DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-99-3]

Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER); 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: Notice of an opportunity for public comment.

SUMMARY: OSHA solicits comments concerning the proposed reduction and extension of the information collection requirements contained in the standard on Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) (29 CFR 1910.120).

Request for Comment

The Agency is particularly interested in comments on the following issues:

• Whether the information collection requirements are necessary for the proper performance of the Agency functions, including whether the information is useful;

• The accuracy of the Agency'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, electronic, mechanical, and other technological information and transmission collection techniques.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before August 30, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket Office, Docket No. ICR-99-3, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-2350. Commenters may transmit written comments 10 pages or less in length by facsimile to (202) 693-1648.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theda Kenney, Directorate of Safety Standards Programs, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Room N-3605, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-2222. A copy of the Agency's Information Collection Request (ICR) supporting the need for the information collection requirements in the HAZWOPER standard is available for inspection and copying in the Docket Office, or mailed on request by telephoning Theda Kenney at (202) 693-2222 or Barbara Bielaski at (202) 693-2444. For electronic copies of the ICR on HAZWOPER, contact OSHA on the Internet at http://www.osha.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 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 are clearly understood, and OSHA's estimate of the information collection 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 or for developing information regarding the causes and prevention of occupational injuries, illnesses, and accidents. (29 U.S.C. 657.) In this regard, the information collection requirements in the HAZWOPER Standard (29 CFR 1910.120) prevent or minimize the consequences of accidents involving highly hazardous chemicals.

II. Proposed Actions

OSHA proposes to reduce its earlier estimates of the burden hours for the HAZWOPER Standard from 2,229,062 to 1,592,338 hours. The burden reduction resulted when the Agency reestimated the number of clean-up sites, as well as the number of storage, treatment, and disposal (STD) sites (also referred to as Resource Conservation and Recovery Act [RCRA] sites) from 725 to 1,115. OSHA determined that the number of emergency response units remained the same as originally estimated. The Agency also changed the methodology for the training requirements and medical surveillance provisions, using the number of employees rather than sites to better estimate the burden hours for these provisions.

In addition, OSHA identified several activities as usual and customary business practices. Under PRA-95, the burden associated with usual and customary activities are not calculated as part of the paperwork burden.

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 contained in the HAZWOPER standard.

Type of Review: Extension of currently approved information collection requirements.

Agency: Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Title: Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) (29 CFR 1910.120).

OMB Number: 1218-0202.

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

Number of Respondents: 38,363.

Frequency: Varies (On Occasion, Annually).

Average Time Per Response: Varies from 5 minutes (.08 hr.) to 64 hours.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,592,338.

III. Authority and Signature

Charles N. Jeffress, 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), Secretary of Labor's Order No. 6-96 (62 FR 111), and 29 CFR part 1911.

Signed at Washington, DC, this 25th day of June 1999.

Charles N. Jeffress,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.

[FR Doc. 99-16808 Filed 6-30-99; 8:45 am]

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