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

Section 101(c) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 and 30 CFR Part 44 govern the application, processing, and disposition of petitions for modification. This notice is a summary of petitions for modification filed by the parties listed below to modify the application of existing mandatory safety standards published in Title 30 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

This final rule addresses the recommendations of the Technical Study Panel (Panel) on the Utilization of Belt Air and the Composition and Fire Retardant Properties of Belt Materials in Underground Coal Mining. The Panel was established under Section 11 of the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act of 2006. The final rule is consistent with the Panel's recommendations and includes requirements for: Flame-resistant conveyor belts; training Atmospheric Monitoring System operators; levels of respirable dust in belt entries; airlocks along escapeways; minimum and maximum air velocities; approval for the use of air from the belt entry to ventilate working sections; monitoring point-feed regulators; smoke sensors; standardized tactile signals on lifelines; replacing point-type heat sensors with carbon monoxide sensors; and belt conveyor and belt entry maintenance.

This notice describes MSHA's revised fee schedule for testing, evaluating, and approving mining products as permitted by 30 CFR 5.50. MSHA charges applicants a fee to cover its costs associated with testing and evaluating equipment and materials manufactured for use in the mining industry. The new fee schedule, effective January 1, 2009, is based on MSHA's direct and indirect costs for providing services during fiscal year (FY) 2008.

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 collections 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. Currently, the Employment Standards Administration is soliciting comments concerning its proposal to extend the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval of the Information Collection: Request for Earnings Information (LS-426). A copy of the proposed information collection request can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the ADDRESSES section of this Notice.

This document contains exemptions issued by the Department of Labor (the Department) from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code). A notice was published in the Federal Register of the pendency before the Department of a proposal to grant such exemption. The notice set forth a summary of facts and representations contained in the application for exemption and referred interested persons to the application for a complete statement of the facts and representations. The application has been available for public inspection at the Department in Washington, DC. The notice also invited interested persons to submit comments on the requested exemption to the Department. In addition the notice stated that any interested person might submit a written request that a public hearing be held (where appropriate). The applicant has represented that it has complied with the requirements of the notification to interested persons. No requests for a hearing were received by the Department. Public comments were received by the Department as described in the granted exemption. The notice of proposed exemption was issued and the exemption is being granted solely by the Department because, effective December 31, 1978, section 102 of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1978, 5 U.S.C. App. 1 (1996), transferred the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to issue exemptions of the type proposed to the Secretary of Labor.

This notice is a request for information for use by the Department of Labor (DOL) in preparation of an annual report on certain trade beneficiary countries' implementation of international commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. This will be the eighth such report by DOL under the Trade and Development Act of 2000 (TDA).

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (DOL or the Department) is amending its regulations to modernize the procedures for the issuance of labor certifications to employers sponsoring H-2B nonimmigrants for admission to perform temporary nonagricultural labor or services and the procedures for enforcing compliance with attestations made by those employers. Specifically, this Final Rule re-engineers the application filing and review process by centralizing processing and by enabling employers to conduct pre-filing recruitment of United States (U.S.) workers. In addition, the rule enhances the integrity of the H-2B program through the introduction of post-adjudication audits and procedures for penalizing employers who fail to comply with program requirements. This rule also makes technical changes to the regulations relating to both the H-1B program and the permanent labor certification program to reflect operational changes stemming from this regulation. Although Congress has conferred the statutory authority to enforce H-2B program requirements on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), recent discussions between DHS and the Department have yielded an agreement for the delegation of H-2B enforcement authority from DHS to the Department. This Final Rule contains the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) regulations establishing the H-2B enforcement procedures that the Department will institute pursuant to that agreement. Separately, this Final Rule institutes conditions and procedures for the debarment of employers, attorneys, and agents participating in the H-2B foreign labor certification process. As discussed further below, the Department intends to exercise its inherent authority under case law and general principles of program administration to determine what entities practice before it.

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.