05-11579. Standard on Vinyl Chloride; 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.

SUMMARY:

OSHA solicits public comment concerning its request for an extension of the information collection requirements contained in 29 CFR 1910.1017.

DATES:

Comments must be submitted by the following dates:

Hard copy: Your comments must be submitted (postmarked or received) by August 9, 2005.

Facsimile and electronic transmission: Your comments must be received by August 9, 2005.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by OSHA Docket No. ICR-1218-0010(2005), by any of the following methods:

Regular mail, express delivery, hand delivery, and messenger service: Submit your comments and attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone [phone] (OSHA's TTY number is [phone]). OSHA Docket Office and Department of Labor hours are 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., ET.

Facsimile: If your comments are 10 pages or fewer in length, including attachments, you may fax them to the OSHA Docket Office at [phone].

Electronic: You may submit comments through the Internet at http://ecomments.osha.gov. Follow instructions on the OSHA Web page for submitting comments.

Docket: For access to the docket to read or download comments or background materials, such as the complete Information Collection Request (ICR) (containing the Supporting Statement, OMB-83-I Form, and attachments), go to OSHA's Web page at http://www.OSHA.gov. In addition, the ICR, comments and submissions are available for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office at the address above. You may also contact Todd Owen at the address below to obtain a copy of the ICR. For additional information on submitting comments, please see the “Public Participation” heading in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Todd Owen, Directorate of Standards and Guidance, OSHA Room N-3609, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210, telephone [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

 

I. Background

The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing efforts 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)).

The 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)

On January 5, 2005, OSHA published the Standards Improvements Project—Phase II, Final rule (70 FR 1112). The final rule removed and revised provisions of standards that were outdated, duplicative, unnecessary, or inconsistent and clarified or simplified regulatory language. The final rule contained several revisions to collections of information in the Vinyl Chloride Standard.^[1] These revisions included: Reducing the frequency of exposure monitoring, employee medical examinations, and updating compliance plans; allowing employers the option to post employee exposure-monitoring results instead of requiring individual notification; eliminating the need for employers to report emergencies to OSHA and to notify OSHA when establishing a regulated area. Those changes reduced paperwork burden hours while maintaining worker protection and improving consistency among standards. The following is a brief description of the current collection of information requirements contained in the Vinyl Chloride Standard.

(A) Exposure Monitoring (§ 1910.1017(d))

Paragraph 1910.1017(d)(2) requires employers to conduct exposure monitoring at least quarterly if the results show that employee exposures are above the permissible exposure limit (PEL), while those exposed at or above the Action Level (AL) must be monitored no less than semiannually. Paragraph (d)(3) requires that employers must perform additional monitoring with samples to be taken whenever there has been a change in VC production, process or control that may result in an increase in the release of VC.

(B) Written Compliance Plan (§ 1910.1017(f)(2) and (f)(3))

Paragraph (f)(2) requires employers who cannot use engineering and work-practice controls immediately to reduce employee VC exposures to a level at or below the PEL to develop and implement a plan for doing so. Paragraph (f)(3) requires employers to develop this written plan and provide it upon request for examination and copying to OSHA. These plans must be updated annually.

(C) Medical Surveillance (§ 1910.1017(k))

Paragraph (k) requires employers to develop a medical surveillance program for employees exposed to VC in excess of the action level. Examinations must be provided in accordance with this paragraph at least annually. Employers must also obtain, and provide to each employee, a copy of a physician's statement regarding the employee's suitability for continued exposure to VC, including use of protective equipment and respirators if appropriate.

(D) Recordkeeping (§ 1910.1017(m))

Employers must maintain employee exposure and medical records. The VC standard requires that employers make available monitoring, measuring, and medical records at the request of the Assistant Secretary (usually an OSHA compliance officer).

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 proposes to extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the collections of information (paperwork) requirements necessitated by the Standard on Vinyl Chloride (29 CFR 1910.1017). The Agency will summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice and include this summary in its request to OMB to extend the approval of these collections of information requirements contained in the standards.

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

Title: Vinyl Chloride (29 CFR 1910.1017).

OMB Number: 1218-0010.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; Federal Government; State, local or tribal government.

Frequency: On occasion.

Average Time Per Response: Varies from 5 minutes (.08 hour) for employers to maintain records to 12 hours for employers to update their compliance plans.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,758.

Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $113,862.

IV. Public Participation—Submission of Comments on This Notice and Internet Access to Comments and Submissions

You may submit comments and supporting materials in response to this notice by (1) hard copy, (2) FAX transmission (facsimile), or (3) electronically through the OSHA Web page. 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] (TTY [phone]) for information about security procedures concerning the delivery of submissions by express delivery, hand delivery and courier service.

All comments, submissions and background documents are available for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office at the above address. Comments and submissions posted on OSHA's Web page are available at http://www.OSHA.gov. Contact the OSHA Docket Office for information about materials not available through the OSHA Web page and for assistance in using the Web page to locate docket submissions.

Electronic copies of this Federal Register notice as well as other relevant documents are available on OSHA's Web page. Since all submissions become public, private information such as social security numbers should not be submitted.

V. Authority and Signature

Jonathan L. Snare, Acting 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. 5-2002 (67 FR 65008).

Signed in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2005.

Jonathan L. Snare,

Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor.

Footnotes

1.  The Office of Management and Budget approved the reduction of 1,938 burden hours after reviewing the Information Collection Request for the Standards Improvements Project—Phase II Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, published October 31, 2002 (67 FR 66494). On January 5, 2005, when the final rule was published (70 FR 1112) documentation was submitted to OMB revising the reduction of 1,938 hours to 1,220 hours to reflect the increase in time to conduct exposure monitoring.