DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

29 CFR Part 1926

Steel Erection Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), U.S. Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice of meetings and agendas.

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), notice is hereby given of the agenda for the Steel Erection Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee (SENRAC) meeting scheduled for September 20-22, 1994 in Washington, DC. Notice is also given to interested parties that may be affected by the agenda to attend this meeting. Also, notice is given of the location and agenda for two additional Committee meetings. All of the meetings are open to the public. Information on room numbers will be available in the lobby of the designated building. A schedule of additional meetings will be provided in a future notice.

DATES:

(1) Washington, DC: September 20-22, 1994. The meeting will begin at 10:00 a.m. on September 20, 1994.

(2) St. Louis: November 8-10, 1994. (3) Washington, DC: December 6-8, 1994.

ADDRESSES:

(1) Washington, DC: Quality Hotel--Capitol Hill, 415 New Jersey Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20001, (202) 638-1616.

(2) St. Louis: Embassy Suites, 901 North First Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63102, (800) 241-5151.

(3) Washington, DC: Quality Hotel--Capitol Hill, 415 New Jersey Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20001, (202) 638-1616.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. James F. Foster, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Information and Consumer Affairs, Room N-3647, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 219-8151.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 11, 1994, OSHA announced that it had established the Steel Erection Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee (SENRAC) (59 FR 24389) in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), the Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990 (NRA) and section 7(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) to resolve issues associated with the development of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Steel Erection. Appointees to the Committee include representatives from labor, industry, public interests and government agencies.

The first two SENRAC meetings were held in Bethesda, Maryland on June 14-16, 1994 and in Denver, Colorado on July 11-13, 1994. The Committee established workgroups to address issues on fall protection, allocation of responsibility, construction specifications, and scope of the standard. Also, the Committee groundrules were formally adopted. At the third meeting, held in Boston, Massachusetts on August 16-18, 1994, the Committee determined that the proper allocation of responsibility for safety should be evaluated for all construction activities, not just for steel erection, and that any Committee recommendation to OSHA on this issue will be independent of its consensus recommendations for subpart R. Also, the Committee addressed the scope of subpart R to determine whether it will apply to erection activities other than steel buildings. These issues will be addressed again at the September 20-22 meeting in Washington, DC and the Committee acknowledged that all affected interests should actively participate in these discussions.

Agendas for the meetings are as follows:

Washington, DC (September 20-22): On September 20th, OSHA will make a presentation to the full Committee regarding the economic considerations involved in this rulemaking followed by a meeting of the Fall Protection workgroup. The September 21st meeting will begin with a full Committee discussion of the scope of the standard, addressing whether certain erection activities should be covered (i.e., precast concrete, towers and bridges). A meeting of the Allocation of Responsibility workgroup will follow. This workgroup session will include discussions with representatives of building owners and general contractors to determine the proper allocation of safety responsibility among all parties involved in the construction process. The afternoon session will consist of a meeting of the Construction Specifications workgroup and presentations on this subject. The Construction Specifications discussions will continue on the morning of September 22nd and will be followed by a full Committee meeting.

St. Louis (November 8-10): To be determined at the September 20-22 meeting in Washington.

Washingtion, DC (December 6-8): To be determined at the November 8-10 meeting in St. Louis.

All interested parties are invited to attend both the workgroup and full Committee meetings at the times and places indicated above. No advanced registration is required. Seating will be available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. Individuals with disabilities wishing to attend should contact the Facilitator to obtain appropriate accommodations.

During the meeting, members of the general public may request permission to informally address the full Committee and workgroups.

Minutes of the meetings and materials prepared for the Committee will be available for public inspection at the OSHA Docket Office, N- 2625, 200 Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210; Telephone (202) 219-7894. Copies of these materials may also be obtained by sending a written request to the Facilitator. Also, certain materials including meeting minutes, issues for resolution and notices can be obtained through the use of the OSHARULE Forum in the Department of Labor Electronic Bulletin Board System (Labor News). The Labor News can be accessed via modem at (202) 219-4784. Modem settings should be: 8 Data-Bit Words, 1 Stop Bit, Parity = None, and BAUD speeds up to 14,400.

The Facilitator, Philip J. Harter, can be reached at Suite 404, 2301 M Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20037; Telephone (202) 887-1033, FAX (202) 833-1036.

Authority

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, pursuant to section 3 of the Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990, 104 Stat. 4969, Title 5 U.S.C. 561 et seq.; and Section 7(b) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 84 Stat. 1597, Title 29 U.S.C. 656.

Signed at Washington, DC, this 31st day of August 1994.

Joseph A. Dear
Assistant Secretary of Labor.

[FR Doc. 94-21879 Filed 9-2-94; 8:45 am]