[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 232 (Tuesday, December 3, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 95815-95816]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-28305]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
[Docket No. OSHA-2011-0197]
Occupational Safety and Health State Plans; 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: Request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comments concerning its request to extend
OMB's approval of information collection regarding the State Plans
program and regulations for the development and enforcement of state
occupational safety and health standards.
DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by
February 3, 2025.
ADDRESSES:
Electronically: You may submit comments and attachments
electronically at https://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal
eRulemaking Portal. Follow the instructions online for submitting
comments.
Docket: To read or download comments or other material in the
docket, go to https://www.regulations.gov. Documents in the docket are
listed in the https://www.regulations.gov index; however, some
information (e.g., copyrighted material) is not publicly available to
read or download through the websites. All submissions, including
copyrighted material, are available for inspection through the OSHA
Docket Office. Contact the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-2350 (TTY
(877) 889-5627) for assistance in locating docket submissions.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and OSHA
docket number (OSHA-2011-0197) for the Information Collection Request
(ICR). OSHA will place all comments, including any personal
information, in the public docket, which may be made available online.
Therefore, OSHA cautions interested parties about submitting personal
information such as social security numbers and birthdates.
For further information on submitting comments, see the ``Public
Participation'' heading in the section of this notice titled
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Seleda Perryman, Directorate of
Standards and Guidance, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor; telephone (202)
693-2222.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Department of Labor, as part of a continuing effort to reduce
paperwork and respondent (i.e., the State plans) burden, conducts a
preclearance process 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, the reporting burden (time and
costs) is minimal, the collection instruments are clearly understood,
and OSHA's estimate of the information collection burden is accurate.
OSHA is soliciting comments concerning the extension of the information
collection requirements contained in the series of regulations
establishing requirements for the submission, initial approval,
continuing approval, final approval, monitoring, and evaluation of
OSHA-approved State Plans:
29 CFR part 1902, State Plans for the Development and
Enforcement of State Standards;
29 CFR part 1953, Changes to State Plans for the
Development and Enforcement of State Standards;
29 CFR part 1954, Procedures for the Evaluation and
Monitoring of Approved State Plans; and
29 CFR part 1956, State Plans for the Development and
Enforcement of State Standards Applicable to State and Local Government
Employees in States Without Approved Private Employee Plans.
Section 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (29 U.S.C.
667) offers an opportunity to the states to assume responsibility for
the development and enforcement of state standards through the
mechanism of an OSHA-approved State Plan. Absent an approved plan,
states are precluded from enforcing occupational safety and health
standards in the private sector with respect to any issue for which
Federal OSHA has promulgated a standard. Once approved and operational,
the state adopts standards and provides most occupational safety and
health enforcement and compliance assistance in the state under the
authority of its plan, instead of Federal OSHA. States also must extend
their jurisdiction to cover state and local government employees and
may obtain approval of State Plans limited in scope to these workers.
To obtain and maintain State Plan approval, a state must submit various
documents to OSHA describing program structure and operation, including
any modifications thereto as they occur, in accordance with the
identified regulations. OSHA funds 50 percent of the costs required to
be incurred by an approved State Plan, with the state at least matching
and providing additional funding at its discretion.
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 to
protect workers, including whether the information is useful;
The accuracy of OSHA'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 or other technological information, and
transmission techniques.
III. Proposed Actions
OSHA is requesting that OMB extend the approval of the information
collection requirements contained in Occupational Safety and Health
State Plans.
The agency is requesting an adjustment increase to adjust the
number of burden hours associated with the developmental steps
necessary for certain states in the developmental process, including
Maine, Massachusetts and Illinois. In addition, the number of
Complaints About State Program Administration (CASPAs) and State Plan
Changes were modified to depict more realistically the current trends
in these numbers. As a result, the total burden hours have increased
from 11,055 to 11,370 (an increase of 315 burden hours).
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.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved data collection.
Title: Occupational Safety and Health State Plans.
OMB Control Number: 1218-0247.
Affected Public: State, Local, and Tribal, Governments.
Number of Respondents: 29.
Number of Responses: 1,299.
Frequency of Responses: On occasion; Quarterly; Annually.
Average Time per Response: Varies.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 11,370.
Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $0.
IV. Public Participation--Submission of Comments on This Notice and
Internet Access to Comments and Submissions
You may submit comments in response to this document as follows:
(1) electronically at https://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal
eRulemaking Portal; or (2) by facsimile (fax), if your comments,
including attachments, are not longer than 10 pages you may fax them to
the OSHA Docket Office at 202-693-1648. All comments, attachments, and
other material must identify the agency name and the OSHA docket number
for the ICR (OSHA-2011-0197). You may supplement electronic submission
by uploading document files electronically.
Comments and submissions are posted without change at https://www.regulations.gov. Therefore, OSHA cautions commenters about
submitting personal information such as social security numbers and
dates of birth. Although all submissions are listed in the https://www.regulations.gov index, some information (e.g., copyrighted
material) is not publicly available to read or download from this
website. All submission, including copyrighted material, are available
for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. Information on
using the https://www.regulations.gov website to submit comments and
access the docket is available at the website's ``User Tips'' link.
Contact the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-2350, (TTY (877) 889-5627)
for information about materials not available from the website, and for
assistance in using the internet to locate docket submissions.
V. Authority and Signature
James S. Frederick, Deputy 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 et seq.) and Secretary of Labor's Order No. 8-2020
(85 FR 58393).
Signed at Washington, DC, on November 26, 2024.
James S. Frederick,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2024-28305 Filed 12-2-24; 8:45 am]
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