60 Day Federal Register Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 126 / Monday, June 30, 2008 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration
[Docket No. OSHA–2008–0019]

On-site Consultation Programs;
Extension of the Office of Management
and Budget’s (OMB) Approval of
Information Collection (Paperwork)
Requirements
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Request for public comment.

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AGENCY:

SUMMARY: OSHA solicits comments
concerning its proposal to extend OMB
approval of the information collection
requirements contained in the Standard
on Consultation Agreements
(hereinafter, the On-site Consultation
Program regulations) (29 CFR part
1908). The Consultation Program
regulations specify services to be
provided, and practices and procedures
to be followed by the State On-site
Consultation Programs. Information
collection requirements set forth in the
On-site Consultation Program
regulations are in two categories: State
Responsibilities and Employer
Responsibilities. Eight regulatory
provisions require information
collection activities by the State. The
Federal government provides 90 percent
of funds for on-site consultation services
delivered by the States, which result in
the collection of information. Four
requirements apply to employers and
specify conditions for receiving the free
on-site consultation services.
DATES: Comments must be submitted
(postmarked, sent, or received) by
August 29, 2008.
ADDRESSES:
Electronically: You may submit
comments and attachments
electronically at http://
www.regulations.gov, which is the
Federal eRulemaking Portal. Follow the
instructions online for submitting
comments.
Facsimile: If your comments,
including attachments, are not longer
than 10 pages, you may fax them to the
OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693–1648.
Mail, hand delivery, express mail,
messenger, or courier service: When
using this method, you must submit
three copies of your comments and
attachments to the OSHA Docket Office,
Docket No. OSHA–2008–0019, U.S.
Department of Labor, Occupational
Safety and Health Administration,
Room N–2625, 200 Constitution
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210.
Deliveries (hand, express mail,

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messenger, and courier service) are
accepted during the Department of
Labor’s and Docket Office’s normal
business hours, 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.,
e.t.
Instructions: All submissions must
include the Agency name and OSHA
docket number for the ICR (OSHA–
2008–0019). All comments, including
any personal information you provide,
are placed in the public docket without
change, and may be made available
online at http://www.regulations.gov.
For further information on submitting
comments see the ‘‘Public
Participation’’ heading in the section of
this notice titled ‘‘SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION .’’
Docket: To read or download
comments or other material in the
docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov
or the OSHA Docket Office at the
address above. All documents in the
docket (including this Federal Register
notice) are listed in the http://
www.regulations.gov index; however,
some information (e.g., copyrighted
material) is not publicly available to
read or download through the Web site.
All submissions, including copyrighted
material, are available for inspection
and copying at the OSHA Docket Office.
You may also contact Larry Liberatore at
the address below to obtain a copy of
the ICR.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Larry Liberatore, Acting Director, Office
of Small Business Assistance,
Directorate of Cooperative and State
Programs, OSHA, U.S. Department of
Labor, Room N–3660, 200 Constitution
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210;
telephone (202) 693–2220.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Department of Labor, as part of its
continuing effort to reduce paperwork
and respondent (i.e., employer) 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 (44
U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This program
ensures that information is in the
desired format, reporting burden (time
and costs) is minimal, collection
instruments are clearly understood, and
OSHA’s estimate of the information
collection burden is accurate. The
Occupational Safety and Health Act of
1970 (the OSH Act) (29 U.S.C. 651 et
seq.) authorizes information collection
by employers as necessary or
appropriate for enforcement of the Act
or for developing information regarding

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the causes and prevention of
occupational injuries, illnesses, and
accidents (29 U.S.C. 657). The OSH Act
also requires that OSHA obtain such
information with minimum burden
upon employers, especially those
operating small businesses, and to
reduce to the maximum extent feasible
unnecessary duplication of efforts in
obtaining information (29 U.S.C. 657).
Section 7(c)(1) of the OSH Act
authorizes the Secretary of Labor to,
‘‘with the consent of any State or
political subdivision thereof, accept and
use the services, facilities, and
personnel of any agency of such State or
subdivision with reimbursement.’’
Section 21(C) of the Act authorizes the
Secretary of Labor (Secretary) to,
‘‘consult with and advise employers and
employees * * * as to effective means
of preventing occupational illnesses and
injuries.’’
Additionally, Section 21(d) of the
OSH Act instructs the Secretary to
‘‘establish and support cooperative
agreements with the States under which
employers subject to the Act may
consult with State personnel with
respect to the application of
occupational safety and health
requirements under the Act or under
State plans approved under section 18
of the Act.’’ This gives the Secretary
authority to enter into agreements with
the States to provide on-site
consultation services, and establish
rules under which employers may
qualify for an inspection exemption. To
satisfy the intent of these and other
sections of the OSH Act, OSHA codified
the terms that govern cooperative
agreements between OSHA and State
governments whereby State agencies
provide on-site consultation services to
private employers to assist them in
complying with the requirements of the
OSH Act. The terms were codified as
the Consultation Program regulations
(29 CFR Part 1908).
The Consultation Program regulations
specify services to be provided, and
practices and procedures to be followed
by the State On-site Consultation
Programs. Information collection
requirements set forth in the On-site
Consultation Program regulations are in
two categories: State Responsibilities
and Employer Responsibilities. Eight
regulatory provisions require
information collection activities by the
State. The Federal government provides
90 percent of funds for on-site
consultation services delivered by the
States, which result in the information
collection. Four requirements apply to
employers and specify conditions for
receiving the free consultation services.

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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 126 / Monday, June 30, 2008 / Notices

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, 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 collection
and transmission techniques.

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III. Proposed Actions
OSHA is requesting that OMB extend
its approval of the information
collection requirements contained in the
Standard on On-site Consultation
Agreements (29 CFR part 1908). The
Agency is requesting to increase its
current burden hour estimate associated
with this Program from 21,771 hours to
231,207 hours, a total increase of
209,436 hours. The increase is a result
of the following:
• Previously, a large percentage (over
90%) of all On-site Consultation
Programs visits were deemed to be
limited in scope. Over half of all such
visits are now comprehensive in nature
due to the States continued emphasis on
providing comprehensive advice on
safety and health management systems.
• We had previously estimated that
only visits that were comprehensive in
nature would provide a written report.
Now all visits, whether comprehensive
or limited in scope provide a written
report to the employer, in accordance
with our Consultation Policies and
Procedures Manual.
• We had previously estimated that it
took only 0.5 hours to complete a
written report. As we have received
input from our stakeholders in updating
the Consultation Program policies and
procedures, our small employers
requested specific guidelines and
information in order to implement the
recommended safety and health
improvements noted during our On-site
Consultation visits. A recent survey of
our Consultation Projects indicated that
approximately 7.5 hours are spent on
these technical assistance reports (a
range of 6–9 hours).
The Agency will summarize the
comments submitted in response to this
notice and will include this summary in
the request to OMB.

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Type of Review: Extension of a
currently approved collection.
Title: Consultation Agreements (29
CFR part 1908).
OMB Number: 1218–0110.
Affected Public: State Government,
Local or Tribal Government, Federal
Government, Not-for-profit institutions,
Business or other for-profits.
Number of Respondents: 27,854.
Frequency: Ranges from each visit to
every other year.
Average Time per Response: Ranges
from 5 minutes (.08 hour) to 7.5 hours.
Estimated Total Burden Hours:
231,207.
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 http://
www.regulations.gov, which is the
Federal eRulemaking Portal; (2) by
facsimile (FAX); or (3) by hard copy. All
comments, attachments, and other
material must identify the Agency name
and the OSHA docket number for the
ICR (Docket No. OSHA–2008–0019).
You may supplement electronic
submissions by uploading document
files electronically. If you wish to mail
additional materials in reference to an
electronic or facsimile submission, you
must submit them to the OSHA Docket
Office (see the section of this notice
titled ADDRESSES). The additional
materials must clearly identify your
electronic comments by your name,
date, and the docket number so the
Agency can attach them to your
comments.
Because of security procedures, the
use of regular mail may cause a
significant delay in the receipt of
comments. For information about
security procedures concerning the
delivery of materials by hand, express
delivery, messenger, or courier service,
please contact the OSHA Docket Office
at (202) 693–2350 (TTY (877) 889–
5627).
Comments and submissions are
posted without change at http://
www.regulations.gov. Therefore, OSHA
cautions commenters about submitting
personal information such as social
security numbers and date of birth.
Although all submissions are listed in
the http://www.regulations.gov index,
some information (e.g., copyrighted
material) is not publicly available to
read or download through this Web site.
All submissions, including copyrighted
material, are available for inspection
and copying at the OSHA Docket Office.

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Information on using the http://
www.regulations.gov Web site to submit
comments and access the docket is
available at the Web site’s ‘‘User Tips’’
link. Contact the OSHA Docket Office
for information about materials not
available through the Web site, and for
assistance in using the Internet to locate
docket submissions.
V. Authority and Signature
Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., 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. 5–2007 (72 FR 31159).
Signed at Washington, DC, on June 23,
2008.
Edwin G. Foulke, Jr.
Assistant Secretary of Labor, for Occupational
Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. E8–14671 Filed 6–27–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–26–P

NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS
ADMINISTRATION
Records Schedules; Availability and
Request for Comments
National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA).
ACTION: Notice of availability of
proposed records schedules; request for
comments.
AGENCY:

SUMMARY: The National Archives and
Records Administration (NARA)
publishes notice at least once monthly
of certain Federal agency requests for
records disposition authority (records
schedules). Once approved by NARA,
records schedules provide mandatory
instructions on what happens to records
when no longer needed for current
Government business. They authorize
the preservation of records of
continuing value in the National
Archives of the United States and the
destruction, after a specified period, of
records lacking administrative, legal,
research, or other value. Notice is
published for records schedules in
which agencies propose to destroy
records not previously authorized for
disposal or reduce the retention period
of records already authorized for
disposal. NARA invites public
comments on such records schedules, as
required by 44 U.S.C. 3303a(a).
DATES: Requests for copies must be
received in writing on or before July 30,
2008. Once the appraisal of the records
is completed, NARA will send a copy of
the schedule. NARA staff usually

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