04-6100. Grantee Quarterly Progress Report; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's Approval of Information-Collection (Paperwork) Requirements

AGENCY:

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.

ACTION:

Request for comment.

SUMMARY:

OSHA requests comments concerning its proposed extension of the information-collection requirements specified by the Grantee Quarterly Progress Report.

DATES:

Comments must be submitted by the following dates:

Hard Copy: Your comments must be submitted (postmarked or received) by May 17, 2004.

Facsimile and electronic transmissions: Your comments must be received by May 17, 2004.

ADDRESSES:

I. Submission of Comments

Regular mail, express delivery, hand-delivery, and messenger service: Submit your written comments and attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. ICR-1218-0100(2004), U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; OSHA Docket Office and Department of Labor hours of operation are 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., EST.

Facsimile: If your comments, including any attachments, are 10 pages or fewer, you may fax them to the OSHA Docket Office at [phone]. You must include the docket number, ICR 1218-0100(2004), in your comments.

Electronic: You may submit comments, but not attachments, through the Internet at http://ecomments.osha.gov.

II. Obtaining Copies of the Supporting Statement for the Information Collection Request

The Supporting Statement for the Information Collection Request is available for downloading from OSHA's Web site at http://www.osha.gov. The supporting statement is available for inspection and copying in the OSHA Docket Office, at the address listed above. A printed copy of the supporting statement can be obtained by contacting Todd Owen at [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Cynthia Bencheck, Division of Training and Educational Programs, OSHA Office of Training and Education, 2020 S. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights, Illinois 60005; telephone: [phone]; e-mail: [e-mail]; or facsimile: [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

I. Submission of Comments in This Notice and Internet Access to Comments and Submissions

You may submit comments in response to this document by (1) hard copy, (2) FAX transmission (facsimile), or (3) electronically through the OSHA webpage. Please note you cannot attach materials such as studies or journal articles to electronic comments. If you have additional materials, you must submit three copies of them to the OSHA Docket Office at the address above. The additional materials must clearly identify your electronic comments by name, date, subject and docket number so we can attach them to your comments. Because of security-related problems there may be a significant delay in the receipt of comments by regular mail. Please contact the OSHA Docket Office at [phone] for information about security procedures concerning the delivery of material by express delivery, hand delivery and messenger service.

II. 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 (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 correct.

Section 21 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the “OSH Act”) (29 U.S.C. 670) authorizes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA” or the “Agency”) to conduct directly, or through grants and contracts, education and training courses. These courses must ensure an adequate number of qualified personnel to fulfill the purposes of the Act, provide them with short-term training, inform them of the importance and proper use of safety and health equipment, and train employers and employees to recognize, avoid, and prevent unsafe and unhealthful working conditions.

Under Section 21, OSHA awards training grants to nonprofit organizations to provide part of the required training. The Agency requires organizations that receive these grants to submit quarterly progress reports that provide information on their grant-funded training activities; these reports allow OSHA to monitor the grantee's performance and to determine if an organization is using grant funds as specified in its grant application. Accordingly, the Agency compares the information provided in the quarterly progress report to the quarterly milestones proposed by the organization in the workplan and budget that accompanied the grant application. This information includes: Identifier data (organization name and grant number); the date and location where the training occurred; the length of training (hours); the number of employees and employers attending training sessions provided by the organization during the quarter; a description of the training provided; a narrative account of the grant activities conducted during the quarter; and an evaluation of progress regarding planned versus actual work accomplished. This comparison permits OSHA to determine if the organization is meeting the proposed program goals and objectives, and spending funds in the manner described in the proposed budget.

Requiring these reports on a quarterly basis enables OSHA to identify workplan, training and expenditure discrepancies in a timely fashion so that it can implement appropriate action. In addition, this information permits the Agency to access an organization's ability to meet projected milestones and expenditures; this ability serves as one of the criteria used by the Agency in determining whether or not to renew the organization's training grant for subsequent years.

III. 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 the Agency'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.

IV. Proposed Actions

OSHA is proposing to extend the information-collection (paperwork) requirements specified in the Grantee Quarterly Progress Report. The Agency will summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice, and will include this summary, along with the comments, in its request to OMB to extend the approval of these information-collection requirements.

Type of Review: Extension of currently approved information-collection requirements.

Title: Grantee Quarterly Progress Report.

OMB Number: 1218-0100.

Affected Public: Not-for-profit institutions.

Number of Respondents: 67.

Frequency: Quarterly.

Total Responses: 67.

Average Time Per Response: 12 hours.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 3,216.

(Operations and Maintenance): $0.

V. Authority and Signature

John L. Henshaw, 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) and Secretary of Labor's Order No. 5-2002 (67 FR 65008).

Signed at Washington, DC, on March 15, 2004.

John L. Henshaw,

Assistant Secretary of Labor.