A number of standards issued by the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) contain
requirements for equipment, products, or materials. These standards
often specify that employers use only equipment, products, or
material tested or approved by a Nationally Recognized Testing
Laboratory (NRTL). This requirement ensures that employers use safe
equipment, products, or materials in complying with the standards.
Accordingly, OSHA promulgated the regulation 29 CFR 1910.7,
"definition and requirements for a nationally recognized testing
laboratory" (the Regulation). The Regulation specifies procedures
that organizations must follow to apply for, and to maintain,
OSHA's recognition to test and certify equipment, products, or
material for this purpose. OSHA proposed revising the existing
schedule of fees that the Agency charges to NRTLs and NRTL
applicants and adopting new application acceptance and review
procedures (80 FR 57222, September 22, 2015, Docket No.
OSHA-2007-0031). OSHA intends to publish a Federal Register notice
adopting a revised fee schedule.
US Code:
29
USC 651 Name of Law: Occupational Safety and Health Act
US Code: 29
USC 657 Name of Law: Occupational Safety and Health Act
The Agency intends to revise
the NRTL Program’s fee schedule associated with initial
recognition, program expansion, renewals of recognition, and
on-site audits. The existing fee schedule for these activities can
be found at http://www.osha.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/nrtlfees.html. To
facilitate the payment of fees and reduce the burden on NRTLs, the
Agency is in the process of establishing an electronic payment
mechanism on Pay.gov. For each transaction on this site, users
would be required to complete a short payment form. OSHA believes
that the on-line process and associated form will simplify fee
transactions and facilitate flexibility in payment options. This
accounts for the reduction in burden hours from 1,623 to 1,523.
OSHA is also requesting an increase in costs associated with OSHA’s
planned increase in filing and assessment fees. As explained fully
in the September 22, 2015 Federal Register notice proposing the
updated NRTL Fee Schedule (80 FR 57222, Docket No. OSHA-2007-0031),
the fees charged by OSHA under the existing fee schedule have been
far lower than the costs of performing the activities for which
OSHA charges fees. OSHA is required to set fees at a level that
cover its full costs in reviewing NRTL applications (29 CFR
1910.7(f)(2)). The proposed fee schedule will rectify this flaw and
more accurately reflect the full cost of performing the activities
for which OSHA charges fees.
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.