Army Department August 18, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) published a notice of proposed rulemaking and companion direct final rule in the Federal Register on March 12, 2015, broadening the acceptable methods by which claimants, employers, and insurers can communicate with OWCP and each other regarding claims arising under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act and its extensions. The comment period closed on May 11, 2015. OWCP did not receive significant adverse comment and therefore the direct final rule took effect on June 10, 2015. For these reasons, OWCP is withdrawing the notice of proposed rulemaking.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Cadmium in General Industry Standard,'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for continued use, without change, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. Public comments on the ICR are invited.

This document primarily proposes to amend OSHA regulations to remove the detailed descriptions of State plan coverage, purely historical data, and other unnecessarily codified information. In addition, this document proposes to move most of the general provisions of subpart A of part 1952 into part 1902, where the general regulations on State plan criteria are found. It also proposes to amend several other OSHA regulations to delete references to part 1952, which would no longer apply. The purpose of these proposed revisions is to eliminate the unnecessary codification of material in the Code of Federal Regulations and save the time and funds currently expended in publicizing State plan revisions. The proposed streamlining of OSHA State plan regulations would not change the areas of coverage or any other substantive components of any State plan. It also does not affect the rights and responsibilities of the State plans, or any employers or employees, except to eliminate the burden on State plan designees to keep paper copies of approved State plans and plan supplements in an office, and to submit multiple copies of proposed State plan documents to OSHA. This document also contains a request for comments for an Information Collection Request (ICR) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), which covers all collection of information requirements in OSHA State plan regulations.