Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 13 / Friday, January 20, 1995 / Proposed Rules 4133

Notice of Intention to Appear at the

Informal Hearing

Pursuant to section 6(b)(3) of the OSH

Act, an opportunity to submit oral

testimony concerning all issues raised

by the proposed standard will be

provided at an informal public hearing

to be held in Washington, DC from June

6, 1995 and continuing until Friday,

June 23.

The hearing will commence at 9:30

a.m. on June 6, 1995, in the auditorium

of the Frances Perkins Building, U.S.

Department of Labor, 3rd Street and

Constitution Avenue N.W., Washington,

DC 20210.

All persons desiring to participate at

the hearing must file in quadruplicate a

notice of intention to appear,

postmarked on or before March 31,

1995. The notice of intention to appear,

which will be available for inspection

and copying at the OSHA Technical

Data Center Docket Office (Room

N2625), telephone (202) 219–7894, must

contain the following information:

1. The name, address, and telephone

number of each person to appear;

2. The capacity in which the person

will appear;

3. The approximate amount of time

required for the presentation;

4. The issues that will be addressed;

5. A brief statement of the position

that will be taken with respect to each

issue; and

6. Whether the party intends to

submit documentary evidence and, if so,

a brief summary of it.

The notice of intention to appear shall

be mailed to Mr. Thomas Hall, OSHA

Division of Consumer Affairs, Docket

H–049, Room N3649, U.S. Department

of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue

N.W., Washington, DC 20210; telephone

(202) 219–8617.

A notice of intention to appear also

may be transmitted by facsimile to (202)

219–5986, by the same date, provided

the original and 3 copies are sent to the

same address and postmarked no more

than 3 days later.

Any party who has not filed a notice

of intention to appear may be allowed

to testify for no more than 10 minutes

as time permits, at the discretion of the

Administrative Law Judge, but will not

be allowed to question witnesses.

Filing of Testimony and Evidence

Before the Hearing

In addition to a notice of intention to

appear, any party requesting more than

ten (10) minutes for a presentation, or

who will submit documentary evidence,

must provide in quadruplicate the

complete text of the testimony,

including any documentary evidence to

be presented. One copy shall not be

stapled or bound and be suitable for

copying. These materials must be

provided to Mr. Thomas Hall, OSHA

Division of Consumer Affairs at the

address above and be postmarked no

later than April 14, 1995.

Each such submission will be

reviewed in light of the amount of time

requested. In those instances where the

information submitted does not justify

the amount of time requested, a more

appropriate amount of time will be

allocated and the participant will be

notified of that fact prior to the hearing.

Any party who has not substantially

complied with this requirement may be

limited to a ten-minute presentation,

and may be requested to return for

questioning at a later time during the

hearing.

Notices of intention to appear,

testimony and evidence will be

available for inspection and copying at

the Docket Office at the address above.

Conduct and Nature of Hearing

The hearing will commence at 9:30

a.m. on the first day. At that time, any

procedural matters relating to the

proceeding will be resolved.

The nature of an informal rulemaking

hearing is established in the legislative

history of section 6 of the OSH Act and

is reflected by OSHA’s rules of

procedure for hearings (29 CFR

1911.15(a)). Although the presiding

officer is an Administrative Law Judge

and limited questioning by persons who

have filed notices of intention to appear

is allowed on crucial issues, the

proceeding is informal and legislative in

type. The Agency’s intent, in essence, is

to provide interested persons with an

opportunity to make effective oral

presentations which can proceed

expeditiously.

Since the hearing is primarily for

information gathering and clarification,

it is an informal administrative

proceeding rather than an adjudicative

one. The technical rules of evidence, for

example, do not apply. The regulations

that govern hearings and the pre-hearing

guidelines to be issued for this hearing

will ensure fairness and due process

and also facilitate the development of a

clear, accurate and complete record.

Those rules and guidelines will be

interpreted in a manner that furthers

that development.

The hearing will be conducted in

accordance with 29 CFR Part 1911. It

should be noted that § 1911.4 specifies

the Assistant Secretary may upon

reasonable notice issue alternative

procedures to expedite proceedings or

for other good cause.

The hearing will be presided over by

an Administrative Law Judge who

makes no decision or recommendation

on the merits of OSHA’s proposal. The

responsibility of the Administrative Law

Judge is to ensure that the hearing

proceeds at a reasonable pace and in an

orderly manner. The Administrative

Law Judge, therefore, will have all the

powers necessary and appropriate to

conduct a full and fair informal hearing

as provided in 29 CFR Part 1911

including the powers:

1. To regulate the course of the

proceedings;

2. To dispose of procedural requests,

objections and comparable matters;

3. To confine the presentations to the

matters pertinent to the issues raised;

4. To regulate the conduct of those

present at the hearing by appropriate

means;

5. In the Judge’s discretion, to

question and permit the questioning of

any witness and to limit the time for

questioning; and

6. In the Judge’s discretion, to keep

the record open for a reasonable, stated

time (known as the post-hearing

comment period) to receive written

information and additional data, views

and arguments from any person who has

participated in the oral proceedings.

OSHA recognizes that there may be

interested persons or organizations who,

through their knowledge of the subject

matter or their experience in the field,

would wish to endorse or support the

whole proposal or certain provisions of

the proposal. OSHA welcomes such

supportive comments, including any

pertinent data and cost information

which may be available, in order that

the record of this rulemaking will

present a balanced picture of the public

response on the issues involved.

Authority and Signature

This document was prepared under

the direction of Joseph A. Dear,

Assistant Secretary of Labor for

Occupational Safety and Health, U.S.

Department of Labor, 200 Constitution

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210. It

is issued pursuant to section 6(b) of the

Occupational Safety and Health Act of

1970 (84 Stat. 1593, 29 U.S.C. 655).

Signed at Washington, DC., this 17th day

of January, 1995.

Joseph A. Dear,

Assistant Secretary of Labor.

[FR Doc. 95–1518 Filed 1–19–95; 8:45 am]

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