[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 14, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-14323]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: June 14, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
29 CFR Parts 1910, 1915, 1926 and 1928
[Docket No. H-122]
RIN 1218-AB37
Indoor Air Quality; Proposed Rule
AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Extension of Comment Period and Rescheduling of Public Hearing.
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SUMMARY: By this document, the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) is extending the comment period and dates for
submitting notices of intention to appear, as well as hearing testimony
and evidence, and is postponing the public hearing on the proposed rule
on indoor air quality which was published on April 5, 1994 (59 FR
15968). The comment period was to end on June 29, 1994; public hearings
were scheduled to begin on July 12, 1994. Following publication of the
proposal, thirteen written requests to extend the comment period or
postpone the public hearing were received. As a result of these
requests, OSHA is extending the comment period to August 13, 1994.
Public hearings will be scheduled to begin on September 20, 1994.
DATES: Comments must be postmarked on or before August 13, 1994.
Notices of Intention to Appear at the public hearing must be postmarked
on or before August 5, 1994. Testimony and evidence to be submitted at
the hearing must be postmarked by August 13, 1994. The hearing will
begin at 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, September 20, 1994 in Washington, DC.
ADDRESSES: Comments are to be submitted in quadruplicate or 1 original
(hard copy) and 1 disk (5-1/4 or 3-1/2) in WP 5.0, 5.1, 6.0 or Ascii
to: Docket Office, Docket No. H-122, room N-2625, U. S. Department of
Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; Telephone:
(202) 219-7894. Any information not contained on disk, e.g., studies,
articles, etc., must be submitted in quadruplicate.
Notices of intention to appear and testimony and evidence are to be
submitted in quadruplicate to: Mr. Thomas Hall, Division of Consumer
Affairs, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 200
Constitution Avenue, NW., room N-3649, Washington, DC 20210; Telephone:
(202) 219-8615.
The hearing will be held in the auditorium, of the U.S. Department
of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. James F. Foster, Office of Public
Affairs, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, room N-3649, U.
S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC
20210; Telephone: (202) 219-8151.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On April 5, 1994, OSHA published a notice of proposed rulemaking on
indoor air quality (59 FR 15968 et seq.). The proposal covered a broad
range of issues falling into two major categories: (1) General indoor
air quality as manifested in sick building syndrome and building
related illnesses; and (2) environmental tobacco smoke.
Extension of the Comment Period and Re-scheduling of the Public
Hearings
Thus far OSHA has receive thirteen written requests to extend the
comment period or re-schedule the public hearing to a later date. These
requests have been received from: Business Council on Indoor Air (Exh.
9-121), Law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky, and Walker (Exh. 9-2265),
National Energy Management Institute (Exh. 9-229), Barrera Associates,
Inc. (Exh. 9-539), R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (Exh. 9-540), Clean
Air Device Manufacturers Coalition (Exh. 9-1610), ICF Kaiser
Environment and Energy Group (Exh. 9-1612), Philip Morris (Exh. 9-
2202), Total Indoor Environmental Quality Coalition (Exh. 9-541),
American Nurses Association (Exh. 9-2263), National Licensed Beverage
Association (Exh. 9-2264), United Technologies Carrier (Exh. 9-1613)
and United Air Specialists, Inc (Exh. 9-2288). The requesters believe
that a number of factors including the amount and complexity of
information relied on in the proposal, the desire of interested persons
to submit extensive comments and for various trade associations to
coordinate among their members justify a modest extension of time.
Based on these requests, the Agency has agreed to an extension of the
comment period and has re-scheduled the public hearings to allow more
time for interested persons to adequately prepare their response to the
OSHA proposal. OSHA's rules for participating in its rulemaking were
printed in the proposal (59 FR 16034). All persons interested in
participating in this proceeding are requested to review these rules in
their entirety. For public convenience these procedures are summarized
below.
Notice of Intention to Appear at the Informal Hearing
Pursuant to section 6(b)(3) of the OSH Act, an informal public
hearing will be held on the IAQ proposal in Washington, DC from
September 20 through October 14, 1994. The hearing may be extended if
this period is not adequate to accommodate all those filing valid
notices of intention to appear at the public hearing or the hearing may
be shortened if the schedule is completed earlier.
The hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, September 20, 1994
in the auditorium of the Frances Perkins Building, U.S. Department of
Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210.
Persons desiring to participate at the informal public hearing must
file a notice of intention to appear by August 5, 1994. The notice of
intention to appear must contain the following information:
1. The name, address, and telephone number of each person to
appear;
2. The capacity in which the person will appear;
3. The approximate amount of time required for the presentation;
4. The issues that will be addressed;
5. A brief statement of the position that will be taken with
respect to each issue; and
6. Whether the party intends to submit documentary evidence and, if
so, a brief summary of it.
The notice of intention to appear shall be mailed to Mr. Thomas
Hall, OSHA Division of Consumer Affairs, Docket No. H-122, U. S.
Department of Labor, room N-3647, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20210; Telephone: (202) 219-8615.
A notice of intention to appear may also be transmitted by
facsimile to (202) 219-5986, by the same date, provided that the
original and 3 copies are sent to the same address and postmarked by
the due date.
Individuals with disabilities wishing to attend the hearing should
contact the hearing management officer, Mr. Thomas Hall, to obtain
appropriate accommodations at the hearing.
Filing of Testimony and Evidence Before the Hearing
Any party requesting to appear at the hearing or anyone who intends
to submit documentary evidence, must provide in quadruplicate the
testimony and evidence to be presented at the informal public hearing.
One copy shall not be stapled or bound and must be suitable for
copying. These materials must be provided to Mr. Thomas Hall, OSHA
Division of Consumer Affairs at the address above and must be
postmarked no later than August 13, 1994.
Each submission will be reviewed carefully in light of the amount
of time requested in the notice of intention to appear. In instances
where the information contained in the submission does not justify the
amount of time requested, a more appropriate amount of time will be
allocated and the participant will be notified of that fact prior to
the informal public hearing.
Any party who has not complied with the above requirement may be
denied an opportunity to participate or may be requested to return for
questioning at a later time.
Any party who has not filed a notice of intention to appear may be
allowed to testify for no more than 10 minutes as time permits, at the
discretion of the Administrative Law Judge, but will not be allowed to
question other witnesses. Because of the great amount of interest that
the proposal has generated thus far, there may not be enough time to
accommodate those individuals wishing to make short presentations who
have not filed valid notices of intention to appear; however, efforts
will be made to allow such short presentations.
Notices of intention to appear, testimony and evidence will be
available for inspection and copying at the Docket Office at the
address noted above.
Conduct and Nature of Hearing
The hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. on September 20, 1994. At that
time, any procedural matters relating to the proceeding will be
resolved.
The nature of an informal rulemaking hearing is established in the
legislative history of section 6 of the OSH Act and is reflected by
OSHA's rules of procedure for hearings (29 CFR 1911.15(a)). Although
the presiding officer is an Administrative Law Judge and questioning by
interested persons is allowed on crucial issues, the proceeding is
informal and legislative in nature. The Agency's intent, in essence, is
to provide interested persons with an opportunity to make effective
oral presentation which can proceed expeditiously in the absence of
procedural restraints which impede or protract the rulemaking process.
Additionally, since the hearing is primarily for information
gathering and clarification, it is an informal administrative
proceeding rather than an adjudicative one. The technical rules of
evidence, for example, do not apply. The regulations that govern
hearings (29 CFR part 1911) and the pre-hearing guidelines to be issued
for this hearing will ensure fairness and due process and also
facilitate the development of a clear, accurate and complete record.
These rules and guidelines will be interpreted in a manner that
furthers the development of a clear record. Thus, questions of
relevance, procedure and participation generally will be decided so as
to favor the development of the record.
The hearings will be conducted in accordance with 29 CFR part 1911.
It should be noted that Sec. 1911.4 specifies that the Assistant
Secretary may, upon reasonable notice, issue alternative procedures to
expedite proceedings or for other good cause. The hearing will be
presided over by an Administrative Law Judge who makes no decision or
recommendation on the merits of OSHA's proposal. The responsibility of
the Administrative Law Judge is to ensure that the hearing proceeds at
a reasonable pace and in an orderly manner. The Administrative Law
Judge, therefore, will have all powers necessary and appropriate to
conduct a full and fair informal hearing as provided in 29 CFR Part
1911, including the powers:
1. To regulate the course of the proceedings;
2. To dispose of procedural requests, objections and comparable
matters;
3. To confine the presentations to the matters pertinent to the
issues raised;
4. To regulate the conduct of those present at the hearing by
appropriate means;
5. In the judge's discretion, to question and permit the
questioning of any witness and to limit the time for questioning; and
6. In the Judge's discretion, to keep the record open for a
reasonable, stated time to receive written information and additional
data, views and arguments from any person who has participated in the
oral proceedings.
OSHA recognizes that there may be interested persons or
organizations who, through their knowledge of the subject matter or
their experience in the field, would wish to endorse or support the
whole proposal or certain provisions of the proposal. OSHA welcomes
such supportive comments, including any pertinent data and cost
information which may be available, in order that the record of this
rulemaking will present a balanced picture of the public response on
the issues involved.
Authority and Signature
This document was prepared under the direction of Joseph A. Dear,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, U. S.
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC
20210. It is issued pursuant to section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety
and Health Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1593, 29 U.S.C. 655).
Signed at Washington, DC, this 6th day of June 1994.
Joseph A. Dear,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 94-14323 Filed 6-13-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-26-P
