[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 211 (Tuesday, October 31, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65010-65011]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-27972]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-1218-0134 (2001)]


Asbestos in Construction Standard; Extension of the Office of 
Management and Budget's 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 public comment concerning its request for an 
extension of the information-collection requirements contained in its 
Asbestos in Construction Standard at 29 CFR 1926.1101 (the 
``Standard'').
    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 January 2, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket Office, Docket No. 
ICR-1218-0134 (2001), 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: Todd R. Owen, 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 the Standard is 
available for inspection and copying in the Docket Office, or you may 
request a mailed copy by telephoning Todd Owen 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 
Standard is to provide employees with information necessary for them to 
determine that they are receiving the required protection from 
hazardous asbestos exposure. Asbestos exposure results in asbestosis, 
an emphysema-like condition; mesothelioma; and gastrointestinal cancer.
    Several provisions of the Standard specify paperwork requirements, 
including: Implementing an exposure-monitoring program that informs 
employees of their exposure-monitoring results; and, at multi-employer 
worksites, notification of other onsite employers by employers 
establishing regulated areas of the type of work performed with 
asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) and/or presumed asbestos-
containing materials (PACMs), the requirements that pertain to 
regulated areas, and the measures they can use to protect their 
employees from asbestos overexposure. Other provisions associated with 
paperwork requirements include: Evaluating and certifying alternative 
control methods for Class I and Class II asbestos work and, for Class I 
asbestos work, a requirement to send a copy of the evaluation and 
certification to the OSHA national office; \1\ informing laundry 
personnel of

[[Page 65011]]

the requirement to prevent release of airborne asbestos above the time-
weighted average and excursion limit; notification by employers and 
building/facility owners of designated personnel and employees 
regarding the presence, location, and quantity of ACMs and/or PACMs; 
using information, data, and analyses to demonstrate that PACM does not 
contain asbestos; posting signs in mechanical rooms/areas that 
employees may enter and that contain ACMs and PACMs, informing them of 
the identity and location of these materials and work practices that 
prevent disturbing the materials; posting warning signs demarcating 
regulated areas; and affixing warning labels to asbestos-containing 
products and to containers holding such products. Additional provisions 
of the Standard that contain paperwork requirements include: Developing 
specific information and training programs for employees; providing 
medical surveillance for employees potentially exposed to ACMs and/or 
PACMs, including administering an employee medical questionnaire, 
providing information to the examining physician, and providing the 
physician's written opinion to the employee; maintaining records of 
objective data used for exposure determinations, employee exposure-
monitoring and medical-surveillance records, training records, the 
record (i.e., information, data, and analyses) used to demonstrate that 
PACM does not contain asbestos, and notifications made and received by 
building/facility owners regarding the content of ACMs and PACMs; 
making specified records (e.g., exposure-monitoring and medical-
surveillance records) available to designated parties; and transferring 
exposure-monitoring and medical-surveillance records to the National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health on cessation of business.
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    \1\ Class I asbestos work involves removing: Thermal-system 
insulation (i.e., ACM applied to pipes, fittings, boilers, 
breeching, tanks, ducts or other structural components used to 
prevent heat loss or gain.) and surfacing ACMs and PACMs. Class II 
asbestos work involves removing ACM that is not thermal-system 
insulation or surfacing material. Such material includes, but is not 
limited to, asbestos-containing wallboard, floor tile and sheeting, 
roofing and siding shingles, and construction mastics.
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    These paperwork requirements permit employers, employees and their 
designated representatives, OSHA, and other specified parties to 
determine the effectiveness of an employer's asbestos-control program. 
Accordingly, the requirements ensure that employees exposed to asbestos 
receive all of the protection afforded by the Standard.

II. Proposed Actions

    OSHA proposes to extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) 
approval of the collection-of-information (paperwork) requirements 
contained in the 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 these information-
collection requirements.
    Type of Review: Extension of currently approved information-
collection requirements.
    Title: Asbestos in Construction (29 CFR 1926.1101).
    OMB Number: 1218-0134.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations; 
Federal, State, Local, or Tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents: 286,821.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Average Time per Response: Varies from 5 minutes to maintain 
records to 17.3 hours for training a competent person.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 5,817,388.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $42,774,491.

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 October 26, 2000.
Charles N. Jeffress,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 00-27972 Filed 10-30-00; 8:45 am]
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