• Publication Date:
  • Publication Type:
    Meeting
  • Fed Register #:
    77:76075-76076
  • Title:
    Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee (WPAC)
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 247 (Wednesday, December 26, 2012)][Notices][Pages 76075-76076]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-30958]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. OSHA-2012-0020]


Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee (WPAC)

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

ACTION: Announcement of WPAC meeting.

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SUMMARY: WPAC will meet January 29, 2013, in Washington, DC.

DATES: WPAC meeting. WPAC will meet from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on
Tuesday, January 29, 2013.
    Submission of comments, requests to speak, speaker presentations
and requests for special accommodations. Comments, requests to speak at
the WPAC meeting, speaker presentations and requests for special
accommodations for the WPAC must be submitted (postmarked, sent,
transmitted) by January 18, 2013.

ADDRESSES: WPAC meeting. WPAC will meet in Room N4437 A/B/C, U.S.
Department of Labor, Francis Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Avenue
NW., Washington, DC 20210.
    Submission of comments, requests to speak and speaker
presentations. You may submit comments, requests to speak at the WPAC
meeting and speaker presentations, identified by the docket number in
this Federal Register notice (Docket No. OSHA-2012-0020), by one of the
following methods:
    Electronically. You may submit materials, including attachments,
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, the Federal eRulemaking
Portal. Follow the online instructions for making submissions.
    Facsimile. If your submission, including attachments, does not
exceed 10 pages, you may fax it to the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-
1648.
    Mail, express delivery, messenger or courier service. You may
submit your materials to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2012-
0020, Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue
NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-2350 (TTY (877) 889-
5627). Deliveries (hand, express mail, messenger, courier service) are
accepted during the Department of Labor's and OSHA Docket Office's
normal business hours, 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., e.t., weekdays.
    Requests for special accommodations. Please submit requests for
special accommodations for the WPAC meeting to Ms. Veneta Chatmon,
OSHA, Office of Communications, Room N-3647, U.S. Department of Labor,
200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-
1999; email chatmon.veneta@dol.gov.
    Instructions. All submissions must include the Agency name and
docket number for this Federal Register notice (Docket No. OSHA-2012-
0020). Because of security-related procedures, submission by regular
mail may result in significant delay in receipt. Please contact the
OSHA Docket Office for information about security procedures for making
submissions. For additional information about submitting comments,
requests to speak and speaker presentations, see the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section of this notice.
    Comments, requests to speak and speaker presentations, including
personal information provided, will be placed in the public docket and
may be available online. Therefore, OSHA cautions interested parties
about submitting personal information, such as social security numbers
and birthdates.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For press inquiries. Mr. Frank
Meilinger, OSHA, Office of Communications, U.S. Department of Labor,
Room N-3647, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210;
telephone (202) 693-1999; email meilinger.francis2@dol.gov.
    For general information about WPAC and WPAC meetings. Ms. Laura
Seeman, OSHA, Directorate of Whistleblower Programs, U.S. Department of
Labor, Room N-4624, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210;
telephone (202) 693-2199; email seeman.laura@dol.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

WPAC Meeting

    WPAC will meet Tuesday, January 29, 2013, in Washington, DC. WPAC
meetings are open to the public.
    WPAC advises the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) and Assistant
Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health (Assistant
Secretary) on ways to improve the fairness, efficiency and transparency
of OSHA's whistleblower investigations. WPAC operates in compliance
with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 2) and its
implementing regulations (41 CFR Part 102-3).
    The tentative agenda of the WPAC meeting includes:
    Remarks from the Assistant Secretary;
    Presentation by the Director of OSHA's Directorate of Whistleblower
Programs on recent initiatives;
    Remarks and explanation of meeting order and agenda from WPAC
Chair;
    Discussion on such topics such as improving customer service to
workers and employers, improving the investigative and enforcement
process, improvements of regulations governing OSHA investigations, and
recommendations for cooperative activities with federal agencies
responsible for areas also covered by the whistleblower protection
statutes enforced by OSHA;
    Public comments.
    OSHA transcribes WPAC meetings and prepares detailed minutes of the
meetings. OSHA places the meeting transcripts and minutes in the public
record of the meeting. The public record also includes speaker
presentations,comments and other materials submitted to WPAC.

Public Participation

    WPAC meetings. WPAC meetings are open to the public. Any individual
attending meetings at the U.S. Department of Labor must enter the
building at the Visitors' Entrance, 3rd and C Streets NW., and pass
through Building Security. Attendees must have valid photo
identification to enter the building. Please contact Ms. Seeman for
additional information about building security measures for attending
the WPAC meeting.
    Individuals needing special accommodations to attend the WPAC
meeting should contact Ms. Chatmon.
    Submission of written comments, requests to speak and speaker
presentations. Interested parties must submit written comments,
requests to speak at the WPAC meeting and speaker presentations by
January 18, 2013, using one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES
section. All submissions must include the Agency name and docket number
for this Federal Register notice (Docket No. OSHA-2012-0020). OSHA will
provide submissions to WPAC members prior to the meeting.
    Because of security-related procedures, submissions by regular mail
may result in significant delay in receipt. Please contact the OSHA
Docket Office for information about security procedures for submitting
materials by hand delivery, express delivery, messenger or courier
service.
    Requests to speak must state the amount of time requested to speak,
the interest the individual represents (e.g., organization name), if
any, and a brief outline of the presentation. Electronic speaker
presentations (e.g., PowerPoint) must be compatible with PowerPoint
2010 and other Microsoft 2010 formats. Requests to address WPAC may be
granted at the discretion of the WPAC chair and as time permits.
    Public Docket of the WPAC meeting. OSHA puts comments, requests to
speak and speaker presentations, including any personal information you
provide, in the public record of this WPAC meeting without change and
those documents may be available online at http://www.regulations.gov.
Therefore, OSHA cautions individuals about submitting certain personal
information such as social security numbers and birthdates.
    OSHA also puts the meeting transcripts and minutes and other
documents from the WPAC meeting in the public record of the WPAC
meeting. Although all submissions are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index,
some documents (e.g., copyrighted materials) are not publicly
available to read or download through that Web site.
All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available for
inspection and copying in the OSHA Docket Office.
    To read or download documents in the public record of the WPAC
meeting, go to Docket No. OSHA-2012-0020 at http://www.regulations.gov.
Please contact the OSHA Docket Office for information about materials
not available through that Web site and for assistance in using the
Internet to locate submissions and other documents in the public
record.
    Electronic copies of this Federal Register notice are available at
http://www.regulations.gov. This notice, as well as news releases and
other relevant information, also is available at the OSHA Web site at
http://www.osha.gov.

Authority and Signature

    David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, Assistant Secretary of Labor for
Occupational Safety and Health, directed the preparation of this notice
under the authority granted by the Federal Advisory Committee Act
(FACA), as amended (5 U.S.C. App. 2), its implementing regulations (41
CFR Part 102-3), chapter 1600 of Department of Labor Management Series
3 (Mar. 17, 2008), Secretary of Labor's Order 1-2012 (Jan. 18, 2012),
77 FR 3912 (Jan. 25, 2012), and the Secretary of Labor's authority to
administer the whistleblower provisions found in Section 11(c) of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act, 29 U.S.C. 660(c); the Surface
Transportation Assistance Act, 49 U.S.C. 31105; the Asbestos Hazard
Emergency Response Act, 15 U.S.C. 2651; the International Safe
Container Act, 46 U.S.C. 80507; the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C.
300j-9(i); the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. 1367; the
Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 U.S.C. 2622; the Solid Waste Disposal
Act, 42 U.S.C. 6971; the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7622; the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act,
42 U.S.C. 9610; the Energy Reorganization Act, 42 U.S.C. 5851; the
Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st
Century, 49 U.S.C. 42121; the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, 18 U.S.C. 1514A; the
Pipeline Safety Improvement Act, 49 U.S.C. 60129; the Federal Railroad
Safety Act, 49 U.S.C. 20109; the National Transit Systems Security Act,
6 U.S.C. 1142; the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, 15 U.S.C.
2087; Section 1558 of the Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148; the
Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, 12 U.S.C.A. 5567; the
Seaman's Protection Act, 46 U.S.C. 2114; Section 402 of the FDA Food
Safety Modernization Act, Public Law 111-353; and Section 31307 of the
Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, Public Law 112-141.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on December 19, 2012.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2012-30958 Filed 12-21-12; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4510-26-P