
[Federal Register: May 14, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 93)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 27188-27189]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14my10-5]

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

29 CFR Parts 1910, 1915, and 1926

[Docket No. OSHA-H054A-2006-0064]
RIN 1218-AC43


Revising the Notification Requirements in the Exposure
Determination Provisions of the Hexavalent Chromium Standards

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA);
Department of Labor.

ACTION: Final rule; confirmation of effective date.

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SUMMARY: OSHA is confirming the effective date of its direct final rule
(DFR) revising the employee notification requirements in the exposure
determination provisions of the standards for Hexavalent Chromium
(Cr(VI)). In the March 17, 2010, DFR document, OSHA stated that the DFR
would become effective on June 15, 2010, unless one or more significant
adverse comments were submitted by April 16, 2010. OSHA did not receive
significant adverse comments on the DFR, so by this document the Agency
is confirming that the DFR will become effective on June 15, 2010.

DATES: The DFR published on March 17, 2010, becomes effective on June
15, 2010. For purposes of judicial review, OSHA considers May 14, 2010
as the date of promulgation.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information and press
inquiries contact Ms. Jennifer Ashley, Director, OSHA Office of
Communications, Room N-3647, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-1999. For
technical inquiries, contact Maureen Ruskin, Office of Chemical
Hazards--Metals, Directorate of Standards and Guidance, Room N-3718,
OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-1950; fax: (202) 693-1678.
    Copies of this Federal Register notice are available from the OSHA
Office of Publications, Room N-3101, U.S. Department of Labor, 200
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-
1888. Electronic copies of this Federal Register notice and other
relevant documents are available at OSHA's Web page at
http:[sol][sol]www.osha.gov.

ADDRESSES: For purposes of 28 U.S.C. 2112(a), OSHA designates the
Associate Solicitor of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health as the
recipient of petitions for review of the direct final rule. Contact the
Associate Solicitor at the Office of the Solicitor, Room S-4004, U.S.
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC
20210; telephone: (202) 693-5445.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Confirmation of Effective Date

    On March 17, 2010, OSHA published a DFR in the Federal Register (75
FR 12681) amending the employee notification requirements in the
exposure determination provisions of the Cr(VI) standards, 29 CFR
1910.1026, 29 CFR 1915.1026, and 29 CFR 1926.1126. As originally
promulgated in 2006, the Cr(VI) standards required employers to notify
employees of any exposure determinations indicating exposures in excess
of the applicable permissible exposure limit (PEL). As amended, the
standard requires employers to notify employees of all exposure
determinations, whether above or below the PEL. Interested parties had
until April 16, 2010, to submit comments on the DFR. The Agency stated
that it would publish another notice confirming the effective date of
the DFR if it received no significant adverse comments.
    Eight comments were submitted in response to the DFR. OSHA has
determined that they are not significant adverse comments. Three of the
comments were nonsubstantive and did not object to the planned
amendments to the Cr(VI) standards. See OSHA-H054A-2006-0064-0003;
OSHA-H054A-2006-0064-0004; OSHA-H054A-2006-0064-0005. Four commenters--
the Building and Construction Trades Department, Ameren (an investor
owned electric and natural gas utility), Public Citizen, and the AFL-
CIO--strongly supported the DFR. See OSHA-H054A-2006-0064-0006; OSHA-
H054A-2006-0064-0007; OSHA-H054A-2006-0064-0008; OSHA-H054A-2006-0064-
0009. The eighth commenter was Edison Electric

[[Page 27189]]

Institute (EEI), the association of shareholder-owned electric
companies. See OSHA-H054A-2006-0064-0010.
    EEI supported the DFR, commenting: ``EEI has no objection to
informing employees of exposure determinations regardless of the
results. Indeed, EEI members have long been sharing the results of
exposure monitoring with their employees, regardless of whether
overexposures have been revealed.'' EEI went on, however, to ask OSHA
for clarification of the Cr(VI) standards' requirements that employers
provide affected employees with notice of exposure determination
results within 15 work days in general industry, and within 5 work days
in construction. These deadlines for providing required notices were in
the Cr(VI) standards as originally promulgated in 2006, and are not
being changed in this direct final rulemaking. OSHA noted as much in
the DFR notice. (See 75 FR at 12683 (``[T]he number of work days
employers have to provide notice to employees will remain
unchanged.'').)
    Because EEI's interpretive request is beyond the scope of this
narrow direct final rulemaking, and EEI did not explain why the
amendment to the scope of the notification requirement would be
ineffective without clarification on the timing issue, the Agency has
concluded that this is not a significant adverse comment. (See 75 FR at
12683 (``OSHA will not consider a comment recommending an additional
amendment to be a significant adverse comment unless the comment states
why the direct final rule would be ineffective without the
addition.'').) Moreover, because the issues raised by EEI are unrelated
to this rulemaking, OSHA will not be addressing them in this notice.
EEI may submit its inquiries to OSHA via a written request for a letter
of interpretation from the Directorate of Enforcement Programs.
    As the Agency did not receive any significant adverse comments,
OSHA is hereby confirming that the DFR published on March 17, 2010,
will become effective on June 15, 2010.

II. OMB Review Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    The DFR amends a notification requirement that is subject to review
by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA-95), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., and OMB's
regulations at 5 CFR part 1320. The information collection requirements
(``paperwork'') currently contained in the Chromium VI (Cr(VI))
standards are approved by OMB (Information Collection Request (ICR),
Chromium (VI) Standards for General Industry (29 CFR 1910.1026),
Shipyard Employment (29 CFR 1915.1026), and Construction (29 CFR
1926.1126)), under OMB Control number 1218-0252. The Department notes
that a federal agency cannot conduct or sponsor a collection of
information unless it is approved by OMB under the PRA and displays a
currently valid OMB control number. The public is not required to
respond to a collection of information requirement unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number. Also, notwithstanding any other
provisions of law, no person shall be subject to penalty for failing to
comply with a collection of information requirement if the requirement
does not display a currently valid OMB control number.
    On June 22, 2009, OSHA published a preclearance Federal Register
notice, Docket No. OSHA-2009-0015, as specified in PRA-95 (44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(2)(A)), allowing the public 60 days to comment on a proposal to
extend OMB's approval of the information collection requirements in the
Cr(VI) standards (74 FR 29517). This notice also informed the public
that OSHA was considering revising the notification requirements in the
Cr(VI) standards to require employers to notify employees of all
exposure determination results. OSHA estimated the new burden hours and
costs that would result from this amendment to the standard, and the
public had 60 days to comment on those estimates in accordance with the
PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2). OSHA estimated that a requirement to notify
employees of all exposure determination results would result in an
increase of 62,575 burden hours and would increase employer cost, in
annualized terms, by $1,526,731.
    The preclearance comment period closed on August 21, 2009. OSHA did
not receive public comments on that notice. On October 30, 2009, OSHA
published a Federal Register notice announcing that the Cr(VI) ICR had
been submitted to OMB (74 FR 56216) for review and approval, and that
interested parties had until November 30, 2009, to submit comments to
OMB on that submission. No comments were received in response to that
notice either. OMB approved the Cr(VI) ICR, but because this direct
final rulemaking was still ongoing, the total burden hours approved did
not include the additional burden that OSHA had estimated would need to
be added to the ICR as a result this DFR (75 FR 13783, Mar. 23, 2010).
    In the DFR published on March 17, 2010, OSHA provided an additional
30 days for the public to comment on the estimated paperwork
implications of the revised notification requirements. The Agency did
not receive any comments on paperwork in response to that notice.
    On April 23, 2010, OSHA submitted a Change Worksheet to OMB
requesting modification of the Cr(VI) ICR to reflect the additional
paperwork burdens that need to be added as a result of this DFR. OMB
approved OSHA's request on May 4, 2010.

List of Subjects

29 CFR Part 1910

    Exposure determination, General industry, Health, Hexavalent
chromium (Cr(VI)), Notification of determination results to employees,
Occupational safety and health.

29 CFR Part 1915

    Exposure determination, Health, Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)),
Notification of determination results to employees, Occupational safety
and health, Shipyard employment.

29 CFR Part 1926

    Construction, Exposure determination, Health, Hexavalent chromium
(Cr(VI)), Notification of determination results to employees,
Occupational safety and health.

Authority and Signature

    David Michaels, PhD, MPH, Assistant Secretary of Labor for
Occupational Safety and Health, U.S. Department of Labor, 200
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210, directed the
preparation of this direct final rule. The Agency is issuing this rule
under Sections 4, 6, and 8 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of
1970 (29 U.S.C. 653, 655, 657), Secretary of Labor's Order 5-2007 (72
FR 31159), and 29 CFR part 1911.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on May 11, 2010.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2010-11586 Filed 5-13-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-26-P

