States choosing to operate OSHA-approved State plans must provide information to document that their programs are "at least as effective" as the Federal OSHA program. In order to obtain and maintain State Plan approval, a State must submit various documents to OSHA describing its program structure and operation, including any modifications thereto as they occur, in accordance with the identified regulations.
OSHA is preparing to publish an Interim Final Rule (IFR) to revise 29 CFR part 1952 and 29 CFR part 1956 to delete the detailed descriptions of State Plan coverage, purely historical data, and other unnecessarily codified information through an Interim Final Rule. In addition, OSHA will move most of the provisions of subpart A of part 1952, which contains general regulations affecting State Plans, into part 1902, where most of the general regulations on State Plans are currently found. Finally, OSHA is revising regulations 29 CFR parts 1902, 1903, 1904, 1953, 1954, and 1955 to delete or update cross-references, as needed. OSHA seeks immediate changes to this collection of information, to reflect the CFR revisions implemented by the IFR.
OSHA is currently holding publication of several important changes relating to State Plan coverage, pending the publication of this IFR. In addition, the New Jersey State Plan is ready to receive Certification from OSHA and once granted, OSHA would need to modify 29 CFR 1956 to reflect this change. Also, there are at least three State Plans that have requested minor changes in coverage of specific geographical areas within the state, namely military bases and tribal lands. Processing these rulemakings prior to the publication of the IFR and completion of the streamlining 29 CFR 1952 and 1956 would confuse the public and work against the goal of transparency.
US Code:
29 USC 667
Name of Law: Occupational Safety and Health Act
The Agency is requesting emergency approval of a program change of 0 hours (burden hours will remain 11,196 hours) to account for the reorganization of the regulatory provisions and associated collection of information requirements resulting from the recent publication of the Interim Final Rule, "Streamlining of Provisions on State Plans for Occupational Safety and Health." Due to system limitations, the Department has entered one discretionary burden hour into the reginfo.gov database to protect documents while they are undergoing review in the deliberative process.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Occupational Safety and Health State Plan Information