DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-1218-0185(2001)]

Cadmium in General Industry Standard; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of the Information-Collection (Paperwork) Requirements

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.

ACTION: Request for comments.

SUMMARY: OSHA solicits comments concerning its proposal to decrease the total burden-hour estimates for, and to extend OMB approval of, the collection-of-information requirements specified by the Cadmium in General Industry Standard (29 CFR 1910.1027).⁽¹⁾ This standard controls occupational exposure to cadmium, thereby preventing serious disease (e.g., lung cancer, prostate cancer, kidney disease) and death among exposed employees.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before December 3, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket Office, Docket No. ICR-1218-0815(2001), OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-2350. Commenters may transmit written comments of 10 pages or less by facsimile to (202) 693-1648.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Todd Owen, Directorate of Policy, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-3641, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-2444. A copy of the Agency's Information-Collection Request (ICR) supporting the need for the information collections specified in the Cadmium in General Industry Standard is available for inspection and copying in the Docket Office or by requesting a copy from Todd Owen at (202) 693-2444. For electronic copies of the ICR contact OSHA on the Internet at http://www.osha.gov/law-regs.html, and select "Information Collection Requests."

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 (PRA-95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This program ensures that information is in the desired format, reporting burden (time and cost) is minimal, collection instruments are understandable, and OSHA's estimate of the information-collection burden is correct. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of the 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).

The information-collection requirements specified in the Cadmium in General Industry Standard (§ 1910.1027; "the Standard") protect employees from the adverse health effects that may result from occupational exposure to cadmium. The major information-collection requirements in the Standard include conducting employee exposure monitoring, notifying employees of their cadmium exposures, implementing a written compliance program, implementing medical surveillance of employees, providing examining physicians with specific information, ensuring that employees receive a copy of their medical-surveillance results, maintaining employees' exposure-monitoring and medical-surveillance records for specific periods, and providing access to these records by OSHA, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the employee who is the subject of the records, the employee's representative, and other designated parties.

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 cost) 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 to decrease the existing burden-hour estimate for, and to extend OMB approval of, the collection-of-information requirements specified by the Standard. In this regard, the Agency is requesting to decrease the current burden-hour estimate from 148,172 hours to 120,770 hours, a total decrease of 27,402 hours. This decrease results mainly from removing the burden hours required for employers to conduct respirator fit testing; the Agency now accounts for these burden hours under the ICR for the Respiratory Protection Standard § 1910.134; OMB control number 1218-0099). OSHA will summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice, and will include this summary in its request to OMB to extend its approval of these information-collection requirements.

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

Title: Cadmium in General industry.

OMB Number: 1218-0185.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit institutions; Federal Government; State, local, or tribal governments.

Number of Respondents: 53,161.

Frequency of Response: On occasion; semi-annually; annually.

Average Time per Response: Varies from five minutes (.08 hour) for several provisions (e.g., maintaining an employee's exposure-monitoring or medical-surveillance record, providing information about an employee to the physician), to 1.5 hours to review and update a compliance program or to administer an employee medical examination.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 120,770 hours.

Estimated Cost Operation and Maintenance): $6,190,792.

IV. Authority and Signature

John L. Henshaw, 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. 3-2000 (65 FR 50017).

Signed at Washington, DC, on September 27th, 2001.

John L. Henshaw,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.

[FR Doc. 01-24700 Filed 10-2-01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510-26-M

Footnote (1) Based on its assessment of the paperwork requirements contained in this standard, the Agency estimates that the total burden hours decreased compared to its previous burden-hour estimate. Under this notice, OSHA is not proposing to revise these paperwork requirements in any substantive manner, only to decrease the burden hours imposed by the existing paperwork requirements. (Back to text)