its proposal to extend
OMB approval of the information collection requirements specified by
the Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR 1910.134).
DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by
May 23, 2008.
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 three copies of your comments
and attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, OSHA Docket No. OSHA-2007-
0086, 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 for the ICR (OSHA-2007-0086). 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 through the website. All submissions,
including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and
copying at the OSHA Docket Office. You may also contact Jamaa Hill at
the address below to obtain a copy of the ICR.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jamaa N. Hill 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 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). The 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
employee medical evaluations and provide follow-up medical evaluations
to determine the employee's ability to use a respirator; provide the
physician or other licensed health care professional with information
about the employee's respirator and the conditions under which the
employee will use the respirator; and administer fit tests for
employees who will use negative-or positive-pressure, tight-fitting
facepieces. In addition, employers must ensure that employees 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 made
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
[[Page 15542]]
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 proposing to extend the information collection requirements
contained in the Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR 1910.134). The
Agency is requesting to increase its current burden hour total from
6,551,314 hours to 7,159,601 for a total increase of 608,287 hours. The
Agency will summarize the comments submitted in response to this
notice, and will include this summary in the request to OMB to extend
the approval of the information collection requirements contained in
the Standard. 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 information
collection requirement.
Title: Respiratory Protection Standard.
OMB Number: 1218-0099.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; not-for-profit
institutions; Federal government; State, local, or tribal governments.
Number of Respondents: 639,623.
Frequency of Response: Annually; monthly; on occasion.
Total Responses: 22,547,185.
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: 7,159,601.
Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $164,751,553.
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-2007-0086). 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 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 website, and for assistance in
using the Internet to locate docket submissions.
V. Authority and Signature
Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., 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. 5-2007 (72 FR
31159).
Signed at Washington, DC, on March 17, 2008.
Edwin G. Foulke, Jr.,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. E8-5837 Filed 3-21-08; 8:45 am]
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