Department of Labor December 18, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended (5 U.S.C., App. 2), and after consultation with the General Services Administration, the Secretary of Labor announced on September 22, 2008, her intention to re-charter the Maritime Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (MACOSH) as being in the public interest (73 FR 54624). She signed the MACOSH charter on September 23, 2008, which, pursuant to FACA, will expire after two years on September 23, 2010. On November 12, 2008, the Secretary of Labor selected and approved 15 members to serve on the Committee. The Committee is diverse and balanced, both in terms of segments of the maritime industry represented (e.g., shipyard, longshoring and marine terminal, and fishing industries), and in the views or interests represented by the members. MACOSH will contribute to OSHA's performance of the duties imposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.).

OSHA solicits comments concerning its proposal to extend OMB approval of the information collection requirements contained in the Standard on Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) (29 CFR 1910.120). Section 126(e) of the ``Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986'' (SARA) (Pub. L. 99-499) which became law on October 17, 1986, required the Secretary of Labor, pursuant to Section 6 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the Act), to promulgate standards for the safety and health protection of employees engaged in hazardous waste operations and emergency response. Section 126(b) lists 11 employee protection provisions that the Secretary of Labor had to include in OSHA's final standard. Those provisions require OSHA to address the preparation of various written programs, plans and records; the training of employees; the monitoring of airborne hazards; the conduct of medical surveillance; and the distribution of information to employees. The provisions also require the collection of information from employers engaged in hazardous waste operations and their emergency response to such operations. The final standard covers the provisions mandated in SARA.

The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing collection of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the addressee section of this notice or by accessing: https://www.doleta.gov/OMBCN/ OMBControlNumber.cfm.