In order to prevent occupational
injuries resulting from falls of roofs, faces, and ribs, which are
a leading cause of injuries and death in underground coal mines,
all underground coal mine operators are required to develop and
submit roof control plans to MSHA for evaluation and approval.
These plans are evaluated to determine if they are adequate for
prevailing mining conditions.
Burden Hours: The total number
of burden hours decreased by 7,640 hours, from 15,564 hours to
7,924 hours. As part of a burden reduction initiative, MSHA
considered making the forms available in a fillable/fileable
format; however, that proved impracticable. Instead, most of the
decrease in hours resulted from the development of checklists and a
new Roof Control Plan Approval and Review Procedures handbook that
the agency has also made available to respondents on the Internet.
While primarily intended for MSHA staff, these documents also
provide operators with information that they may use to formulate
roof control plans and addendums. This increased transparency has
reduced the number of hours necessary to develop roof control plans
and addendums. MSHA saved 4,714 of the difference of 7,640 burden
because the increased transparency effort resulted in individual
response times going down (24 hours to 12 hours response for 30 CFR
75.220, 75.221(a), and 75.215/ Plans) (and 5 hours to 4 hours
response for 30 CFR 75.220, 75.221(a), and 75.215, 75.222 and
75.223(a)/ Plan Revisions). While the agency did enhance its
compliance assistance materials by making the internal documents
available to the public, it is important to note that the
information collection requirements remain unchanged. Fewer
respondents accounted for 2,926 hours of the burden reduction.
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.