E8-15393. 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 proposal to extend OMB approval of the information collection requirements specified in the Standard on Vinyl Chloride (29 CFR 1910.1017).

DATES:

Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by September 8, 2008.

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 three copies of your comments and attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2008-0021, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210. Deliveries (hand, express mail, messenger, and courier service) are accepted during the Department of Labor's and Docket Office's normal business hours, 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., e.t.

Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and OSHA docket number for the ICR (OSHA-2008-0021). All comments, including any personal information you provide, 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 address above. 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 through the Web site. All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. You may also contact Theda Kenney at the address below to obtain a copy of the ICR.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Theda Kenney or 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 (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 (the 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 that OSHA 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 information (29 U.S.C. 657).

The Standard specifies a number of paperwork requirements. The following is a brief description of the collection of information requirements contained in the Vinyl Chloride (VC) 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 perform additional monitoring 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 whose engineering and work practice controls cannot sufficiently 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 to OSHA for examination and copying. 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 is requesting that OMB extend its approval of the collection of information requirements contained in the Standard on Vinyl Chloride (29 CFR 1910.1017). The Agency is requesting to reduce its current burden hour estimate associated with the Standard from 1,758 hours to 712 hours for a total reduction of 1,046 hours. This decrease (based on new data obtained by the Agency) is a result of reducing the number of VC and PVC establishments from 77 to 32 establishments. The Agency will include this summary in its request to OMB to extend the approval of these collection of information requirements.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Title: Vinyl Chloride (29 CFR 1910.1017).

OMB Number: 1218-0010.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profits.

Number of Respondents: 32.

Total Responses: 1,108.

Frequency: On occasion.

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

Total Burden Hours: 1,758.

Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $48,928.

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 Webpage. 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 Webpage are available at http://www.OSHA.gov. Contact the OSHA Docket Office for information about materials not available through the OSHA Webpage and for assistance using the Webpage to locate docket submissions.

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

V. Authority and Signature

Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., 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. 5-2007 (72 FR 31159).

Signed at Washington, DC, on July 1, 2008.

Edwin G. Foulke, Jr.,

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.