34140 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 120 /Tuesday, June 23, 1998 / Proposed Rules

change, rescinded, or amended to make

it more effective or less burdensome in

achieving its objectives, to bring it into

better alignment with the objectives of

Executive Order 12866, or to make it

more consistent with the objectives of

the Regulatory Flexibility Act to achieve

regulatory goals while imposing as little

burden as possible on small employers.

In the event the Agency determines,

based on the results of this review, that

the rule should be rescinded or

modified, appropriate rulemaking will

be initiated.

An important step in the review

process involves the gathering and

analysis of information from affected

persons about their experience with the

rule and any material changes in

circumstances since issuance of the

rule. This notice requests written

comments and announces public

meetings to provide opportunities for

interested parties to comment on the

continuing need for, adequacy or

inadequacy of, and small business

impacts of this rule. Comment

concerning the following subjects would

assist the Agency in determing whether

to retain the standard unchanged or to

initiate rulemaking for purposes of

revision or rescission:

1. The benefits and utility of the rule

in its current form and, if amended, in

its amended form;

2. The continued need for the rule;

3. The complexity of the rule;

4. Whether and to what extent the

rule overlaps, duplicates, or conflicts

with other Federal, State, and local

governmental rules;

5. Information of any new

developments in technology, economic

conditions, or other factors affecting the

ability of affected firms to comply with

the Grain Handling standard; and

6. Alternatives to the rule or portions

of the rule that would minimize

significant impacts on small businesses

while achieving the objectives of the

Occupational Safety and Health Act.

Authority: This document was prepared

under the direction of Charles N. Jeffress,

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational

Safety and Health, 200 Constitution Avenue,

N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210.

Signed at Washington, D.C., this 15th day

of June, 1998.

Charles N. Jeffress,

Assistant Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–16643 Filed 6–22–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–26–M

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health

Administration

29 CFR Part 1910

[Docket No. H–052–F]

Notice of Public Meeting on Review of

the Cotton Dust Standard

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health

Administration, U.S. Department of

Labor.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

SUMMARY: The Occupational Safety and

Health Administration (OSHA) is

conducting a review of the Cotton Dust

Standard in order to determine,

consistent with Executive Order 12866

on Regulatory Planning and Review and

Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility

Act, whether this standard should be

maintained without change, rescinded,

or modified in order to make it more

effective or less burdensome in

achieving its objectives, to bring it into

better alignment with the objectives of

Executive Order 12866, or to make it

more consistent with the objectives of

the Regulatory Flexibility Act to achieve

regulatory goals while imposing as few

burdens as possible on small employers.

Written public comments on all

aspects of the Cotton Dust Standard are

welcomed. OSHA will also hold two

stakeholder meetings that will be open

to the public to provide opportunities

for interested parties to comment on

whether the Cotton Dust Standard

should be eliminated, modified, or

continued without change to achieve

the objectives described above.

DATES: The first public meeting will be

held on July 24, 1998, in Atlanta,

Georgia. The second public meeting will

be held on July 30, 1998 in Washington,

DC. Both meetings will begin at 9:00

a.m. and will end at approximately 5:30

p.m. Requests from members of the

public to speak at these meetings should

be received by OSHA no later than July

17, 1998, for the meeting in Atlanta,

Georgia, and July 23, 1998, for the

meeting in Washington, DC. Written

comments must be postmarked by

August 31, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The Atlanta meeting will be

held at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel,

Atlanta Airport, 1900 Sullivan Road,

College Park, Georgia 30337, Telephone

(770) 997–1100, Fax (770) 997–1921.

The Washington, DC meeting will be

held in the Auditorium of the Frances

Perkins Building at 200 Constitution

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210.

Requests to speak at these public

meetings should be sent to Kathryn

Condit, Office of Regulatory Analysis,

Directorate of Policy, Occupational

Safety and Health Administration,

Room N3627; 200 Constitution Avenue,

NW., Washington, DC 20210, Telephone

(202) 219–4916, extension 145, Fax

(202) 219–4383.

Written comments on the Cotton Dust

Standard should be submitted in

quadruplicate to Elaine Bynum, Docket

Officer, Docket No. H–052–F, OSHA

Docket Office, Room N2625; 200

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,

DC 20210, Telephone (202) 219–7894,

Fax (202) 219–5046. Comments of 10

pages or fewer may be faxed to (202)

219–5046 as long as paper copies are

subsequently sent.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kathryn Condit, Office of Regulatory

Analysis, Directorate of Policy,

Occupational Safety and Health

Administration, Room N3627, 200

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,

DC 20210, Telephone (202) 219–4916,

extension 145, Fax (202) 219–4383.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Additional Information Concerning

Public Participation

Requests to Speak at the Public

Meetings. Requests should identify the

person and organization intending to

appear, desired date of appearance,

address and phone and fax number, the

amount of time requested, audiovisual

equipment required, and a brief

summary of the comments to be

presented. Persons making timely

written requests to speak at the public

meetings will be given priority for oral

comments, as time permits. Other

persons wishing to speak should register

before the meetings from 8:30 to 9:00

a.m. OSHA will make every effort to

accommodate individuals wishing to

speak at the public meetings.

Written Comments. OSHA will review

written public comments as part of the

process of conducting this regulatory

review of the Cotton Dust Standard. All

comments received will be included in

Docket H–052–F and will be available

for public review in the Docket Office.

Additional Information on the

Regulatory Review

OSHA has selected the Cotton Dust

Standard for review in accordance with

the regulatory review provisions at

Section 5 of Executive Order 12866 (58

FR 51735, 51739; Oct. 4, 1993) and

Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility

Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). In the event

the Agency determines, based on the

results of this review, that the rule

should be rescinded or modified,

appropriate rulemaking will be

initiated.
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 120 /Tuesday, June 23, 1998 / Proposed Rules 34141

An important step in the review

process involves the gathering and

analysis of information from affected

persons about their experience with the

rule and any material changes in

circumstances since issuance of the

rule. Comment concerning the following

subjects would assist the Agency in

determining whether to retain the

standard unchanged or to initiate

rulemaking for the purposes of revision

or rescission:

1. The benefits and utility of the rule

in its current form and, if amended, in

its amended form;

2. The continued need for the rule;

3. The complexity of the rule;

4. Whether and to what extent the

rule overlaps, duplicates, or conflicts

with other Federal, State and local

governmental rules;

5. Information on any new

developments in technology, economic

conditions, or other factors affecting the

ability of affected firms to comply with

the Cotton Dust rule; and

6. Alternatives to the rule or portions

of the rule that would minimize any

significant impacts on small businesses

while achieving the objectives of the

Occupational Safety and Health Act.

Addtional Information on the Cotton

Dust Standard

In 1978, OSHA promulgated a health

standard for cotton dust (29 CFR

1910.1043) that set new permissible

exposure limits for occupational

exposure to cotton dust for the textile

industry as well as permissible exposure

limits for several other industries. The

basis for this rulemaking was OSHA’s

determination that exposure to cotton

dust presents a significant health hazard

to employees. Exposure to cotton dust,

which may contain a mixture of many

substances, including ground-up plant

matter, bacteria, fungi, soil, pesticides,

and other contaminants, can lead to the

chronic respiratory disease known as

byssinosis (‘‘brown lung’’), as well as to

production or aggravation of respiratory

symptoms characteristic of chronic lung

disease, e.g., chronic bronchitis, asthma,

emphysema and other non-specific

diseases.

Since its promulgation in 1978, the

Cotton Dust Standard has been modified

on several occasions to conform to court

decisions (AFL–CIO v. Marshall, 617

F.2d 636 (D.C. Cir. 1979); American

Textile Manufacturers Institute, Inc. v.

Donovan, 452 U.S. 490 (1981); (50 FR

51120; December 13, 1985). The Cotton

Dust Standard § 1910.1043, currently

applies to the control of employee

exposure to cotton dust in all

workplaces where employees engage in

yarn manufacturing, engage in slashing

and weaving operations, or work in

waste houses for textile operations.

The standard establishes a

permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 200

micrograms per cubic meter of air (μg/

m3) as an 8-hour time weighted average

(TWA) for yarn manufacturing and

cotton washing operations, a PEL of 500

μg/m3 as an 8-hour TWA for textile mill

waste house operations or exposure to

dust from ‘‘lower grade washed cotton’’

during yarn manufacturing operations,

and a PEL of 750 μg/m3 as an 8-hour

TWA for exposure during slashing and

weaving operations (43 FR 27350; June

23, 1978). The action levels established

by the standard are: 100 μg/m3 as an 8-

hour TWA for yarn manufacturing and

cotton washing operations, 250 μg/m3 as

an 8-hour TWA for textile mill waste

house operations, and 375 μg/m3 as an

8-hour TWA for exposure during

slashing and weaving operations. The

Cotton Dust Standard also includes

provisions covering exposure

monitoring, engineering control use,

written compliance and work practice

programs, respirators, medical

surveillance, training, and

recordkeeping (43 FR 27350; June 23,

1978). In instances where an employer

can demonstrate that employee

exposures are below the appropriate

action level, the employer is not

obligated to comply with many of the

requirements of the standard.

The Cotton Dust Standard also

applies, in part, to cottonseed

processing and cotton waste processing

operations. Cottonseed processing

operations are not subject to an OSHA

8-hour time-weighted average PEL.

However, cottonseed processing

operations are covered by certain

medical surveillance provisions,

recordkeeping provisions, and other

requirements of § 1910.1043 as specified

in § 1910.1043 as specified in

§ 1910.1043(a)(3). These requirements

are included in the scope of this

regulatory review. The cotton waste

processing operations of waste recycling

(sorting, blending, cleaning, willowing,

etc.) and garnetting must comply with a

PEL of 1 mg/m 3 as an 8-hour time

weighted average. This PEL is contained

in § 1910.1000, rather than in

§ 1910.1043, and it is therefore not

included in the scope of the current

regulatory review effort. However,

cotton waste processing operations are

covered by certain medical surveillance,

recordkeeping, and other requirements

of § 1910.1043 as specified in

§ 1910.1043(a)(3). These requirements

are included in the scope of this

regulatory review.

The Cotton Dust Standard does not

apply to the handling or processing of

woven or knitted materials, or to

maritime operations covered by 29 CFR

Parts 1915 and 1918, or to harvesting or

ginning of cotton, or to the construction

industry. In addition, facilities

processing washed cotton (as defined in

paragraph (n) of § 1910.1043) may be

exempt from all or part of the standard

(see § 1910.1043 (n) for details).

In 1978, OSHA estimated that the

Cotton Dust Standard would generate

compliance costs of $656.5 million in

capital costs and $206.1 million in

annual costs. The bulk of these costs

were attributed to the textile industry:

$550.0 million in capital costs and

$171.0 million in annual costs (43 FR

27380; June 23, 1978). the remaining

estimated compliance costs were

attributed to the waste processing,

cottonseed processing, and warehousing

industries. In 1978, OSHA also provided

a benefits estimate for the yarn

preparation industry alone of 4,904

cases of byssinosis avoided per year

based on the new permissible exposure

limit of 200 μg/m 3 as an 8-hour TWA

(43 FR 27379; June 23, 1978). Several

years later, compliance cost estimates

made by the American Textile

Manufactures Institute, as well as

compliance cost estimates made by

Centaur Associates, an OSHA

contractor, indicated that the actual cost

to affected industries of complying with

the standard was substantially lower

than OSHA’s original estimates (50 FR

51166–51167; December 13, 1985).

Modifications to the scope and

requirements of the Cotton Dust

Standard occurring after 1978 also led

OSHA to lower its estimates of the

compliance costs associated with the

standard (48 FR 26978; June 10, 1983).

Authority: This document was prepared

under the direction of Charles N. Jeffress,

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational

Safety and Health, 200 Constitution Avenue,

N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210.

Signed at Washington, D.C., this 15th day

of June, 1998.

Charles N. Jeffress,

Assistant Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–16624 Filed 6–22–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–26–M