[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 190 (Friday, September 29, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58568-58569]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-25066]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-1218-00189(2000)]


Lead in Construction; Extension of the Office of Management of 
Budget's (OMB) Approval of Information-Collection (Paperwork) 
Requirements

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.

ACTION: Notice of an opportunity for public comment.

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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits comments concerning its request for an extension 
of the information-collection requirements contained in its standards 
titled, ``Lead in Construction'' (29 CFR 1926.62).

REQUEST FOR COMMENT: The Agency has a particular interest in comments 
on the following issues:
    <bullet> Whether the information-collection requirements are 
necessary for the proper performance of the Agency's functions, 
including whether the information is useful;
    <bullet> The accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden (time 
and costs) of the information-collection requirements, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
    <bullet> The quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
collected; and
    <bullet> Ways to minimize the burden on employers who must comply; 
for example, by using automated or other technological information-
collection and -transmission techniques.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before November 28, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket Office, Docket No. 
ICR-1218-0197(2000), OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-2625, 200 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-
2350. Commenters may transmit written comments of 10 pages or less in 
length by facsimile to (202) 693-1648.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathleen Martinez, Directorate of 
Policy, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-3641, 200 Constitution 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-2444. A copy of 
the Agency's Information-Collection Request (ICR) supporting the need 
for the information-collection requirements specified by its Lead in 
Construction is available for inspection and copying in the Docket 
Office, or you may request a mailed copy by telephoning Kathleen 
Martinez at (202) 693-2444. For electronic copies of this ICR, contact 
OSHA on the Internet at http://www.osha.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

I. Background

    The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce 
paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation 
program to provide the general public and Federal agencies with an 
opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing information-
collection requirements in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (PRA-95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This program ensures that 
information is in the desired format, reporting burden (time and costs) 
is minimal, collection instruments are clearly understood, and OSHA's 
estimate of the information burden is correct. The Occupational Safety 
and Health Act of 1970 (the Act) authorizes information collection by 
employers as necessary or appropriate for enforcement of the Act or for 
developing information regarding the causes and prevention of 
occupational injuries, illnesses, and accidents (29 U.S.C. 657).
    The basic purpose of the information-collection requirements in the 
Lead in Construction Standard is to document that employers in the 
construction industry are providing their employees with protection 
from hazardous lead exposures. Lead exposure can result in both acute 
and chronic effects, and can be fatal at high exposure levels. Health 
affects associated with lead exposure include: Neurological problems 
that may result in seizures, coma, and death; high blood pressure; 
kidney and reproductive problems; and decreased red blood cell 
production.
    The standard specifies the following requirements that impose 
paperwork burdens on employers: Establishing a compliance program and 
notifying other onsite employers (at multi-employer worksites) and 
laundry personnel of the lead hazard; instituting programs for exposure 
monitoring and medical surveillance (including medical examinations); 
notifying employees of exposure levels, biological-monitoring results, 
the option for multiple-physician review, and the availability of 
chelation; providing information to physicians; obtaining written 
medical opinions; implementing employee-information and training 
programs (including providing employees with copies of the standard, 
and employees and other specified parties with copies of the training 
and information materials); recording medical removals; maintaining and 
transferring records of

[[Page 58569]]

exposure-monitoring and medical-surveillance results, medical removals, 
and objective data used for the initial-exposure-monitoring exemption; 
and making records available to specified parties. These paperwork 
requirements permit OSHA and other specified parties to determine the 
effectiveness of an employer's compliance activities, thereby ensuring 
that they are providing employees with all of the protection afforded 
by the standard.

II. Proposed Actions

    OSHA proposes to extend OMB's approval of the collection-of-
information (paperwork) requirements contained in the Lead in 
Construction Standard. The Agency will summarize the comments submitted 
in response to this notice, and will include this summary in its 
request to OMB to extend the approval of the information-collection 
requirements contained in the standard.
    Type of Review: Extension of currently approved information-
collection requirements.
    Title: Lead in Construction (29 CFR 1926.62).
    OMB Number: 1218-0189.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations; 
Federal, State, Local, or Tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents: 147,073.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Average Time per Response: Varies from 5 minutes for a supervisor 
to provide OSHA with written compliance plans, training-program 
materials, and other records during an inspection, to 2.44 hours for a 
supervisor to write a compliance plan.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,814,6971.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $87,087,005.

III. Authority and Signature

    Charles N. Jeffress, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational 
Safety and Health, directed the preparation of this notice. The 
authority for this notice is the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3506) and Secretary of Labor's Order No 3-2000 (65 FR 50017).

    Signed at Washington, DC on September 25, 2000.
Charles N. Jeffress,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 00-25066 Filed 9-28-00; 8:45 am]
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