31710 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 131 / Monday, July 9, 2018 / Proposed Rules 

Environmental Review 

This proposal will be subject to an 

environmental analysis in accordance 

with FAA Order 1050.1F, 

‘‘Environmental Impacts: Policies and 

Procedures’’ prior to any FAA final 

regulatory action. 

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 71 

Airspace, Incorporation by reference, 

Navigation (air). 

The Proposed Amendment 

Accordingly, pursuant to the 

authority delegated to me, the Federal 

Aviation Administration proposes to 

amend 14 CFR part 71 as follows: 

PART 71—DESIGNATION OF CLASS A, 

B, C, D, AND E AIRSPACE AREAS; AIR 

TRAFFIC SERVICE ROUTES; AND 

REPORTING POINTS 

■ 1. The authority citation for 14 CFR 

part 71 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(f), 106(g); 40103, 

40113, 40120; E.O. 10854, 24 FR 9565, 3 CFR, 

1959–1963 Comp., p. 389. 

§ 71.1 [Amended] 

■ 2. The incorporation by reference in 

14 CFR 71.1 of FAA Order 7400.11B, 

Airspace Designations and Reporting 

Points, dated August 3, 2017, and 

effective September 15, 2017, is 

amended as follows: 

Paragraph 6005 Class E Airspace Areas 

Extending Upward From 700 Feet or More 

Above the Surface of the Earth 

* * * * * 

AGL MI E5 Hillsdale, MI [Amended] 

Hillsdale Municipal Airport, MI 

(Lat. 41°55′17′′ N, long. 84°35′12′′ W) 

That airspace extending upward from 700 

feet above the surface within a 6.5-mile 

radius of Hillsdale Municipal Airport. 

Issued in Fort Worth, Texas, on June 28, 

2018. 

Walter Tweedy, 

Acting Manager, Operations Support Group, 

ATO Central Service Center. 

[FR Doc. 2018–14528 Filed 7–6–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Mine Safety and Health Administration 

30 CFR Parts 70, 71, 72, 75, and 90 

[Docket No. MSHA 2018–0014] 

RIN 1219–AB90 

Retrospective Study of Respirable 

Coal Mine Dust Rule 

AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health 

Administration, Labor. 

ACTION: Request for information; close of 

comment period. 

SUMMARY: On May 1, 2014, the Mine 

Safety and Health Administration 

(MSHA) published a final rule, 

‘‘Lowering Miners’ Exposure to 

Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including 

Continuous Personal Dust Monitors’’ 

(Dust rule). In the preamble to the Dust 

rule, MSHA stated its intent to take the 

lead in conducting a retrospective study 

beginning February 1, 2017. In this 

Request for Information (RFI), MSHA is 

soliciting stakeholder comments, data, 

and information to assist the Agency in 

developing the framework for this study 

to assess the impact of the Dust rule on 

lowering coal miners’ exposures to 

respirable coal mine dust to improve 

miners’ health. In addition, as part of 

the Agency’s ongoing effort to provide 

compliance and technical assistance to 

mine operators and miners, MSHA is 

soliciting information and data on 

engineering controls and best practices 

that lower miners’ exposure to 

respirable coal mine dust. 

DATES: Comments must be received or 

postmarked by midnight Eastern 

Standard Time (EST) on July 9, 2019. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments and 

informational materials, identified by 

RIN 1219–AB90 or Docket No. MSHA 

2018–0014, by one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal E-Rulemaking Portal: 

https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Email: zzMSHAOSRVRegulatoryReform@dol.gov. 

• Mail: MSHA, Office of Standards, 

Regulations, and Variances, 201 12th 

Street South, Suite 4E401, Arlington, 

Virginia 22202–5452. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: 201 12th 

Street South, Suite 4E401, Arlington, 

Virginia, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 

p.m. Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. Sign in at the 

receptionist’s desk on the 4th floor East, 

Suite 4E401. 

• Fax: 202–693–9441. 

Instructions: All submissions must 

include RIN 1219–AB90 or Docket No. 

MSHA 2018–0014. Do not include 

personal information that you do not 

want publicly disclosed. 

Email Notification: To subscribe to 

receive email notification when MSHA 

publishes rulemaking documents in the 

Federal Register, go to https://

www.msha.gov/subscriptions. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sheila A. McConnell, Director, Office of 

Standards, Regulations, and Variances, 

MSHA, at mcconnell.sheila.a@dol.gov 

(email), 202–693–9440 (voice), or 202– 

693–9441 (fax). These are not toll-free 

numbers. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Availability of Information 

MSHA will post all comments 

without change, including any personal 

information provided. Access comments 

and information electronically at 

https://www.regulations.gov, or https://

www.msha.gov/currentcomments.asp. 

Review comments in person at MSHA, 

Office of Standards, Regulations, and 

Variances, 201 12th Street South, 

Arlington, Virginia, between 9:00 a.m. 

and 5:00 p.m. EST Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. Sign in 

at the receptionist’s desk on the 4th 

floor East, Suite 4E401. To read 

background documents on the final rule, 

‘‘Lowering Miners’ Exposure to 

Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including 

Continuous Personal Dust Monitors’’ (79 

FR 24814), go to https://

www.regulations.gov, and search under 

RIN 1219–AB64 or Docket No. MSHA– 

2010–0007. 

I. Background 

On May 1, 2014, MSHA published a 

final rule, ‘‘Lowering Miners’ Exposure 

to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including 

Continuous Personal Dust Monitors’’ (79 

FR 24814). The purpose of the rule is to 

reduce occupational lung diseases in 

coal miners. Chronic exposures to 

respirable coal mine dust cause lung 

diseases that can lead to permanent 

disability and death. The Dust rule 

improves health protection for coal 

miners by reducing their occupational 

exposure to respirable coal mine dust 

and by lowering the risk that they will 

suffer material impairment of health or 

functional capacity over their working 

lives. Several provisions specifically 

lower coal miners’ exposure to 

respirable coal mine dust by lowering 

exposure limits; basing noncompliance 

determinations on MSHA’s inspectors’ 

single-shift samples; and changing the 

definition of normal production shift. 

Other provisions reduce respirable coal 

mine dust levels and further protect 

miners by requiring full-shift sampling 

to account for occupational exposures 

greater than eight hours per shift and 

requiring more frequent sampling of 

selected occupations and locations 

using the Continuous Personal Dust 

Monitor (CPDM). All of the phased Dust 

rule requirements were effective as of 

August 1, 2016. 

II. Study To Assess Effects of Dust Rule 

As MSHA noted in the preamble to 

the Dust rule, the health effects from 

occupational exposure to respirable coal 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 131 / Monday, July 9, 2018 / Proposed Rules 31711 

mine dust consist of interstitial and 

obstructive pulmonary diseases (79 FR 

24819). Interstitial lung diseases, like 

coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP) 

and silicosis, have a significant latency 

period between exposure and disease. 

The health effects from exposure to 

respirable coal mine dust may not be 

realized for a decade or more until the 

disease becomes clinically apparent. In 

addition, the chronic effects of 

interstitial lung diseases, such as CWP 

and silicosis, may progress or worsen 

even after miners are no longer exposed 

to respirable coal mine dust. Thus, 

miners’ exposure to respirable coal mine 

dust before final implementation of the 

Dust rule on August 1, 2016, may 

continue to contribute to the 

development of lung diseases in coal 

miners. New miners hired after August 

1, 2016, are the only cohort of coal 

miners who are unaffected by exposures 

that occurred before full 

implementation of the Dust rule. 

In the preamble to the Dust rule, 

MSHA stated its intent to take the lead 

in conducting a retrospective study 

beginning February 1, 2017 (79 FR 

24867), with an unspecified completion 

date. Since the Dust rule went into 

effect, MSHA has analyzed more than 

250,000 respirable dust samples taken 

by mine operators who use the CPDM 

and by MSHA inspectors who use the 

gravimetric sampler. MSHA’s analysis 

shows that more than 99 percent of the 

samples were in compliance with the 

MSHA respirable coal mine dust 

standards. 

The sample data allow MSHA to 

evaluate the effectiveness of dust 

controls in mines and whether the rule 

results in reduced levels of respirable 

coal dust. However, due to the latency 

between exposure and disease, MSHA 

likely will not be able to evaluate fully 

the health effects of the rule for a decade 

or more. 

While the Agency continues to 

evaluate the respirable dust samples, 

MSHA also is seeking comments, data, 

and information from stakeholders to 

assist the Agency in developing a 

framework to assess the health effects of 

the Dust rule and its impact on the 

health protections provided to coal 

miners going forward. With respect to 

suggested elements for a framework, 

commenters should be specific and 

include detailed rationales and 

supporting documentation, if any. 

Throughout the comment period, MSHA 

will continue to consult with interested 

parties and the Department of Health 

and Human Services’ National Institute 

for Occupational Safety and Health 

(NIOSH), as it collects and evaluates all 

available information, comments in 

response to this RFI, respirable coal 

mine dust sampling data, and 

compliance rates for controlling 

exposure to coal mine dust. 

III. Engineering Controls and Best 

Practices 

As mentioned, since the Dust rule’s 

publication and implementation, MSHA 

has continually evaluated respirable 

dust controls and best practices for 

compliance with the rule’s 

requirements. The Agency has met with 

mine operators and miners to provide 

mine-specific compliance and technical 

assistance. MSHA also held a MSHA/ 

NIOSH-sponsored meeting on 

engineering controls and best practices 

on December 6, 2016. Technical 

assistance materials and other materials 

from the meeting are available on 

MSHA’s website at https://

www.msha.gov. 

MSHA intends to continue its 

consultations and will continue to offer 

technical assistance on best practices for 

controlling coal mine dust and quartz 

exposures. MSHA is interested in the 

engineering controls and best practices 

that mine operators find most effective 

to achieve and maintain the required 

respirable coal mine dust and quartz 

levels—particularly those practices that 

can be replicated throughout coal mines 

nationwide to achieve similar results. 

IV. Data Request 

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit 

comments, data, and information from 

industry, labor, NIOSH, and other 

stakeholders to assist MSHA in 

developing the framework for a study to 

assess the health effects of the Dust rule. 

Commenters should be specific about 

any recommendations they offer, 

including detailed rationales and 

supporting documentation. 

V. National Academy of Sciences Study 

MSHA notes that in the Explanatory 

Statement to the 2016 Consolidated 

Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 114–113), 

Congress directed NIOSH to charter a 

National Academy of Sciences (NAS) 

study to examine and describe: Current 

monitoring and sampling protocols and 

requirements to understand miners’ 

occupational exposure to respirable coal 

mine dust in the United States and other 

industrialized countries; coal mine dust 

composition and application 

procedures, including the impact of new 

rock dust mixtures and regulatory 

requirements; monitoring and sampling 

technologies, along with sampling 

protocols and frequency; and the 

efficacy of those technologies and 

protocols in aiding decisions regarding 

the control of respirable coal mine dust 

and mine worker exposure. Congress 

directed MSHA to provide assistance 

and necessary data to NAS for its study, 

which the Agency has done and 

continues to do when requested. MSHA 

will evaluate the results of the NAS 

study after the report is final. 

David G. Zatezalo, 

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety 

and Health. 

[FR Doc. 2018–14536 Filed 7–6–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4520–43–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

38 CFR Part 17 

Exclusion of Gender Alterations From 

the Medical Benefits Package 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. 

ACTION: Petition for Rulemaking and 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: On May 9, 2016, the 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 

received a Petition for Rulemaking 

petitioning VA to amend its medical 

regulations by removing a provision that 

excludes ‘‘gender alterations’’ from its 

medical benefits package. The effect of 

the amendment sought by the 

petitioners would be to authorize gender 

alteration surgery as part of VA care 

when medically necessary. VA seeks 

comments on the petition to assist in 

determining whether to amend the 

medical benefits package and eliminate 

the exclusion of gender alteration from 

VA’s medical benefits package. 

DATES: Comments must be received/ 

submitted on or before September 7, 

2018. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be 

submitted through http://

www.regulations.gov; or by mail or hand 

delivery to Director, Office of Regulation 

Policy and Management (00REG), 

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 

Vermont Ave. NW, Room 1063B, 

Washington, DC 20420; or by fax to 

(202) 273–9026. Comments should 

indicate that they are submitted in 

response to ‘‘Notice of Petition for 

Rulemaking and request for comments— 

Exclusion of Gender Alterations from 

the Medical Benefits Package.’’ Copies 

of comments received will be available 

for public inspection in the Office of 

Regulation Policy and Management, 

Room 1063B, between the hours of 8:00 

a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through 

Friday (except holidays). Please call 

(202) 461–4902 for an appointment. 

(This is not a toll-free number.) During 

the comment period, comments may 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS