2020-02306. Asbestos in General Industry; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of Collection of Information

AGENCY:

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.

ACTION:

Request for public comments.

SUMMARY:

OSHA solicits public comments concerning the proposal to extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the collection of information contained in the Standard on Asbestos in General Industry.

DATES:

Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by April 6, 2020.

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 [phone].

Mail, hand delivery, express mail, messenger, or courier service: When using this method, you must submit your comments and attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2010-0018, 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 OSHA 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-2010-0018) for the Information Collection Request (ICR). All comments, including any personal information you provide, such as social security number and date of birth, 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 [phone] to obtain a copy of the ICR.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Theda Kenney or Seleda Perryman, Directorate of Standards and Guidance, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, telephone [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The Department of Labor, as part of the 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 collection of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (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 (OSH Act) (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) authorizes information collection by employers as necessary or appropriate for enforcement of the OSH 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 OSHA to 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 said information (29 U.S.C. 657).

The basic purpose of the collection of information in the Asbestos in General Industry Standard (29 CFR 1910.1001) (the Standard) is to document that employers in general industry are providing their workers with protection from exposure to hazardous asbestos. Asbestos exposure results in asbestosis, an emphysema-like condition; lung cancer; mesothelioma; and gastrointestinal cancer.

Several provisions of the Standard require a collection of information, including: Implementing an exposure monitoring program that notifies workers of their exposure monitoring results, establishing a written compliance program, and informing laundry personnel of the requirement to prevent release of airborne asbestos above the time-weighted average and excursion limit. Other information collection in the Standard include: Maintaining records of information obtained concerning the presence, location, and quantity of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) and/or presumed asbestos-containing materials (PACMs) in a building/facility; notifying housekeeping workers of the presence and location of ACMs and PACMs in areas they may occupy during their work; and using information, data, and analyses to demonstrate that PACMs do not contain asbestos. In addition, the collection of information in the Standard includes: Providing medical surveillance for workers potentially exposed to ACMs and/or PACMs, including administering a worker medical questionnaire, providing information to the examining physician, and providing the physician's written opinion to the worker; maintaining records of exposure monitoring, objective data used for exposure determinations, and medical surveillance; and making specified records (e.g., exposure monitoring and medical surveillance records) available to designated parties.

This collection of information permits employers, workers and their designated representatives, OSHA, and other specified parties to determine the effectiveness of an employer's asbestos-control program. Accordingly, the requirements ensure that workers exposed to asbestos receive all of the protections afforded by the Standard.

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 an adjustment increase in the burden hours from 11,688 hours to 11,745 hours, for a total increase of 57 hours. The increase is due to the agency's use of a new method for rounding burden hours. Capital costs increased, from $963,650 to $1,018,728, an increase of $55,078. This adjustment is related to increased costs to conduct a medical examination (from $156 to $165). In addition, the estimated costs for contract industrial hygiene services to conduct exposure monitoring sampling increased from $50.25 to $52.52. The increase in the exposure monitoring sampling cost is due to the agency's use of a different method of calculating employee compensation.

OSHA is providing the following summary information about the Asbestos in General Industry information collection:

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Title: Asbestos in General Industry (29 CFR 1910.1001).

OMB Control Number: 1218-0133.

Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits.

Number of Respondents: 121.

Frequency of Responses: Varies.

Total Responses: 30,847.

Average Time per Response: Varies.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 11,745.

Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $1,018,728.

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; or (3) by hard copy. All comments, attachments, and other material must identify the agency name and the OSHA docket number for this ICR (Docket No. OSHA-2010-0018). 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.

Due to 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 [phone], (TTY [phone]).

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

Loren Sweatt, Principal 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 29, 2020.

Loren Sweatt,

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.