(a)
Without regard to chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, or to
the other subsections of this section, the Secretary shall, as
soon as practicable during the period beginning with the effective
date of this Act and ending two years after such date, by rule
promulgate as an occupational safety or health standard any
national consensus standard, and any established Federal standard,
unless he determines that the promulgation of such a standard
would not result in improved safety or health for specifically
designated employees. In the event of conflict among any such
standards, the Secretary shall promulgate the standard which
assures the greatest protection of the safety or health of the
affected employees. (b) The Secretary may by rule promulgate,
modify, or revoke any occupational safety or health standard in
the following manner:
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(1)
Whenever the Secretary, upon the basis of information submitted to
him in writing by an interested person, a representative of any
organization of employers or employees, a nationally recognized
standards-producing organization, the Secretary of Health and
Human Services, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health, or a State or political subdivision, or on the basis of
information developed by the Secretary or otherwise available to
him, determines that a rule should be promulgated in order to
serve the objectives of this Act, the Secretary may request the
recommendations of an advisory committee appointed under section 7
of this Act. The Secretary shall provide such an advisory
committee with any proposals of his own or of the Secretary of
Health and Human Services, together with all pertinent factual
information developed by the Secretary or the Secretary of Health
and Human Services, or otherwise available, including the results
of research, demonstrations, and experiments. An advisory
committee shall submit to the Secretary its recommendations
regarding the rule to be promulgated within ninety days from the
date of its appointment or within such longer or shorter period as
may be prescribed by the Secretary, but in no event for a period
which is longer than two hundred and seventy days. (2) The
Secretary shall publish a proposed rule promulgating, modifying,
or revoking an occupational safety or health standard in the
Federal Register and shall afford interested persons a period of
thirty days after publication to submit written data or comments.
Where an advisory committee is appointed and the Secretary
determines that a rule should be issued, he shall publish the
proposed rule within sixty days after the submission of the
advisory committee's recommendations or the expiration of the
period prescribed by the Secretary for such submission. (3) On or
before the last day of the period provided for the submission of
written data or comments under paragraph (2), any interested
person may file with the Secretary written objections to the
proposed rule, stating the grounds therefore and requesting a
public hearing on such objections. Within thirty days after the
last day for filing such objections, the Secretary shall publish
in the Federal Register a notice specifying the occupational
safety or health standard to which objections have been filed and
a hearing requested, and specifying a time and place for such
hearing.
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