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**United         States of America        OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION        1120 20th Street, N.W., Ninth Floor        Washington, DC 20036-3419**

**Office         of Financial        and Administrative Services**

**Phone:         (202) 606-5390        Fax: (202) 606-5050**

**June           26, 2002**

 

Mr.           David Childs           Executive Office of the President          Office of Management and Budget           Room 6104           New Executive Office Building          725 17th Street NW          Washington, D.C. 20503

Dear Mr. Childs:

This is in response           to the Office of Management and Budget’s memorandum of February           27, 2002 with regard to the inventory of commercial activities performed           by Federal employees. The inventory is required by the “Federal           Activities Inventory Reform Act of 1998,” P.L. 105-270 (the FAIR           Act).

**Background**

The Occupational           Safety and Health Review Commission (Review Commission) is a small independent,           adjudicatory agency created by the Occupational Safety and Health Act           of 1970. Its mission and functions are inherently governmental: to provide           an impartial forum for the just and prompt adjudication of workplace           safety and health disputes involving the Department of Labor, employers           and employees, and/or their representatives under the Occupational Safety           and Health Act of 1970. As such, it does not provide administrative           or commercial services to the public.

Currently, the           Review Commission staff consists of 69 FTEs comprised mainly of administrative           law judges, presidentially appointed commissioners and attorneys. The           administrative law judges hear and adjudicate cases brought to the Agency.           The presidentially-appointed commissioners selectively review cases           decided by the judges. Attorneys support this judicial activity through           their research. The activities performed by these employees are inherently           governmental in nature as they involve sensitive and confidential information           used to make legal policy decisions inherent in the adjudication of           disputes.

Additionally, we           have nine employees who perform managerial, public affairs, information           technology, budget, personnel, contracting, and budget functions and           who are engaged in policy development. These employees are also performing           inherently governmental activities. These employees have access to confidential           information with respect to the decisional process of the Commission.           As a small agency, we have single individuals performing multiple functions.           It is impossible, therefore, to separate and cost specific functions.           

**Commercial           Activities Contracted Out**

I would like to           note that many of the functions identified by OMB as lending themselves           to commercial activity have already been commercialized or are supplied           by other government agencies. The services that we contract for involve:
-  Court reporters
-  Personnel and             payroll functions performed by the National Finance Center
-  Website development             performed by the Government Printing Office
-  Equipment repair             and maintenance of ADP and other equipment
-  Training and             education
-  Office renovations
-  Preventive             health services
-  Auditing
-  Library services
-  Special Information             Technology system design and programming
-  Administrative             and financial services performed by the Administrative Resources Center             of the Bureau of the Public Debt beginning in October of 2002

**Processes           and Challenges**

In FY 2002, OSHRC           reviewed the activities performed by the small number of Review Commission           employees and the OMB guidance to determine if any activities performed           by our employees should be included in the inventory of commercial activities.           A similar process was followed in prior fiscal years.

As the need to           contract out for services emerges, the Review Commission follows a competitive           process. All procurement actions, including actions for services, are           in accord with the Federal Acquisition Regulations.

The Review Commission           has received no questions or challenges regarding our activities under           the FAIR Act.

 As requested,           we completed the Excel spreadsheet that we obtained from the OMB website.           It will be e-mailed as instructed. Any questions concerning commercial           activities within the Review Commission should be directed to me. I           may be reached at 202-606-5390.

 Sincerely,

 

/s/

 Ledia Esther Bernal          Director, Office of Financial and Administrative Services
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