[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 9]
[Revised as of July 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR1954.1]

[Page 134]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
CHAPTER XVII--OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT 
                          OF LABOR--(CONTINUED)
 
PART 1954--PROCEDURES FOR THE EVALUATION AND MONITORING OF APPROVED STATE PLANS--Table of Contents
 
                           Subpart A--General
 
Sec. 1954.1  Purpose and scope.


    (a) Section 18(f) of the Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and 
Health Act of 1970 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) provides that 
``the Secretary shall, on the basis of reports submitted by the State 
agency and his own inspections make a continuing evaluation of the 
manner in which each State having a plan approved *  *  * is carrying 
out such plan.''
    (b) This part 1954 applies to the provisions of section 18(f) of the 
Act relating to the evaluation of approved plans for the development and 
enforcement of State occupational safety and health standards. The 
provisions of this part 1954 set forth the policies and procedures by 
which the Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health 
(hereinafter referred to as the Assistant Secretary) under a delegation 
of authority from the Secretary of Labor (Secretary's Order 12-71, 36 FR 
8754, May 12, 1971) will continually monitor and evaluate the operation 
and administration of approved State plans.
    (c) Following approval of a State plan under section 18(c) of the 
Act, workplaces in the State are subject to a period of concurrent 
Federal and State authority. The period of concurrent enforcement 
authority must last for at least three years. Before ending Federal 
enforcement authority, the Assistant Secretary is required to make a 
determination as to whether the State plan, in actual operation, is 
meeting the criteria in section 18(c) of the Act including the 
requirements in part 1902 of this chapter and the assurances in the 
approval plan itself. After an affirmative determination has been made, 
the provisions of sections 5(a)(2), 8 (except for the purpose of 
carrying out section 18(f) of the Act), 9, 10, 13, and 17 of the Act 
shall not apply with respect to any occupational safety or health issues 
covered under the plan. The Assistant Secretary may, however, retain 
jurisdiction under the above provisions in any proceeding commenced 
under section 9 or 10 of the Act before the date of the determination 
under section 18(e) of the Act.
    (d) During this period of concurrent Federal and State authority, 
the operation and administration of the plan will be continually 
evaluated under section 18(f) of the Act. This evaluation will continue 
even after an affirmative determination has been made under section 
18(e) of the Act.

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