2023-19313. Hazardous Wastes Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) Standard; 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 comments.

SUMMARY:

OSHA solicits public comments concerning the proposal to extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the information collection requirements specified in the Hazardous Wastes Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) Standard.

DATES:

Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by November 6, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Electronically: You may submit comments and attachments electronically at https://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Follow the instructions online for submitting comments.

Docket: To read or download comments or other material in the docket, go to https://www.regulations.gov. Documents in the docket are listed in the https://www.regulations.gov index; however, some information ( e.g., copyrighted material) is not publicly available to read or download through the website. All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available for inspection through the OSHA Docket Office. Contact the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693–2350 (TTY (877) 889–5627) for assistance in locating docket submissions.

Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and OSHA docket number (OSHA–2011–0862) for the Information Collection Request (ICR). OSHA will place all comments, including any personal information, in the public docket, which may be made available online. Therefore, OSHA cautions interested parties about submitting personal information such as social security numbers and birthdates.

For further information on submitting comments, see the “Public Participation” heading in the section of this notice titled SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION .

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Seleda Perryman, Directorate of Standards and Guidance, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor; telephone [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The Department of Labor, as part of the 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) (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, the collection instruments are clearly understood, and OSHA's estimate of the information collection burden is accurate. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (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 effort in obtaining information (29 U.S.C. 657).

The following sections describe who uses the information collected under each requirement, as well as how they use it.

The HAZWOPER standard specifies a number of collections of information (paperwork) requirements. Employers can use the information collected under the HAZWOPER rule to develop the various programs the standard requires and to ensure that their workers are trained properly about the safety and health hazards associated with hazardous waste operations and emergency response to hazardous waste releases. OSHA will use the records developed in response to this standard to determine adequate compliance with the standard's safety and health provisions. The employer's failure to collect and distribute the information required in this standard will affect significantly OSHA's effort to control and reduce injuries and fatalities. Such failure would also be contrary to the direction Congress provided in Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA).

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 is requesting that OMB extend the approval of the information collection requirements contained in the Standard on Hazardous Wastes Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER). The agency is requesting an adjustment decrease of 9,293 burden hours (from 260,295 hours to 251,002 hours). This decrease is due to a slight decline in the number of emergency response organizations from 29,727 to 27,186, a decrease of 2,541 organizations.

OSHA will summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice and will include this summary in the request to OMB to extend the approval of the information collection requirements.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Title: Hazardous Wastes Operations and Emergency Response.

OMB Control Number: 1218–0202.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; Not-for-profit organizations, Federal Government; State, Local, or Tribal Government.

Number of Respondents: 27,186.

Number of Responses: 1,399,634.

Frequency of: On occasion.

Average Time per Response: Varies.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 251,002.

Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $3,769,483.

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

You may submit comments in response to this document as follows: (1) electronically at https://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal eRulemaking Portal; (2) by facsimile (fax), if your comments, including attachments, are not longer than 10 pages, you may fax them to the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693–1648; or (3) by hard copy. All comments, attachments, and other material must identify the agency name and the OSHA docket number for the ICR (OSHA–2011–0862). You may supplement electronic submissions by uploading document files electronically.

Comments and submissions are posted without change at https://www.regulations.gov. Therefore, OSHA cautions commenters about submitting personal information such as social security numbers and dates of birth. Although all submissions are listed in the https://www.regulations.gov index, some information ( e.g., copyrighted material) is not publicly available to read or download from this website. All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. Information on using the https://www.regulations.gov website to submit comments and access the docket is available at the website's “User Tips” link. Contact the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693–2350, (TTY (877) 889–5627) for information about materials not available from the website, and for assistance in using the internet to locate docket submissions.

V. Authority and Signature

James S. Frederick, Deputy 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. 8–2020 (85 FR 58393).

Signed at Washington, DC.

James S. Frederick,

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.