[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 130 (Friday, July 6, 2012)][Notices][Pages 40088-40090]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16513]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2012-0024]
Rollins College; T.A. Loving Co.; US Ecology Idaho, Inc.; and
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.: Technical Amendment to, and
Revocation of, Permanent Variances
AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA),
Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice of technical amendment to, and revocation of, permanent
variances.
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SUMMARY: With this notice, the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration ("OSHA" or "the Agency") is making a technical
amendment to an existing permanent variance, and revoking several
others. The technical amendment and revocations result from an OSHA
review to identify variances that are outdated, unnecessary, or otherwise
defective.
DATES: The effective date of the technical correction and revocation of
the permanent variances is July 6, 2012.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
General information and press inquiries. Contact Frank Meilinger,
Director, OSHA Office of Communications, Room N-3647, U.S. Department
of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone:
(202) 693-1999. Email: meilinger.francis2@dol.gov.
Technical information. Contact Stefan Weisz, Office of Technical
Programs and Coordination Activities, Room N-3655, OSHA, U.S.
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210;
telephone: (202) 693-2110; fax: (202) 693-1644. Email:
weisz.stefan@dol.gov.
Copies of this Federal Register notice. Electronic copies of this
notice are available at http://www.regulations.gov. Electronic copies
of this notice, as well as news releases and other relevant
information, are available on OSHA's Web site at http://www.osha.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
OSHA reviewed variances currently in effect to identify variances
that are outdated, unnecessary, or otherwise defective; as part of this
review, OSHA contacted by telephone every employer having a variance to
ask them if they still needed the variance. Based on this review, OSHA
identified four defective variances. The first of these variances
requires a technical correction because OSHA, after granting the
variance, renumbered the standard from which it granted the variance.
The Agency also determined that the remaining three variances are no
longer necessary because the employers that received the variances
indicated that the requirement for the variances no longer exists, and
that they now can comply with the standard from which OSHA granted the
variance. With this notice, the Agency is correcting these problems.
OSHA believes this notice will ensure that the first variance is
consistent with the standard's existing enumeration and, for the
revoked variances, this notice will notify employers and employees that
the variances no longer cover the employers, and that the employers
must comply with the appropriate OSHA standard.
The technical amendment implemented by this notice does not alter
the substantive requirements of the first variance, which still remains
in effect, so this corrected variance will continue to provide
employees with the safety and health protection afforded to them by the
original variance. For the variances revoked by this notice, existing
OSHA standards will provide employees with the necessary protection.
With this notice, the Agency is making only a technical correction
to an existing variance, and revoking variances that employers no
longer need for employee protection. Accordingly, this notice will not
have a substantive effect on employers or employees; OSHA, therefore,
finds that public notice-and-comment procedures specified under Section
6(d) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655),
and by 29 CFR 1905.11 or 1905.13, are unnecessary.
The following table provides details about the variances addressed
by this notice:
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Federal
Name of employer (company) affected Variance No. Date granted Register cite OSHA standards
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Rollins College....................... V-74-16 03/28/1974 39 FR 11481 1910.37(i).
T.A. Loving Co........................ V-74-43 04/13/1976 41 FR 15483 1918.66(f)(1)(i).
US Ecology Idaho, Inc. (formerly V-93-1 06/07/1994 59 FR 29440 1910.106(b)(2)(viii)(f).
Envirosafe Services, Inc.).
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. V-77-9 01/20/1978 43 FR 2945 1910.217(c)(3)(i)(e) and
(formerly The West Co.). 1910.217(c)(3)(ii).
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II. Technical Amendment to, and Revocation of, Permanent Variances
A. Technical Amendment of the Permanent Variance Granted to Rollins
College
OSHA granted Rollins College a variance from 29 CFR 1910.37(i),
which governed ceiling height for means of egress (see table above for
details). The Agency renumbered this provision (to 29 CFR
1910.36(g)(1)) in a subsequent rulemaking that revised its means-of-
egress standards to improve the clarity and comprehensibility of these
standards (see 67 FR 67962, November 7, 2002). While this rulemaking
renumbered 29 CFR 1910.37(i) as 29 CFR 1910.36(g)(1), it did not revise
the substantive requirements of the provision.
B. Revoking Permanent Variances
1. T. A. Loving Co. The Agency granted T. A. Loving Co. a variance
permitting it to use dynamometers instead of load-indicating devices on
mobile cranes (see the table above for details). In response to OSHA's
telephone call, T. A. Loving's representative indicated that the
variance is no longer needed. T. A. Loving requested in a subsequent
letter that OSHA revoke the variance (Ex. 1--OSHA-2012-0024).
2. US Ecology Idaho, Inc. The Agency granted Envirosafe Services,
Inc. (now US Ecology Idaho, Inc.), a variance to make and break filling
and emptying connections inside, instead of outside, a building during
the transfer of flammable/combustible liquids as required by the OSHA
standard (see the table above for details). In response to OSHA's
telephone call, US Ecology Idaho's representative indicated that the
variance is no longer necessary. Later, US Ecology Idaho requested in a
letter that OSHA revoke the variance (Ex. 2--OSHA-2012-0024).
3. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. The Agency granted The West
Co. (now West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.) a variance to use power
presses with safety blocks and a sliding barrier that did not conform
to OSHA's distance and guarding requirements (see the table above for
details). In response to OSHA's telephone call, West Pharmaceutical
Services' representative indicated that the company no longer needed
the variance. West Pharmaceutical Services then requested in a letter
that OSHA revoke the variance (Ex. 3--OSHA-2012-0024).
III. Decision
Based on the information described herein, including the finding
that this notice will not alter the substantive requirements of the
variance and will maintain the protection afforded to employees by the
variances, the Agency is taking the following actions:
A. Correcting the Rollins College variance by updating the
designation of the provision from which OSHA granted the variance
from 29 CFR 1910.37(i) to 29 CFR 1910.36(g)(1).
B. Revoking the variances granted to T. A. Loving Co., US Ecology
Idaho, Inc., and West Pharmaceutical Services. The variances granted to
T. A. Loving Co. and West Pharmaceutical Services included facilities
in North Carolina, a state with an OSHA-approved State Plan under
Section 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (29 U.S.C. 667).
OSHA will notify North Carolina of the revocation of these variances.
IV. Authority and Signature
David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, Assistant Secretary of Labor for
Occupational Safety and Health, U.S. Department of Labor, 200
Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC, authorized the preparation of
this notice. OSHA is issuing this notice under the authority specified
by Section 6(d) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29
U.S.C. 655), Secretary of Labor's Order No. 1-2012 (76 FR 3912), and 29
CFR part 1905.
Signed at Washington, DC, on June 29, 2012.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2012-16513 Filed 7-5-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-26-P
