03-19346. Standard on Ethylene Oxide (EtO) (29 CFR 1910.1047); 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 comment.

SUMMARY:

OSHA requests comment concerning its proposed extension of the information-collection requirements contained in the Ethylene Oxide Standard (the “EtO Standard”) (29 CFR 1910.1047).

DATES:

Comments must be submitted by the following dates:

Hard Copy: Your comments must be submitted (postmarked or received) by September 29, 2003.

Facsimile and electronic transmission: Your comments must be received by September 29, 2003.

ADDRESSES:

I. Submission of Comments

Regular mail, express delivery, hand-delivery, and messenger service: Submit your comments and attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. ICR 1218-0108 (2003), Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 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 (202) 693-648. You must include the docket number, ICR 1218-0108 (2003), in your comments.

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

You may submit comments in response to this document by (1) hard copy, (2) FAX transmission (facsimile), or (3) electronically through the OSHA web page. Please not 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 materials by express delivery, hand delivery and messenger service.

II. Obtaining Copies of the Information Collection Request

The Supporting Statement of the Information Collection Request (ICR) is available for downloading form OSHA's web site at www.osha.gov. The complete ICR, containing the OMB83-I Form, Supporting Statement, and attachments, is available for inspection and copying in the OSHA Docket Office, at the address listed above. A printed copy of the ICR can be obtained by contacting Todd Owen at [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Todd Owen, Directorate of Standards and Guidance, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, 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 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 (PRA-95) (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 clearly understood, and OSHA's estimate of the information burden is correct. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the Act) authorizes information collection by employers as necessary or appropriate for enforcement of the Act of for developing information regarding the causes and prevention of occupational injuries, illnesses, and accidents (29 U.S.C. 657).

The information-collection requirements specified in the EtO Standard protect employees from the adverse health effects that may result from their exposure to EtO. The major information-collection requirements of the EtO Standard include notifying employees of their EtO exposures, implementing a written compliance program, providing examining physicians with specific information, ensuring that employees receive a copy of their medical-examination results, maintaining employees' exposure-monitoring and medical records for specific periods, and providing access to these records by OSHA, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the affected employees, and their authorized representatives.

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 to protect workers, 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 decrease the existing burden-hour estimate, and to extend OMB's approval, of the collection-of-information requirements contained in the EtO Standard. The Agency is decreasing its previous estimate of 49,200 hours to 43,991 hours. This 5,209 hour decrease mainly results from the 313 new hospitals identified in the previous ICR completing one time activities such as initial exposure-monitoring and initial employee medical examinations. The Agency will summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice, and will include this summary in its request to OMB to extend the approval of these information-collection requirements.

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

Title: Ethylene Oxide Standard (29 CFR 1910.1047).

OMB Number: 1218-0108.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Federal government, state, local or tribal government.

Number of Respondents: 5,667.

Frequency: On occasion.

Total Responses: 232,564.

Average Time per Response: Varies from 5 minutes to provide information to the examining physician to 2 hours for employees to receive medical examinations.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 43,991.

Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $6,595,597.

IV. 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 July 25, 2003.

John L. Henshaw,

Assistant Secretary of Labor.