64264 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (DOL) 

Statement of Regulatory and 

Deregulatory Priorities 

Executive Summary 

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) 

mission is to protect workers by 

improving working conditions, 

advancing opportunities for 

employment, protecting retirement and 

health care benefits, helping employers 

find workers, and strengthening 

collective bargaining. Secretary of Labor 

Hilda L. Solis’ vision is that the work of 

the Labor Department will ensure there 

are good jobs for everyone. 

To achieve this broad vision, the 

Secretary has established a series of 12 

specific strategic outcomes, which span 

across all of the Department’s agencies. 

These outcomes are: 

• Increasing workers’ incomes and 

narrowing wage and income 

inequality. 

• Securing safe and healthy workplaces, 

wages and overtime, particularly in 

high-risk industries. 

• Assuring skills and knowledge that 

prepare workers to succeed in a 

knowledge-based economy, including 

in high-growth and emerging industry 

sectors like ‘‘green’’ jobs. 

• Breaking down barriers to fair and 

diverse work places so that every 

worker’s contribution is respected. 

• Improving health benefits and 

retirement security for all workers. 

• Providing work place flexibility for 

family and personal care-giving. 

• Facilitating return to work for workers 

experiencing work place injuries or 

illnesses who are able to work and 

sufficient income and medical care for 

those who are unable to work. 

• Income support when work is 

impossible or unavailable. 

• Helping workers who are in low-wage 

jobs or out of the labor market find a 

path into middle class jobs. 

• Ensuring workers have a voice in the 

work place. 

• Assuring that global markets are 

governed by fair market rules that 

protect vulnerable people, including 

women and children, and provide 

workers a fair share of their 

productivity and voice in their work 

lives. 

• Helping middle-class families remain 

in the middle class. 

Critical to this vision is ensuring these 

outcomes achieve good jobs for 

everyone. This includes vulnerable 

workers, workers in traditionally less 

safe industry sectors, farmworkers, 

health care workers and seniors, and 

those facing barriers to good 

employment. 

The Secretary has directed each 

agency to ensure that all priority 

regulatory projects support achievement 

of one or more of the strategic outcomes 

that support the good jobs for everyone 

vision. The DOL Fall 2009 Regulatory 

Plan reflects this direction. 

Openness and Transparency 

Using regulatory changes to produce 

greater openness and transparency is an 

integral part of a Department-wide 

compliance strategy. These efforts will 

not only enhance DOL agencies’ 

enforcement tool set, but will encourage 

greater levels of compliance by the 

regulated community and enhance 

awareness among workers of their rights 

and benefits. 

The Department’s commitment to 

achieving greater openness and 

transparency is exemplified in its 

Regulatory Plan and Agenda. Several 

proposals from the Employee Benefits 

Security Administration expand 

disclosure requirements, substantially 

enhancing the availability of 

information to pension plan participants 

and beneficiaries and employers, and 

strengthening the retirement security of 

America’s workers. These rulemakings 

are: 

• Fiduciary Requirements for Disclosure 

in Participant-Directed Individual 

Account Plans, which would increase 

transparency between individual 

account pension plans and their 

participants and beneficiaries by 

ensuring that participants and 

beneficiaries are provided the 

information they need, including 

information about fees and expenses, 

to make informed investment 

decisions. 

• Amendment of Standards Applicable 

to General Statutory Exemption for 

Services, which would require service 

providers to disclose to plan 

fiduciaries services, fees, 

compensation and conflicts of interest 

information. 

• Annual Funding Notice for Defined 

Benefit Plans, which would require 

defined benefit plan administrators to 

provide all participants, beneficiaries 

and other parties with detailed 

information regarding their plan’s 

funding status. 

• Periodic Pension Benefits Statements, 

which would require pension plans to 

provide participants and certain 

beneficiaries with periodic benefit 

statements. 

• Multiemployer Plan Information 

Made Available on Request, which 

would require pension plan 

administrators to provide copies of 

financial and actuarial reports to 

participants and beneficiaries, unions 

and contributing employers on 

request. 

Several other Labor Department 

agencies will also be proposing 

regulatory projects that will foster 

greater openness and transparency. 

These include: 

• The Mine Safety and Health 

Administration’s proposed regulation 

on Notification of Legal Identity, 

which aims to require mine operators 

to provide increased identification 

information, would allow the agency 

to better target the most egregious and 

persistent violators and deter future 

violations. 

• The Office of Labor-Management 

Standards’ proposed regulations on 

Notification of Employee Rights 

Under Federal Labor Laws, which 

would implement Executive Order 

13496 and require all Government 

contracting agencies to include a 

contract clause requiring contractors 

to inform workers of their rights 

under Federal labor laws. 

• The Wage and Hour Division’s 

rulemaking, Records to be Kept by 

Employers Under the Fair Labor 

Standards Act, which would update 

decades old recordkeeping regulations 

in order to enhance the transparency 

and disclosure to workers as to how 

their wages are computed and to 

allow for new workplace practices 

such as telework and flexiplace 

arrangements. 

• The Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration’s modification of its 

Hazard Communication Standard, 

which would adopt standardized 

labeling requirements and order of 

information for safety data sheets. 

• The Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration’s Occupational Injury 

and Illness Recording and Reporting 

Requirements rule, which would 

propose the collection of additional 

data to help employers and workers 

track injuries at individual 

workplaces, improve the Nation’s 

occupational injury and illness 

information data, and assist the 

agency in its enforcement of the safety 

and health workplace requirements. 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 64265 

The Department’s Regulatory Priorities 

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) 

2009 Regulatory Plan highlights the 

most noteworthy and significant 

regulatory projects that will be 

undertaken by its regulatory agencies: 

the Employment Standards 

Administration (ESA), Mine Safety and 

Health Administration (MSHA), 

Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration (OSHA), Employee 

Benefits Security Administration 

(EBSA), and Employment and Training 

Administration (ETA). The initiatives 

and priorities in the regulatory plan 

represent those that are essential to the 

fulfillment of the Secretary’s vision for 

the Department and America’s 

workforce. 

Employment and Training 

Administration 

ETA is charged with assuring our 

Nation’s workers have the skills and 

knowledge that will prepare them to 

succeed in a knowledge-based economy, 

including high-growth and emerging 

industry sectors such as ‘‘green jobs.’’ 

For those workers who are in low-wage 

jobs or out of the labor market, ETA 

programs will help them find a path to 

self-sufficiency and good, middle class 

jobs. And for those who are unable to 

work, or for whom work is unavailable, 

ETA programs provide income support 

and a path to self-sufficiency. ETA is 

playing a pivotal role in the 

implementation of the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 

(Recovery Act) to jumpstart our 

economy, create or save millions of jobs, 

and make a down payment on 

addressing long-neglected challenges so 

our country can thrive. Through these 

efforts and others, ETA is transforming 

the way it provides services to all 

workers. 

ETA is highlighting four regulatory 

priorities that reflect the Secretary’s 

vision to advance good jobs for everyone 

with measurable and substantial 

outcomes. These are: 

• The Trade Adjustment Assistance 

(TAA) for Workers Program 

Regulations propose to implement 

changes to the TAA program that 

arose when the program was reauthorized and expanded in the 

Recovery Act. The Recovery Act 

amended the certification criteria, 

expanded the types of workers who 

may be certified, and expanded the 

available program benefits. The TAA 

regulations will help provide 

opportunities for participants to 

acquire skills and knowledge needed 

to become, or remain, employable in 

the middle-class jobs market. The 

TAA regulations will also help 

provide guidance on supplying 

participants with income support for 

times when work is impossible or 

unavailable. The overarching 

outcomes for the completion of the 

TAA regulations are to help middleclass families remain middle class 

and help workers who are out of the 

labor market find a path into the 

middle class. 

• The Trade Adjustment Assistance: 

Merit Staffing of State Administration 

and Allocation of Training Funds to 

States Regulation proposes that 

personnel carrying out the worker 

adjustment assistance provisions of 

the TAA program must be State 

employees covered by the merit 

system of personnel administration 

and addresses how the Department 

distributes TAA training funds to the 

States. It will be finalized after the 

public comments on the regulation 

have been analyzed and considered. 

The Allocation of Training Funds 

portion of this regulation explains, for 

the first time, the new formula that 

the Department uses to allocate 

training funds to the States. 

• The Temporary Agricultural 

Employment of H-2A Aliens in the 

United States regulatory revisions set 

forth the requirements for using 

temporary foreign agricultural 

workers and establish wages and 

working conditions to cover both U.S. 

and foreign agricultural workers. The 

H-2A program assists in achieving the 

Secretary’s goal to increase workers’ 

incomes and narrow wage and income 

inequality by protecting the wages 

and working conditions of both 

American workers and foreign 

nationals working in the United 

States. 

• The YouthBuild Program regulation 

proposes to implement the 

YouthBuild Transfer Act of 2006, 

which transferred the YouthBuild 

program from the Department of 

Housing and Urban Development to 

DOL, and amended certain program 

features to emphasize skill training 

and connections to the public 

workforce system. The YouthBuild 

regulations will help achieve the 

Secretary’s goals by assuring 

participants gain the skills and 

knowledge that will prepare them to 

succeed in a knowledge-based 

economy, including in high-growth 

and emerging industry sectors like 

‘‘green jobs.’’ 

In addition, the proposed 

amendments to regulations for equal 

employment opportunity (EEO) in 

apprenticeship and training are a 

critical second phase of regulatory 

updates to modernize the National 

Apprenticeship System. The first phase 

was completed in October 2008 with the 

publication of a final rule updating 

regulations for Apprenticeship Programs 

and Labor Standards for Registration. 

The existing companion EEO 

regulations for apprenticeship were 

promulgated over 30 years ago. 

Proposed amendments to these 

regulations will help achieve the 

Secretary’s goal of a fair and diverse 

workplace free of discrimination and 

harassment by reflecting current EEO 

law. 

Finally, the Department proposes 

amendments to the temporary nonagricultural foreign worker (H-2B 

Worker) regulations. As part of its 

statutory responsibility as an advisor to 

the Department of Homeland Security, 

the Department certifies that there is not 

sufficient U.S. worker(s) able, available, 

willing and qualified at the time of an 

application for a visa, and that the 

employment of the alien will not 

adversely affect the wages and working 

conditions of similarly employed U.S. 

workers. The Department currently 

administers such certification through 

an attestation-based program. The 

regulatory review of the H-2B program 

will assist in achieving the Secretary’s 

goal to increase workers’ incomes and 

narrow wage and income inequality by 

protecting the wages and working 

conditions of both American workers 

and foreign nationals working in the 

United States. 

Employee Benefits Security 

Administration 

The Employee Benefits Security 

Administration is responsible for 

administering and enforcing the 

fiduciary, reporting and disclosure, and 

health coverage provisions of Title I of 

the Employee Retirement Income 

Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). This 

includes recent amendments and 

additions to ERISA enacted in the 

Pension Protection Act of 2006, as well 

as new COBRA Continuation Coverage 

Provisions under the Recovery Act. 

EBSA’s regulatory plan initiatives are 

intended to improve health benefits and 

retirement security for workers in every 

type of job at every income level. 

Health Benefits for Workers 

EBSA will issue guidance 

implementing the Genetic Information 

Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
64266 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 

amendments to ERISA. Generally, GINA 

prohibits group health plans from 

discriminating in health coverage based 

on genetic information and from 

collecting genetic information. This 

rulemaking helps ensure that workers 

will have access to high quality health 

coverage, free from discrimination based 

on a genetic predisposition towards a 

disease. This is a joint rulemaking with 

the Departments of Health and Human 

Services and the Treasury. 

EBSA also will be providing guidance 

regarding the Paul Wellstone and Pete 

Domenici Mental Health Parity and 

Addiction Equity Act of 2008 

(MHPAEA) amendments to ERISA. 

MHPAEA creates parity for mental 

health and substance use disorder 

benefits under group health plans by 

mandating that any financial 

requirements and treatment limitations 

applicable to mental health and 

substance abuse disorder benefits to be 

no more restrictive than predominant 

requirements or limitations applied to 

substantially all medical and surgical 

benefits covered by a plan. EBSA’s 

MHPAEA guidance will help ensure the 

desired outcome of affording workers 

access to reliable and high quality 

health benefits. 

EBSA also will issue guidance 

clarifying the circumstances under 

which health care arrangements 

established or maintained by state or 

local governments for the benefit of nongovernmental employees do not 

constitute an employee welfare benefit 

plan for purposes of ERISA. Such 

clarification is intended to remove 

perceived impediments to state and 

local government efforts to improve 

access to and opportunities for quality 

and affordable health care coverage for 

vulnerable, uninsured populations. The 

clarifications provided by this 

regulation also will reduce uncertainty 

and, therefore, potential regulatory and 

litigation costs for both plan sponsors 

and state and local governments 

concerning the scope of ERISA 

regulation. 

Retirement Security for Workers 

EBSA will propose amendments to its 

regulations to clarify the circumstances 

under which a person will be 

considered a fiduciary when providing 

investment advice to employee benefit 

plans and their participants and 

beneficiaries of such plans. EBSA also 

will explore steps it can take by 

regulation, or otherwise, to encourage 

the offering of lifetime annuities or 

similar lifetime benefits distribution 

options for participants and 

beneficiaries of defined contribution 

plans. These initiatives are intended to 

assure retirement security for workers in 

all jobs regardless of income level by 

ensuring that financial advisers and 

similar persons are required to meet 

ERISA’s strict standards of fiduciary 

responsibility and helping to ensure that 

participants and beneficiaries have the 

benefit of their plan savings throughout 

retirement. 

Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration 

The Secretary’s vision for workers 

requires securing a safe and healthy 

workplace. OSHA’s regulatory program 

is designed to help workers and 

employers identify hazards in the 

workplace, prevent the occurrence of 

injuries and adverse health effects, and 

communicate with the regulated 

community regarding hazards and how 

to effectively control them. 

Longstanding health hazards such as 

silica and beryllium and emerging 

hazards such as food flavorings 

containing diacetyl and airborne 

infectious diseases place American 

workers at risk of serious disease and 

death and are initiatives on OSHA’s 

regulatory agenda. OSHA’s regulatory 

program demonstrates a renewed 

commitment to worker health by 

addressing health hazards and the 

prevention of construction injuries and 

fatalities. 

First, OSHA is proposing to address 

worker exposures to crystalline silica 

through the promulgation and 

enforcement of a comprehensive health 

standard. Exposure to silica causes 

silicosis, a debilitating respiratory 

disease, and may cause cancer, other 

chronic respiratory diseases, and renal 

and autoimmune disease as well. Over 

2 million workers are exposed to 

crystalline silica in general industry, 

construction, and maritime industries 

and workers are often exposed to levels 

that exceed current OSHA permissible 

limits, which is frequent in the 

construction industry where workers are 

exposed at levels that exceed current 

limits by several fold. It has been 

estimated that between 3,500 and 7,000 

new cases of silicosis arise each year in 

the U.S., and that 1,746 workers died of 

silicosis between 1996 and 2005. 

Reducing these hazardous exposures 

through promulgation and enforcement 

of a comprehensive health standard 

supports both the Secretary’s vision and 

will contribute to OSHA’s goal of 

reducing occupational fatalities and 

illnesses. As a part of the Secretary’s 

strategy for securing safe and healthy 

workplaces, the Mine Safety and Health 

Administration will also be undertaking 

regulatory action related to silica 

utilizing information provided by 

OSHA. 

OSHA’s second health initiative 

would revise its Hazard Communication 

Standard (HCS) to make it consistent 

with a globally harmonized approach to 

hazard communication. The HCS covers 

over 945,000 hazardous chemical 

products in seven million American 

workplaces and gives workers the ‘‘right 

to know’’ about chemical hazards they 

are exposed to. OSHA and other Federal 

agencies have participated in long-term 

international negotiations to develop the 

Globally Harmonized System of 

Classification and Labeling of Chemicals 

(GHS). Revising the HCS to be 

consistent with the GHS is expected to 

significantly improve the 

communication of hazards to workers in 

American workplaces, reducing 

exposures to hazardous chemicals, and 

reducing occupational illnesses and 

fatalities. 

Workers in construction suffer the 

most fatalities of any industry. In 2008, 

OSHA estimated that crane-related 

accidents in construction cause over 80 

fatalities a year. Therefore, OSHA’s 

major construction initiative is an 

update of the 1971 Cranes and Derricks 

Standards. Completion of this standard 

will contribute to a reduction in 

occupational injuries and fatalities, 

which helps achieve the Secretary’s 

outcome goal of securing safe and 

healthy workplaces in high-risk 

industries. The Agency is currently 

evaluating the public comments and 

planning to issue a final rule in July 

2010. 

Mine Safety and Health Administration 

MSHA’s regulatory projects support 

the Secretary’s vision by protecting the 

health and safety of the Nation’s miners. 

Despite the agency’s past efforts, miners 

face safety and health hazards daily at 

levels unknown in most other 

occupations. While the Federal Mine 

Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine 

Act) places primary responsibility for 

preventing unsafe and unhealthful 

working conditions in mines on the 

operators, the collective commitment of 

miners, mine operators, and government 

is needed to ensure safe workplaces. 

The agency’s proposed regulatory 

actions exemplify a commitment to 

protecting the most vulnerable 

populations while assuring broad-based 

compliance. Health hazards are 

pervasive in both coal and 

metal/nonmetal mines (including 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 64267 

surface and underground mines) and 

large and small mines. 

Recent data from the National 

Institute for Occupational Safety and 

Health indicate increased prevalence of 

coal workers pneumoconiosis (CWP) 

‘‘clusters’’ in several geographical areas, 

particularly in the Southern 

Appalachian Region. MSHA plans to 

publish a notice of proposed rulemaking 

to address continued risk to coal miners 

from exposure to respirable coal mine 

dust. 

On January 16, 2009, MSHA and 

NIOSH published a proposed rule that 

would revise requirements for the 

approval of coal mine personal dust 

sampling devices. The proposed rule 

would also establish performance-based 

and other requirements for approval of 

the continuous personal dust monitor 

(CPDM) and revise requirements for the 

existing sampler. As a part of the 

agency’s efforts in this area, MSHA 

plans to publish a Request for 

Information on the use of the CPDM to 

measure a miner’s exposure to 

respirable coal mine dust. The CPDM 

represents advanced technology and the 

RFI will solicit information from the 

public to help the Agency determine 

how to best use the technology to assess 

coal miners’ dust exposures. MSHA is 

also considering a rulemaking to 

address ways in which mine operators 

can improve protections in their dust 

control plans, emphasizing that the 

burden of compliance is on the mine 

operator, rather than relying exclusively 

on enforcement interventions. 

These regulatory actions are a part of 

MSHA’s Comprehensive Black Lung 

Reduction Strategy for reducing miners’ 

exposure to respirable dust. This 

strategy includes enhanced 

enforcement, education and training, 

and health outreach and collaboration. 

As a part of the Secretary’s strategy for 

securing safe and healthy workplaces, 

both MSHA and OSHA will be 

undertaking regulatory action related to 

silica. Overexposure to crystalline silica 

can result in some miners developing 

silicosis, an irreversible but preventable 

lung disease which ultimately may be 

fatal. Both the coal mine and 

metal/nonmetal formulas are designed 

to limit exposures to 0.1 mg/m3 (100 μg) 

of silica. MSHA plans to follow the 

recommendation of the Secretary of 

Labor’s Advisory Committee on the 

Elimination of Pneumoconiosis Among 

Coal Mine Workers, NIOSH, and other 

industry groups by publishing a 

proposed rule to address the exposure 

limit for respirable crystalline silica. To 

assure consistency within the 

Department, MSHA intends to use 

OSHA’s work on the health effects of 

occupational exposure to silica and 

OSHA’s risk assessment, adapting it as 

necessary for the mining industry. 

MSHA is placing an emphasis on 

routinely evaluating the success of 

existing enforcement and regulatory 

strategies and plans to issue an Advance 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

(ANPRM) on dams in metal and 

nonmetal mines. Mining operations 

regularly find it necessary to construct 

dams to dispose of large volumes of 

mine waste from processing operations, 

or to provide water supply, sediment 

control, or water treatment. The failure 

of these structures can have a 

devastating effect on both the mine and 

nearby communities. MSHA evaluated 

its existing requirements for metal and 

nonmetal dams and has determined that 

the current standards do not provide 

sufficient guidance to determine what is 

needed to effectively design and 

construct dams with high or significant 

hazard potential. The ANPRM will 

solicit information on proper design, 

construction and other safety issues for 

impoundments at metal and nonmetal 

mines whose failure could cause loss of 

life or significant property damage. 

Employment Standards Administration 

ESA’s Wage and Hour Division 

enforces several statutes that establish 

minimum labor standards and protect 

the Nation’s workers, including the Fair 

Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the 

Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural 

Worker Protection Act, the Family and 

Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Service 

Contract Act, the Davis-Bacon and 

Related Acts, the Employee Polygraph 

Protection Act, and certain provisions of 

the Immigration and Nationality Act. 

The regulatory initiatives required to 

implement these statutory workplace 

protections represent an important 

aspect of the Division’s work and affect 

over 130 million workers across all 

sectors of the economy. 

Updating the child labor regulations 

issued under the FLSA will help meet 

the challenge of ensuring good jobs for 

the Nation’s working youth, by 

balancing their educational needs with 

job-related experiences that are safe, 

healthy, and fair. This will enhance 

young workers’ opportunities to gain the 

skills to find and hold good jobs with 

the potential to increase their earnings 

over time. 

The Wage and Hour Division will 

review the implementation of the new 

military family leave amendments to the 

Family and Medical Leave Act that were 

included in the National Defense 

Authorization Act for FY 2008, as well 

as other provisions of the FMLA 

regulations that were revised and 

implemented in January 2009. This 

regulatory initiative assists in achieving 

the Secretary’s goal of workplace 

flexibility for family and personal caregiving and, particularly through the job 

protection and the maintenance of 

health benefits provisions, helps 

middle-class families remain in the 

middle class. 

The Wage and Hour Division also 

intends to initiate rulemaking to update 

the recordkeeping regulation issued 

under the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Consistent with the Secretary’s strategic 

vision, this proposal will foster more 

openness and transparency by 

demonstrating employers’ compliance 

with minimum wage and overtime 

requirements to workers. In turn, this 

will better ensure compliance by 

regulated entities and assist the 

Department with its enforcement efforts. 

ESA’s Office of Federal Contract 

Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is 

charged with assuring that the door to 

opportunity is open to every American 

regardless of race, color, religion, sex, 

national origin, veteran status, or 

disability. OFCCP enforces Executive 

Order 11246, as amended, and selected 

provisions of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ 

Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 

(VEVRAA), and Section 503 of the 

Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended 

(Section 503). Regulations issued under 

the Executive Order and the two acts 

govern the nondiscrimination and 

affirmative action obligations for 

Federal contractors and subcontractors. 

OFCCP’s enforcement of these statutory 

obligations contributes to achieving 

several of the Secretary’s desired 

outcomes, including increasing workers’ 

incomes and narrowing wage and 

income inequality, breaking down 

barriers to fair and diverse work places 

so that every worker’s contribution is 

respected and helping workers who are 

in low-wage jobs or out of the labor 

market find a path into middle-class 

jobs. 

OFCCP is highlighting three 

regulatory initiatives that reflect the 

Secretary’s vision of good jobs for 

everyone. The Evaluation of 

Recruitment and Placement Results 

under Section 503 ANPRM will invite 

the public to provide input on how the 

Department can strengthen affirmative 

action requirements by requiring 

Federal contractors and subcontractors 

to conduct more substantive analyses 

and monitoring of their recruitment and 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
64268 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 

placement efforts targeted to individuals 

with disabilities. 

The Evaluation of Recruitment and 

Placement Results under VEVRRA 

NPRM will propose to revise provisions 

in the regulations to strengthen 

compliance with affirmative action 

requirements, including the 

establishment of outreach, recruitment, 

and placement goals for the 

employment and advancement of 

covered veterans. This effort will help 

support the creation of good jobs for 

veterans, especially those returning 

from recent service in Iraq and 

Afghanistan. Through this initiative, 

OFCCP will help servicemen and 

women successfully transition into 

civilian life. 

The Construction Contractor 

Affirmative Action Requirements 

proposed rule would revise the 

regulations implementing the 

affirmative action requirements of 

Executive Order 11246 that are 

applicable to federal and federallyassisted construction contractors. The 

initiative would update regulatory 

provisions that set forth the actions 

construction contractors are required to 

take to implement their affirmative 

action obligations. 

ESA’s Office of Labor-Management 

Standards (OLMS) administers and 

enforces most provisions of the LaborManagement Reporting and Disclosure 

Act of 1959 (LMRDA). The LMRDA 

requires unions, employers, laborrelations consultants, and others to file 

financial disclosure reports, which are 

publicly available. The LMRDA 

includes provisions protecting union 

member rights to participate in their 

union’s governance, to run for office and 

fully exercise their union citizenship, as 

well as procedural safeguards to ensure 

free and fair union elections. 

OLMS intends to publish a Request 

for Information regarding the use of 

Internet voting in union officer elections 

conducted under the LMRDA to better 

inform the agency in administering its 

obligation under the union democracy 

provisions of the Act to ensure that the 

voting right of each union member is 

protected. OLMS also will propose a 

regulatory initiative to better implement 

the public disclosure objectives of the 

LMRDA regarding employer-consultant 

agreements to persuade employees 

concerning their rights to organize and 

bargain collectively. Under LMRDA 

section 203 an employer must report 

any agreement or arrangement with a 

third party consultant to persuade 

employees as to their collective 

bargaining rights or to obtain certain 

information concerning the activities of 

employees or a labor organization in 

connection with a labor dispute 

involving the employer. The consultant, 

also, is required to report concerning 

such an agreement or arrangement with 

an employer. An exemption to these 

reporting requirements is set forth in 

LMRDA section 203(c), which provides, 

in part, that employers and consultants 

are not required to file a report by 

reason of the consultant’s giving or 

agreeing to give ‘‘advice’’ to the 

employer. The Department believes that 

current policy concerning the scope of 

the ‘‘advice exemption’’ is over-broad 

and that a narrower construction would 

better allow for the employer and 

consultant reporting intended by the 

LMRDA. Regulatory action is needed to 

provide workers with information 

critical to their effective participation in 

the workplace. When workers or union 

members have more information about 

what arrangements have been made by 

their employer to persuade them 

whether or not to join a union, this 

information helps them make more 

informed choices and acts to level the 

labor-management relations playing 

field. Both initiatives support the 

Secretary’s vision of good jobs for 

everyone by advancing the goal to 

ensure that workers and union members 

have a voice in the workplace. 

ESA’s Office of Workers’ 

Compensation Programs (OWCP) 

administers four major disability 

compensation programs that provide 

wage replacement benefits, medical 

treatment, vocational rehabilitation and 

other benefits (such as survivors 

benefits) to certain workers who 

experience work-related injury or 

occupational disease. The Federal 

Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) 

provides workers’ compensation 

benefits to federal workers for 

employment related injuries and 

occupational diseases as well as 

survivor benefits for a covered 

employee’s employment-related death. 

The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ 

Compensation Act (LHWCA) provides 

vocational rehabilitation, medical 

benefits, and financial compensation to 

covered maritime workers who incurred 

occupational injuries or illnesses as a 

result of exposure to their employment. 

The LHWCA provides similar coverage 

for employees covered by the Defense 

Base Act (DBA). 

These programs serve to advance the 

Secretary’s vision of good jobs for 

everyone by securing the desired 

outcomes of facilitating return to work 

for workers experiencing workplace 

injuries or illnesses who are able to 

work and sufficient income and medical 

care for those who are unable to work; 

providing income support when work is 

impossible or unavailable; and 

providing compensation to eligible 

survivors after the death of a covered 

worker, thereby helping middle class 

families remain in the middle class. 

OWCP plans to update its regulations 

governing administration of claims 

under the FECA. The regulations will be 

revised to reflect changes already in 

place since the regulations were 

comprehensively updated ten years ago 

and to incorporate new procedures that 

will enhance OWCP’s ability to 

administer FECA. Among other benefits, 

changes to the regulations will facilitate 

the return to work of injured workers 

who are able to work, will enhance 

OWCP’s ability to efficiently provide 

sufficient income and medical care for 

those who are unable to work, and will 

foster greater openness and 

transparency by better explaining the 

increased automation of the medical 

billing process. 

In addition, OWCP will modernize 

the provision of compensation for 

employees situated overseas who are 

neither citizens nor residents of the 

United States to reflect current realities 

in regard to such employees. The 

regulations will also be revised to reflect 

a recent statutory change to the FECA 

moving the three-day waiting period 

before qualifying for wage-loss 

compensation for employees of the 

Postal Service. These revisions will 

increase the transparency of program 

operations and improve program 

implementation with efficiency 

providing better service in a more 

timely fashion. 

OWCP plans to issue regulations 

under the LHWCA to clarify the 

application of the waiver provisions of 

the DBA, by explaining the DOL 

procedures for reviewing and granting a 

waiver. These rules will facilitate return 

to work for employees experiencing 

workplace injuries or illnesses who are 

able to work and sufficient income and 

medical care for those who are unable 

to work. 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 64269 

DOL—Employment Standards 

Administration (ESA) 

PROPOSED RULE STAGE 

92. ∑ THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL 

LEAVE ACT OF 1993, AS AMENDED 

Priority: 

Economically Significant. Major status 

under 5 USC 801 is undetermined. 

Legal Authority: 

29 USC 2654 

CFR Citation: 

29 CFR 825 

Legal Deadline: 

None 

Abstract: 

The Department of Labor continues to 

review the implementation of the new 

military family leave amendments to 

the Family and Medical Leave Act 

included in the National Defense 

Authorization Act for FY 2008, and 

other revisions of the current 

regulations implemented in January 

2009. 

Statement of Need: 

The FMLA requires covered employers 

to grant eligible employees up to 12 

workweeks of unpaid, job-protected 

leave a year for specified family and 

medical reasons, and to maintain group 

health benefits during the leave as if 

the employees continued to work 

instead of taking leave. When an 

eligible employee returns from FMLA 

leave, the employer must restore the 

employee to the same or an equivalent 

job with equivalent pay, benefits, and 

other conditions of employment. FMLA 

makes it unlawful for an employer to 

interfere with, restrain, or deny the 

exercise of any right provided by the 

FMLA. In addition, section 585(a) of 

the National Defense Authorization Act 

for FY 2008 (NDAA), Public Law 110- 

181, amended the FMLA effective 

January 28, 2008, to permit an eligible 

employee who is the ‘‘spouse, son, 

daughter, parent, or next of kin of a 

covered servicemember’’ to take up to 

a total of 26 workweeks of leave during 

a single 12-month period to care for 

the covered servicemember, defined as 

‘‘a member of the Armed Forces, 

including a member of the National 

Guard or Reserves, who is undergoing 

medical treatment, recuperation, or 

therapy, is otherwise in outpatient 

status, or is otherwise on the temporary 

disability retired list, for a serious 

injury or illness.’’ The NDAA 

amendment to FMLA also permits an 

eligible employee to take up to 12 

workweeks of FMLA leave for ‘‘any 

qualifying exigency (as the Secretary [of 

Labor] shall, by regulation, determine) 

arising out of the fact that the spouse, 

or a son, daughter, or parent of the 

employee is on active duty (or has been 

notified of an impending call or order 

to active duty) in the Armed Forces in 

support of a contingency operation.’’ 

Regulations implementing these 

amendments were published November 

17, 2008, and took effect January 16, 

2009 (73 FR 67934). The Department 

is reviewing the implementation of 

these new military family leave 

amendments and other revisions of the 

current regulations. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

These regulations are authorized by 

section 404 of the Family and Medical 

Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. 2654. 

Alternatives: 

After completing a review of the 

implementation of the new military 

family leave amendments and other 

revisions of the regulations 

implemented in January 2009, 

regulatory alternatives will be 

developed for notice-and-comment 

rulemaking. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

Preliminary estimates of the anticipated 

costs and benefits of this initiative will 

be determined once regulatory 

alternatives are developed. 

Risks: 

This rulemaking action does not 

directly affect risks to public health, 

safety, or the environment. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

NPRM 11/00/10 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

Undetermined 

Government Levels Affected: 

Local, State, Tribal 

Federalism: 

Undetermined 

Agency Contact: 

Richard M. Brennan 

Director, Division of Interpretations and 

Regulatory Analysis, Wage and Hour 

Division 

Department of Labor 

200 Constitution Avenue NW. 

FP Building 

Room S–3502 

Washington, DC 20210 

Phone: 202 693–0051 

Fax: 202 693–1387 

RIN: 1215–AB76 

DOL—ESA 

93. ∑ RECORDS TO BE KEPT BY 

EMPLOYERS UNDER THE FAIR 

LABOR STANDARDS ACT 

Priority: 

Other Significant. Major status under 5 

USC 801 is undetermined. 

Legal Authority: 

29 USC 211(c) 

CFR Citation: 

29 CFR 516 

Legal Deadline: 

None 

Abstract: 

The Department of Labor proposes to 

update the recordkeeping regulations 

under the Fair Labor Standards Act in 

order to enhance the transparency and 

disclosure to workers of how their pay 

is computed, and to modernize other 

recordkeeping requirements for 

employees under ‘‘telework’’ and 

‘‘flexiplace’’ arrangements. 

Statement of Need: 

The recordkeeping regulation issued 

under the Fair Labor Standards Act 

(FLSA), 29 CFR part 516, specifies the 

scope and manner of records covered 

employers must keep that demonstrate 

compliance with minimum wage, 

overtime, and child labor requirements 

under the FLSA, or the records to be 

kept that confirm particular exemptions 

from some of the Act’s requirements 

may apply. This proposal intends to 

update the recordkeeping requirements 

to foster more openness and 

transparency in demonstrating 

employers’ compliance with applicable 

requirements to their workers, to better 

ensure compliance by regulated entities 

and to assist in enforcement. In 

addition, the proposal intends to 

modernize the requirements, consistent 

with the increasing emphasis on flexiplace and telecommuting, to allow for 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
64270 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 

automated or electronic recordkeeping 

systems instead of the mandatory 

manual preparation of ‘‘homeworker’’ 

handbooks currently required for all 

work that an employee may perform in 

the home. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

These regulations are authorized by 

section 11 of the Fair Labor Standards 

Act, 29 U.S.C. 211. 

Alternatives: 

Alternatives will be developed in 

considering proposed revisions to the 

current recordkeeping requirements. 

The public will be invited to provide 

comments on the proposed revisions 

and possible alternatives. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

Preliminary estimates of anticipated 

costs and benefits of this regulatory 

initiative have not been determined at 

this time and will be determined at a 

later date as appropriate. 

Risks: 

This action does not affect public 

health, safety, or the environment. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

NPRM 08/00/10 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

Undetermined 

Government Levels Affected: 

Local, State, Tribal 

Federalism: 

Undetermined 

Agency Contact: 

Richard M. Brennan 

Director, Division of Interpretations and 

Regulatory Analysis, Wage and Hour 

Division 

Department of Labor 

200 Constitution Avenue NW. 

FP Building 

Room S–3502 

Washington, DC 20210 

Phone: 202 693–0051 

Fax: 202 693–1387 

RIN: 1215–AB78 

DOL—ESA 

94. ∑ INTERPRETATION OF THE 

‘‘ADVICE’’ EXEMPTION OF SECTION 

203(C) OF THE 

LABOR–MANAGEMENT REPORTING 

AND DISCLOSURE ACT 

Priority: 

Other Significant. Major status under 5 

USC 801 is undetermined. 

Legal Authority: 

29 USC 433; 29 USC 438 

CFR Citation: 

29 CFR 405; 29 CFR 406 

Legal Deadline: 

None 

Abstract: 

The Department intends to publish 

notice and comment rulemaking 

seeking consideration of a revised 

interpretation of Section 203(c) of the 

Labor-Management Reporting and 

Disclosure Act (LMRDA). That statutory 

provision creates an ‘‘advice’’ 

exemption from reporting requirements 

that apply to employers and other 

persons in connection with persuading 

employees about the right to organize 

and bargain collectively. A proposed 

revised interpretation would narrow the 

scope of the advice exemption. 

Statement of Need: 

The Department of Labor is proposing 

a regulatory initiative to better 

implement the public disclosure 

objectives of the Labor-Management 

Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) 

regarding employer-consultant 

agreements to persuade employees 

concerning their rights to organize and 

bargain collectively. Under LMRDA 

section 203 an employer must report 

any agreement or arrangement with a 

third party consultant to persuade 

employees as to their collective 

bargaining rights or to obtain certain 

information concerning the activities of 

employees or a labor organization in 

connection with a labor dispute 

involving the employer. The consultant, 

also, is required to report concerning 

such an agreement or arrangement with 

an employer. Statutory exceptions to 

these reporting requirements are set 

forth in LMRDA section 203(c), which 

provides, in part, that employers and 

consultants are not required to file a 

report by reason of the consultant’s 

giving or agreeing to give ‘‘advice’’ to 

the employer. The Department believes 

that its current policy concerning the 

scope of the ‘‘advice exception’’ is overbroad and that a narrower construction 

would better allow for the employer 

and consultant reporting intended by 

the LMRDA. Regulatory action is 

needed to provide workers with 

information critical to their effective 

participation in the workplace. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

This proposed rulemaking is authorized 

under U.S.C. §§ 433 and 438 and 

applies to regulations at 29 CFR Part 

405 and 29 CFR Part 406. 

Alternatives: 

Alternatives will be developed and 

considered in the course of notice and 

comment rulemaking. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

Anticipated costs and benefits of this 

proposed regulatory initiative have not 

been assessed and will be determined 

at a later date, as appropriate. 

Risks: 

This action does not affect public 

health, safety, or the environment. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

NPRM 11/00/10 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

Yes 

Small Entities Affected: 

Businesses 

Government Levels Affected: 

None 

URL For More Information: 

www.olms.dol.gov 

URL For Public Comments: 

www.regulations.gov 

Agency Contact: 

Andrew R. Davis 

Chief, Division of Interpretations and 

Standards, Office of Labor–Management 

Standards 

Department of Labor 

Employment Standards Administration 

200 Constitution Avenue NW. 

FP Building 

Room N–5609 

Washington, DC 20210 

Phone: 202 693–0123 

Fax: 202 693–1340 

Email: davis.andrew@dol.gov 

RIN: 1215–AB79 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 64271 

DOL—ESA 

FINAL RULE STAGE 

95. CHILD LABOR REGULATIONS, 

ORDERS, AND STATEMENTS OF 

INTERPRETATION 

Priority: 

Other Significant 

Legal Authority: 

29 USC 203(l); 29 USC 212; 29 USC 

213(c) 

CFR Citation: 

29 CFR 570 

Legal Deadline: 

None 

Abstract: 

The Department of Labor continues to 

review the Fair Labor Standards Act 

child labor provisions to ensure that 

the implementing regulations provide 

job opportunities for working youth 

that are healthy and safe and not 

detrimental to their education, as 

required by the statute (29 U.S.C. 

sections 203(l), 212(c), 213(c), and 

216(e)). This proposed rule will update 

the regulations to reflect statutory 

amendments enacted in 2004, and will 

propose, among other updates, 

revisions to address several 

recommendations of the National 

Institute for Occupational Safety and 

Health (NIOSH) in its 2002 report to 

the Department of Labor on the child 

labor Hazardous Occupations Orders 

(HOs) (available at 

http://www.youthrules.dol.gov/ 

resources.htm). 

Statement of Need: 

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) 

requires the Secretary of Labor to issue 

regulations on the employment of 

minors between 14 and 16 years of age, 

ensuring that the periods and 

conditions of their employment do not 

interfere with their schooling, health, 

or well-being, and to designate 

occupations that are particularly 

hazardous for minors 16 and 17 years 

of age. Child Labor Regulation No. 3 

sets forth the permissible industries 

and occupations in which 14- and 15- 

year-olds may be employed, specifies 

the number of hours in a day and in 

a week, and time periods within a day, 

that such minors may be employed. 

Updating the child labor regulations 

issued under the FLSA will help meet 

the challenge of ensuring good jobs that 

are safe, healthy, and fair for the 

Nation’s working youth, while 

balancing their educational needs with 

job-related experiences that are safe. 

Updated child labor regulations that 

better address the safety needs of 

today’s workplaces will ensure our 

young workers have permissible job 

opportunities that are safe, enhancing 

their opportunity to gain the skills to 

find and hold good jobs with the 

potential to increase their earnings over 

time. Ensuring safe and reasonable 

work hours for working youth will also 

ensure that top priority is given to their 

education, consistent with the purposes 

of the statute. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

These regulations are issued pursuant 

to sections 3(1), 11, 12, and 13 of the 

Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. 

203(1), 211, 121, and 213. 

Alternatives: 

When developing regulatory 

alternatives in the analysis of 

recommendations of the National 

Institute for Occupational Safety and 

Health in its 2002 report to the 

Department on the child labor 

hazardous occupations orders and other 

proposals, the Department has focused 

on assuring healthy, safe, and fair 

workplaces for young workers that are 

not detrimental to their education, as 

required by the statute. Some of the 

regulatory alternatives were developed 

based on recent legislative 

amendments. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

Preliminary estimates of the anticipated 

costs and benefits of this rulemaking 

initiative indicated it was not 

economically significant. Benefits to the 

public, including employers and 

workers, will include safer working 

conditions and the avoidance of 

injuries and lost productivity involving 

young workers. 

Risks: 

The Department’s child labor 

regulations, by ensuring that 

permissible job opportunities for 

working youth are safe and healthy and 

not detrimental to their education, 

produce positive benefits by reducing 

health-related and lost-productivity 

costs employers might otherwise incur 

from higher accident and injury rates 

to young and inexperienced workers. 

Because of the limited nature of the 

regulatory revisions contemplated 

under this initiative, a detailed 

assessment of the magnitude of risk 

was not prepared. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

NPRM 04/17/07 72 FR 19337 

NPRM Comment 

Period End 

07/16/07 

Final Action 04/00/10 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

Undetermined 

Small Entities Affected: 

Businesses, Governmental Jurisdictions 

Government Levels Affected: 

Local, State 

Agency Contact: 

Richard M. Brennan 

Director, Division of Interpretations and 

Regulatory Analysis, Wage and Hour 

Division 

Department of Labor 

200 Constitution Avenue NW. 

FP Building 

Room S–3502 

Washington, DC 20210 

Phone: 202 693–0051 

Fax: 202 693–1387 

RIN: 1215–AB57 

DOL—Employment and Training 

Administration (ETA) 

PROPOSED RULE STAGE 

96. YOUTHBUILD PROGRAM 

REGULATION 

Priority: 

Other Significant 

Legal Authority: 

PL 109–281 

CFR Citation: 

Not Yet Determined 

Legal Deadline: 

None 

Abstract: 

The YouthBuild Transfer Act of 2006, 

Public Law 109-281, enacted on 

September 22, 2006, transfers oversight 

and administration of the YouthBuild 

program from the U.S. Department of 

Housing and Urban Development 

(HUD) to the U.S. Department of Labor 

(DOL). The YouthBuild program model 

targets are high school dropouts, 

adjudicated youth, youth aging out of 

foster care, and other at-risk youth 

populations. The program model 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
64272 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 

balances in-school learning, geared 

toward a high school diploma or GED, 

and construction skills training, geared 

toward a career placement for the 

youth. DOL intends to develop 

regulations in response to the 

legislation and to guide the program 

implementation and management. 

Statement of Need: 

The YouthBuild Transfer Act of 2006 

(Transfer Act), PL 109-281, transfers the 

YouthBuild program from the HUD to 

the DOL. The transfer incorporates 

technical modifications and amends 

certain program features. The 

Employment and Training 

Administration is proposing new 

regulations which will govern its 

administration of the YouthBuild 

program. 

The Transfer Act maintains all the 

goals of the YouthBuild program as 

originally developed under HUD, 

including supporting the development 

of affordable housing, but shifts the 

emphasis to skills training for youth 

participants. The Transfer Act makes 

the YouthBuild program consistent 

with the job training, education, and 

employment goals under the Workforce 

Investment Act, PL 105-220, as 

amended. This includes authorizing 

DOL to apply the common performance 

measures developed for Federal youth 

activities employment and training 

programs. The Transfer Act authorizes 

education and workforce investment, 

such as occupational skills training, 

internships, and job shadowing, as well 

as community service and peercentered activities. In addition, the 

Transfer Act allows for greater 

coordination of the YouthBuild 

program with the workforce investment 

system, including local workforce 

investment boards, and One-Stop 

Career Centers, and their partner 

programs. These strengthened 

connections will enhance the job 

training and employment opportunities 

available to participating at-risk youth. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

These regulations are authorized by 

Public Law 109-281, The YouthBuild 

Transfer Act of 2006, to implement 

changes to the amendments to subtitle 

D of Title I of the Workfoce Investment 

Act of 1998 as amended (WIA). 

Alternatives: 

The public will be afforded an 

opportunity to provide comments on 

the YouthBuild program changes when 

the Department publishes the NPRM in 

the Federal Register. A Final Rule will 

be issued after analysis and 

incorporation of public comments to 

the NPRM. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

Preliminary estimates of the anticipated 

costs of this regulatory action have not 

been determined at this time and will 

be determined at a later date. 

Risks: 

This action does not affect public 

health, safety, or the environment. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

NPRM 06/00/10 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

No 

Government Levels Affected: 

None 

Agency Contact: 

Grace A. Kilbane 

Administrator, Office of Workforce 

Investment 

Department of Labor 

Employment and Training Administration 

200 Constitution Avenue NW. 

FP Building, Room S–4231 

Washington, DC 20210 

Phone: 202 693–3980 

Email: kilbane.grace@dol.gov 

RIN: 1205–AB49 

DOL—ETA 

97. TRADE ADJUSTMENT 

ASSISTANCE FOR WORKERS 

PROGRAM; REGULATIONS 

Priority: 

Other Significant 

Legal Authority: 

19 USC 2320; Secretary’s Order 3–2007, 

72 FR 15907 

CFR Citation: 

20 CFR 617, 618, 665, 671; 29 CFR 90 

Legal Deadline: 

None 

Abstract: 

The Trade and Globalization Assistance 

Act of 2009 (Act), Div. B, Title I, 

Subtitle I of the American Recovery 

and Reinvestment Act of 2009, 

reauthorizes the Trade Adjustment 

Assistance for Workers program. More 

specifically, the law amends the criteria 

for certification of worker groups as 

eligible to apply for benefits and 

services and substantially expands 

those benefits and services. It also 

requires reports on the program’s 

effectiveness. The Act amends section 

248 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

2320) and requires that the Secretary 

issue regulations to carry out these 

provisions. 

Statement of Need: 

The Trade and Globalization 

Adjustment Assistance Act of 2009 

(TGAAA) is the portion of the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) (Pub. L. No. 

111-5, Div. B, Title I, Subtitle I) that 

reauthorized and substantially amended 

the Trade Adjustment Assistance for 

Workers (TAA) program. Significant 

program changes enacted in the 

TGAAA include amending the 

certification criteria to expand the types 

of workers who may be certified and 

expanding the available program 

benefits. This proposed rule is 

important because it will update the 

program’s regulations to be in concert 

with the notable program changes 

wrought by the TGAAA. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

These regulations are authorized by 

sections 248 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 

2320), as amended by the TGAAA. 

Alternatives: 

The public will be afforded an 

opportunity to provide comments on 

the proposed regulatory changes when 

the Department publishes the NPRM in 

the Federal Register. A final rule will 

be issued after analysis of, and 

response to, public comments. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

Preliminary estimates of the anticipated 

costs of this regulatory action have not 

been determined at this time and will 

be determined at a later date. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

NPRM 12/00/10 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

No 

Small Entities Affected: 

No 

Government Levels Affected: 

Federal 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 64273 

Agency Contact: 

Erin Fitzgerald 

Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance 

Department of Labor 

Employment and Training Administration 

200 Constitution Avenue NW. 

Room C–5311, FP Building 

Washingon, DC 20210 

Phone: 202 693–3500 

Fax: 202 693–3149 

Email: fitzgerald.erin@dol.gov 

RIN: 1205–AB57 

DOL—ETA 

98. ∑ EQUAL EMPLOYMENT 

OPPORTUNITY IN APPRENTICESHIP 

AND TRAINING, AMENDMENT OF 

REGULATIONS 

Priority: 

Other Significant 

Legal Authority: 

Sec. 1, 50 Stat. 664, as amended (29 

USC 50; 40 USC 276c; 5 USC 301); 

Reorganization Plan No. 14 of 1950, 64 

Stat. 1267 (5 USC App. P. 534) 

CFR Citation: 

29 CFR 30 (Revision) 

Legal Deadline: 

None 

Abstract: 

Revisions to the equal opportunity 

regulatory framework for the National 

Apprenticeship Act are a critical 

element in the Department’s vision to 

promote and expand registered 

apprenticeship opportunities in the 

21st century while continuing to 

safeguard the welfare and safety of 

apprentices. In October 2008, the 

Agency issued a Final rule updating 

regulations for Apprenticeship 

Programs and Labor Standards for 

Registration. These regulations, codified 

at Title 29 Code of Federal Regulations 

(CFR) part 29, had not been updated 

since first promulgated in 1977. The 

companion regulations, 29 CFR part 30, 

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) 

in Apprenticeship and Training, have 

not been amended since first 

promulgated in 1978. 

The Agency now proposes to update 

29 CFR part 30 to ensure that the 

National Registered Apprenticeship 

System is consistent and in alignment 

with changes in Affirmative Action 

regulations and EEO laws and court 

cases that have occurred over the past 

three decades [e.g. Americans with 

Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Age 

Discrimination in Employment Act 

(ADEA)], and recent revisions to Title 

29 CFR part 29. This second phase of 

regulatory updates will ensure that 

Registered Apprenticeship is positioned 

to continue to provide economic 

opportunity for millions of Americans 

while keeping pace with these new 

requirements. 

Statement of Need: 

Federal regulations for Equal 

Employment Opportunity (EEO) in 

Apprenticeship and Training have not 

been updated since first promulgated in 

1978. Updates to these regulations are 

necessary to ensure that DOL regulatory 

requirements governing the National 

Registered Apprenticeship System are 

consistent with the current state of EEO 

law, including affirmative action, the 

passage of, for example, the Americans 

with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the 

Age Discrimination in Employment Act 

(ADEA), and recent revisions to Title 

29 CFR part 29, regulations for 

Apprenticeship Programs and Labor 

Standards for Registration. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

These regulations are authorized by the 

National Apprenticeship Act of 1937 

(29 U.S.C. 50) and the Copeland Act 

(40 U.S.C. 276c). These regulations will 

set forth policies and procedures to 

promote equality of opportunity in 

apprenticeship programs registered 

with the U.S. Department of Labor or 

in State Apprenticeship Agencies 

recognized by the U.S. Department of 

Labor. 

Alternatives: 

The public will be afforded an 

opportunity to provide comments on 

the proposed amendment to 

Apprenticeship EEO regulations when 

the Department publishes a Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the 

Federal Register. A Final Rule will be 

issued after analysis and incorporation 

of public comments to the NRPM. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

Preliminary estimates of anticipated 

costs and benefits of this regulatory 

action have not been determined at this 

time. The Department will explore 

options for conducting a cost-benefit 

analysis for this regulatory action, if 

necessary. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

NPRM 01/00/11 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

No 

Small Entities Affected: 

No 

Government Levels Affected: 

Federal, State, Tribal 

Federalism: 

This action may have federalism 

implications as defined in EO 13132. 

Agency Contact: 

John V. Ladd 

Office of Apprenticeship 

Department of Labor 

Employment and Training Administration 

200 Constitution Avenue NW 

Room N5311 

FP Building 

Washington, DC 20210 

Phone: 202 693–2796 

Fax: 202 693–3799 

Email: ladd.john@dol.gov 

RIN: 1205–AB59 

DOL—ETA 

FINAL RULE STAGE 

99. TEMPORARY AGRICULTURAL 

EMPLOYMENT OF H–2A ALIENS IN 

THE UNITED STATES 

Priority: 

Other Significant 

Legal Authority: 

8 USC 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a); 8 USC 1188 

CFR Citation: 

20 CFR 655 

Legal Deadline: 

None 

Abstract: 

The Department of Labor (the 

Department of DOL) proposes to amend 

its regulations governing the 

certification of temporary employment 

of nonimmigrant workers in temporary 

or seasonal agricultural employment 

and the enforcement of the contractual 

obligations applicable to employers of 

such nonimmigrant workers. This 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would 

reexamine the process by which 

employers obtain a temporary labor 

certification from the Department for 

use in petitioning the Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS) to employ a 

nonimmigrant worker in H-2A status. 

Statement of Need: 

The Department has determined for a 

variety of reasons that a new 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
64274 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 

rulemaking effort is necessary for the 

H-2A program. The Department 

believes that the policy underpinnings 

of the 2008 Final Rule, e.g., 

streamlining the H-2A regulatory 

process to defer many determinations 

of program compliance until after an 

application has been fully adjudicated, 

do not provide an adequate level of 

protection for either U.S. or foreign 

workers. 

In addition, the Department’s 

experience under the program since 

January 2009 demonstrates that the 

policy goals of the 2008 Final Rule 

have not been met. One of the clear 

goals of the 2008 Final Rule was to 

increase the use of the H-2A program 

and to make the program easier and 

more affordable to use for the average 

employer. However, applications have 

actually decreased since the 

implementation of the new program. 

Not only has usage not increased under 

the program revisions, there has 

actually been a reversal of an existing 

multi-year trend toward increased 

program use. While factors other than 

the regulatory changes may play a role 

in this decrease, the Department can 

not justify the significant decrease in 

worker protections if the prior rules’ 

goal of increasing program use is not 

being accomplished. 

The Department believes that there are 

insufficient worker protections in the 

attestation-based model in which 

employers merely confirm, and do not 

actually demonstrate, that they have 

performed an adequate test of the U.S. 

labor market. Even in the first year of 

the attestation model, it has come to 

the Department’s attention that 

employers, either from a lack of 

understanding or otherwise, are 

attesting to compliance with program 

obligations with which they have not 

complied. Such non-compliance 

appears to be sufficiently substantial 

and widespread for the Department to 

revisit the use of attestations, even with 

the use of back-end integrity measures 

for demonstrated non-compliance. 

The Department has also determined 

that the area in which agricultural 

workers are most vulnerable — wages 

— has been adversely impacted to a 

far more significant extent than 

anticipated by the 2008 Final Rule. The 

shift from the AEWR as calculated 

under the 1987 Rule to the AEWR of 

the 2008 Final Rule resulted in a 

substantial reduction of farmworker 

wages in a number of labor categories, 

and the obvious effects of that 

reduction on the workers’ and their 

families’ ability to meet necessary costs 

is an important concern. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

These proposed regulations are 

authorized under Section 

101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the Immigration 

and Nationality Act, as amended. 8 

U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a); see also 8 

U.S.C. 1184(c)(1) and 1188. 

Alternatives: 

The Department took into account both 

the regulations promulgated in 1987, as 

well as the significant reworking of the 

regulations in the 2008 Final Rule, in 

order to arrive at a balance between the 

worker protections of the 1987 Rule 

and the program integrity measures of 

the 2008 Final Rule. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

Preliminary estimates of the anticipated 

monetized costs of this proposed 

regulatory action are $10.56 million in 

2009 to $18.07 million in 2018. A final 

estimate of costs and benefits will be 

prepared at the Final Rule stage in 

response to public comments. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

NPRM 02/13/08 73 FR 8538 

NPRM Comment 

Period End 

03/31/08 

NPRM Comment 

Period Extended 

04/14/08 73 FR 16243 

Final Rule 12/18/08 73 FR 77110 

Final Rule Effective 01/17/09 

Notice of Proposed 

Suspension 

03/17/09 74 FR 11408 

Comment Period End 03/27/09 

Notice of Final 

Suspension 

05/29/09 74 FR 25972 

NPRM 09/04/09 74 FR 45905 

NPRM Comment 

Period End 

10/05/09 

NPRM Comment 

Period Extended 

10/20/09 74 FR 50929 

Final Rule 02/00/10 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

No 

Small Entities Affected: 

Businesses 

Government Levels Affected: 

Federal, State 

Agency Contact: 

Dr. William L. Carlson 

Administrator, Office of Foreign Labor 

Certification 

Department of Labor 

Employment and Training Administration 

FP Building 

Room C–4312 

200 Constitution Avenue NW. 

Washington, DC 20210 

Phone: 202 693–3010 

Email: carlson.william@dol.gov 

RIN: 1205–AB55 

DOL—Employee Benefits Security 

Administration (EBSA) 

PRERULE STAGE 

100. ∑ LIFETIME INCOME OPTIONS 

FOR PARTICIPANTS AND 

BENEFICIARIES IN RETIREMENT 

PLANS 

Priority: 

Other Significant. Major status under 5 

USC 801 is undetermined. 

Unfunded Mandates: 

Undetermined 

Legal Authority: 

29 USC 1135; ERISA sec 505 

CFR Citation: 

Not Yet Determined 

Legal Deadline: 

None 

Abstract: 

This initiative will explore what steps, 

if any, that the Department could or 

should take, by regulation or otherwise, 

to enhance the retirement security of 

American workers by facilitating access 

to and use of lifetime income or income 

arrangements designed to provide a 

stream of income after retirement. 

Statement of Need: 

With a continuing trend away from 

defined benefit plans to defined 

contribution plans, employees are not 

only increasingly responsible for the 

adequacy of their retirement savings, 

but also for ensuring that their savings 

last throughout their retirement. 

Employees may benefit from access to 

and use of lifetime income or other 

arrangements that will reduce the risk 

of running out of funds during the 

retirement years. However, both access 

to and use of such arrangements in 

defined contribution plans is limited. 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 64275 

The Department, taking into 

consideration recommendations of the 

ERISA Advisory Council and others, 

intends to explore what steps, if any, 

it could or should take, by regulation 

or otherwise, to enhance the retirement 

security of workers by increasing access 

to and use of such arrangements. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

Section 505 of ERISA provides that the 

Secretary may prescribe such 

regulations as she finds necessary and 

appropriate to carry out the provisions 

of title I of the Act. 

Alternatives: 

Alternatives will be considered 

following a determination of the scope 

and nature of the regulatory guidance 

needed by the public. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

Preliminary estimates of the anticipated 

costs and benefits will be developed, 

as appropriate, following a 

determination regarding the alternatives 

to be considered. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

RFI 01/00/10 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

Undetermined 

Government Levels Affected: 

Undetermined 

Federalism: 

Undetermined 

Agency Contact: 

Jeffrey J. Turner 

Chief, Division of Regulations, Office of 

Regulations and Interpretations 

Department of Labor 

Employee Benefits Security 

Administration 

200 Constitution Avenue NW. 

FP Building 

Rm N–5655 

Washington, DC 20210 

Phone: 202 693–8500 

RIN: 1210–AB33 

DOL—EBSA 

PROPOSED RULE STAGE 

101. ∑ DEFINITION OF ‘‘FIDUCIARY’’ 

— INVESTMENT ADVICE 

Priority: 

Economically Significant. Major under 

5 USC 801. 

Unfunded Mandates: 

Undetermined 

Legal Authority: 

29 USC 1002; ERISA sec 3(21); 29 USC 

1135; ERISA sec 505 

CFR Citation: 

29 CFR 2510.3–21(c) 

Legal Deadline: 

None 

Abstract: 

This rulemaking would amend the 

regulatory definition of the term 

‘‘fiduciary’’ set forth at 29 CFR 2510.3- 

21 (c) to more broadly define as 

employee benefit plan fiduciaries 

persons who render investment advice 

to plans for a fee within the meaning 

of section 3(21) of ERISA. The 

amendment would take into account 

current practices of investment advisers 

and the expectations of plan officials 

and participants who receive 

investment advice. 

Statement of Need: 

This rulemaking is needed to bring the 

definition of ‘‘fiduciary’’ into line with 

investment advice practices and to 

recast the current regulation to better 

reflect relationships between 

investment advisers and their employee 

benefit plan clients. The current 

regulation may inappropriately limit 

the types of investment advice 

relationships that should give rise to 

fiduciary duties on the part of the 

investment adviser. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

Section 505 of ERISA provides that the 

Secretary may prescribe such 

regulations as she finds necessary and 

appropriate to carry out the provisions 

of title I of the Act. Regulation 29 CFR 

2510.3-21(c) defines the term fiduciary 

for certain purposes under section 3(21) 

of ERISA. 

Alternatives: 

Alternatives will be considered 

following a determination of the scope 

and nature of the regulatory guidance 

needed by the public. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

Preliminary estimates of the anticipated 

costs and benefits will be developed, 

as appropriate, following a 

determination regarding the alternatives 

to be considered. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

NPRM 06/00/10 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

Undetermined 

Government Levels Affected: 

Undetermined 

Federalism: 

Undetermined 

Agency Contact: 

Jeffrey J. Turner 

Chief, Division of Regulations, Office of 

Regulations and Interpretations 

Department of Labor 

Employee Benefits Security 

Administration 

200 Constitution Avenue NW. 

FP Building 

Rm N–5655 

Washington, DC 20210 

Phone: 202 693–8500 

RIN: 1210–AB32 

DOL—EBSA 

102. ∑ HEALTH CARE 

ARRANGEMENTS ESTABLISHED BY 

STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 

FOR NON–GOVERNMENTAL 

EMPLOYEES 

Priority: 

Other Significant. Major status under 5 

USC 801 is undetermined. 

Unfunded Mandates: 

Undetermined 

Legal Authority: 

29 USC 1135; ERISA sec 505 

CFR Citation: 

29 CFR 2510.3–1 

Legal Deadline: 

None 

Abstract: 

Department of Labor regulation 29 

C.F.R. 2510.3-1 clarifies the definition 

of the terms ‘‘employee welfare benefit 

plan’’ and ‘‘welfare plan’’ for purposes 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
64276 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 

of title I of the Employee Retirement 

Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) 

by identifying certain practices which 

do not constitute employee welfare 

benefit plans. This rulemaking would 

amend that regulation to clarify the 

circumstances under which health care 

arrangements established or maintained 

by state or local governments for the 

benefit of non-governmental employees 

do not constitute an employee welfare 

benefit plan for purposes of section 3(1) 

of ERISA and 29 CFR 2510.3-1. 

Statement of Need: 

Questions have been raised regarding 

the extent to which health care reform 

efforts on the part of state and local 

governments result in the creation of 

ERISA-covered employee welfare 

benefit plans or otherwise implicate 

ERISA. This regulation is needed to 

provide certainty to both governmental 

bodies and employers concerning the 

application of ERISA to such efforts. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

Section 505 of ERISA provides that the 

Secretary may prescribe such 

regulations as she finds necessary and 

appropriate to carry out the provisions 

of title I of the Act. Regulation 29 CFR 

2510.3-1 clarifies definitions of the 

terms ‘‘employee welfare benefit plan’’ 

and ‘‘welfare plan’’ for purposes of title 

I of ERISA. 

Alternatives: 

Alternatives will be considered 

following a determination of the scope 

and nature of the regulatory guidance 

needed by the public. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

Preliminary estimates of the anticipated 

costs and benefits will be developed, 

as appropriate, following a 

determination regarding the alternatives 

to be considered. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

NPRM 09/00/10 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

Undetermined 

Government Levels Affected: 

Undetermined 

Federalism: 

Undetermined 

Agency Contact: 

Jeffrey J. Turner 

Chief, Division of Regulations, Office of 

Regulations and Interpretations 

Department of Labor 

Employee Benefits Security 

Administration 

200 Constitution Avenue NW. 

FP Building 

Rm N–5655 

Washington, DC 20210 

Phone: 202 693–8500 

RIN: 1210–AB34 

DOL—EBSA 

FINAL RULE STAGE 

103. GENETIC INFORMATION 

NONDISCRIMINATION 

Priority: 

Other Significant 

Legal Authority: 

29 USC 1182; 29 USC 1191b(d); 29 USC 

1132 

CFR Citation: 

Not Yet Determined 

Legal Deadline: 

Final, Statutory, May 21, 2009, As per 

GINA section 101(f)(1). 

Abstract: 

Pursuant to ERISA sections 702, 733(d), 

and 502, as amended by the Genetic 

Information Nondiscrimination Act of 

2008 (GINA) (Pub. L. 110-233) enacted 

May 21, 2008, the Department is 

developing regulatory guidance. 

Regulatory guidance will provide 

clarification regarding GINA’s 

prohibition against discrimination in 

group premiums based on genetic 

information, its limitations on genetic 

testing, its prohibition on collection of 

genetic information, and its new civil 

monetary penalties under ERISA. 

Statement of Need: 

GINA section 101(f)(1) requires the 

Secretary to issue regulations to carry 

out its statutory provisions no later 

than May 21, 2009. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

Section 505 of ERISA provides that the 

Secretary may prescribe such 

regulations as she considers necessary 

and appropriate to carry out the 

provisions of title I of ERISA. Section 

734 of ERISA provides that the 

Secretary may promulgate such 

regulations as may be necessary or 

appropriate to carry out the provisions 

of part 7 of ERISA. In addition, GINA 

section 101(f) requires the Secretary to 

issue regulations to carry out GINA’s 

amendments. 

Alternatives: 

Alternatives will be considered 

following a determination of the scope 

and nature of the regulatory guidance 

needed by the public. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

Preliminary estimates of the anticipated 

costs and benefits will be developed, 

as appropriate, following a 

determination regarding the alternatives 

to be considered. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

Request for 

Information 

10/10/08 73 FR 60208 

Request for 

Information 

Comment Period 

End 

12/09/08 

Interim Final Rule 10/07/09 74 FR 51664 

Interim Final Rule 

Effective 

12/07/09 

Interim Final Rule 

Comment Period 

End 

01/05/10 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

Undetermined 

Government Levels Affected: 

None 

Agency Contact: 

Amy J. Turner 

Senior Advisor 

Department of Labor 

Employee Benefits Security 

Administration 

200 Constitution Avenue NW. 

FP Building 

Room N–5653 

Washington, DC 20210 

Phone: 202 693–8335 

Fax: 202 219–1942 

RIN: 1210–AB27 

DOL—EBSA 

104. MENTAL HEALTH PARITY AND 

ADDICTION EQUITY ACT 

Priority: 

Other Significant. Major status under 5 

USC 801 is undetermined. 

Unfunded Mandates: 

Undetermined 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 64277 

Legal Authority: 

29 USC 1185a 

CFR Citation: 

Not Yet Determined 

Legal Deadline: 

Final, Statutory, October 8, 2009, as per 

MHPAEA section 512(d). 

Abstract: 

Pursuant to ERISA section 712, as 

amended by the Paul Wellstone and 

Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity 

and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 

(MHPAEA) (Pub. L. 110-343) enacted 

on October 8, 2008, the Department is 

developing regulatory guidance. 

Statement of Need: 

In response to a Request for 

Information in April 2008, over 400 

comment letters were received raising 

questions regarding compliance with 

the federal parity provisions. This 

regulation is needed to provide 

clarifications to participants, 

beneficiaries, health care providers, 

employment-based health plans, health 

insurance issuers, third-party 

administrators, brokers, underwriters, 

and other plan service providers 

regarding such provisions. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

Section 505 of ERISA provides that the 

Secretary may prescribe such 

regulations as she finds necessary and 

appropriate to carry out the provisions 

of title I of the Act. Section 734 of 

ERISA provides that the Secretary may 

prescribe regulations necessary or 

appropriate to carry out the provisions 

of ERISA Part 7. MHPAEA created new 

federal parity provisions in ERISA 

section 712 and provides, in section 

512(d), that the Secretary shall issue 

regulations to carry out the provisions 

of MHPAEA. 

Alternatives: 

Alternatives will be considered 

following a determination of the scope 

and nature of the regulatory guidance 

needed by the public. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

Preliminary estimates of the anticipated 

costs and benefits will be developed, 

as appropriate, following a 

determination regarding the alternatives 

to be considered. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

Request for 

Information 

04/28/09 74 FR 19155 

Action Date FR Cite 

Request for 

Information 

Comment Period 

End 

05/28/09 

Interim Final Rule 04/00/10 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

Undetermined 

Government Levels Affected: 

None 

Federalism: 

Undetermined 

Agency Contact: 

Amy J. Turner 

Senior Advisor 

Department of Labor 

Employee Benefits Security 

Administration 

200 Constitution Avenue NW. 

FP Building 

Room N–5653 

Washington, DC 20210 

Phone: 202 693–8335 

Fax: 202 219–1942 

Related RIN: Related to 0938–AP65, 

Related to 1545–BI70 

RIN: 1210–AB30 

DOL—Mine Safety and Health 

Administration (MSHA) 

PRERULE STAGE 

105. ∑ METAL AND NONMETAL 

IMPOUNDMENTS 

Priority: 

Other Significant 

Unfunded Mandates: 

Undetermined 

Legal Authority: 

30 USC 811; 30 USC 812 

CFR Citation: 

30 CFR 56; 30 CFR 57 

Legal Deadline: 

None 

Abstract: 

Water, sediment, and slurry 

impoundments for metal and nonmetal 

mining and milling operations are 

located throughout the country. Some 

of these impoundments would impact 

homes, well-traveled roads, and other 

important infrastructure if they were to 

fail. Impoundment failures could 

endanger lives and cause property 

damage. MSHA will issue an advance 

notice of proposed rulemaking to solicit 

information relative to proper design, 

construction, operation, maintenance, 

and other safety issues for 

impoundments at metal and nonmetal 

mines whose failure could cause loss 

of life or significant property damage. 

Statement of Need: 

Mining operations regularly find it 

necessary to construct dams to dispose 

of large volumes of mine waste (tailings 

or slurry) from processing operations, 

or to provide water supply, sediment 

control, or water treatment. 

Impoundments are structures that are 

used to impound water, sediment, or 

slurry or any combination of materials. 

Dams that form impoundments must be 

designed to be stable under the various 

conditions they will be subjected to, 

including runoff from rainfall, seepage, 

and possibly earthquake shaking. The 

failure of these structures can have a 

devastating effect on both the mine and 

nearby communities. 

Every two years since 1980, a report 

has been prepared by the Federal 

Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA) and sent to Congress on the 

status of dam safety in the U.S. These 

reports are required by a 1979 

Presidential Memorandum which 

directed the Federal agencies 

responsible for dams to adopt and 

implement the Federal Guidelines for 

Dam Safety. MSHA has been criticized 

in these biennial reports for its lack of 

regulation of metal and nonmetal dams. 

MSHA’s Metal and Nonmetal standards 

do not provide sufficient guidance to 

determine what is needed to effectively 

design and construct dams with high 

or significant hazard potential. The 

Metal and Nonmetal standards need to 

more effectively address requirements 

for dam design, construction, operation 

and maintenance. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

Promulgation of this regulation is 

authorized by the Federal Mine Safety 

and Health Act of 1977 as amended by 

the Mine Improvement and New 

Emergency Response Act of 2006. 

Alternatives: 

MSHA is considering amendments, 

revisions, and additions to existing 

standards. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

MSHA will develop a preliminary 

regulatory economic analysis to 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
64278 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 

accompany any proposed rule that may 

be developed. 

Risks: 

The failure of impoundments can have 

a devastating affect on both the mine 

and nearby communities by causing 

loss of life and property damage. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

ANPRM 06/00/10 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

Undetermined 

Small Entities Affected: 

Businesses 

Government Levels Affected: 

None 

Agency Contact: 

Patricia W. Silvey 

Director, Office of Standards, Regulations, 

and Variances 

Department of Labor 

Mine Safety and Health Administration 

1100 Wilson Boulevard 

Room 2350 

Arlington, VA 22209–3939 

Phone: 202 693–9440 

Fax: 202 693–9441 

Email: silvey.patricia@dol.gov 

RIN: 1219–AB70 

DOL—MSHA 

PROPOSED RULE STAGE 

106. RESPIRABLE CRYSTALLINE 

SILICA STANDARD 

Priority: 

Other Significant 

Legal Authority: 

30 USC 811; 30 USC 813 

CFR Citation: 

30 CFR 56 to 57; 30 CFR 70 to 72; 

30 CFR 90 

Legal Deadline: 

None 

Abstract: 

Current standards limit exposures to 

quartz (crystalline silica) in respirable 

dust. The coal mining industry 

standard is based on the formula 

10mg/m3 divided by the percentage of 

quartz where the quartz percent is 

greater than 5.0 percent calculated as 

an MRE equivalent concentration. The 

metal and nonmetal mining industry 

standard is based on the 1973 

American Conference of Governmental 

Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) 

Threshold Limit Values formula: 10 

mg/m3 divided by the percentage of 

quartz plus 2. Overexposure to 

crystalline silica can result in some 

miners developing silicosis, an 

irreversible but preventable lung 

disease, which ultimately may be fatal. 

Both formulas are designed to limit 

exposures to 0.1 mg/m3 (100ug) of 

silica. The Secretary of Labor’s 

Advisory Committee on the Elimination 

of Pneumoconiosis Among Coal Mine 

Workers made several 

recommendations related to reducing 

exposure to silica. NIOSH recommends 

a 50 ug/m3 exposure limit for 

respirable crystalline silica, and ACGIH 

recommends a 25 ug/m3 exposure 

limit. MSHA will publish a proposed 

rule to address miners’ exposure to 

respirable crystalline silica. 

Statement of Need: 

MSHA standards are outdated; current 

regulations may not protect workers 

from developing silicosis. Evidence 

indicates that miners continue to 

develop silicosis. MSHA’s proposed 

regulatory action exemplifies the 

agency’s commitment to protecting the 

most vulnerable populations while 

assuring broad-based compliance. 

MSHA will regulate to eliminate or 

reduce the hazards with the broadest 

and most serious consequences based 

on sound science. MSHA intends to use 

OSHA’s work on the health effects and 

risk assessment, adapting it as 

necessary for the mining industry. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

Promulgation of this standard is 

authorized by sections 101 and 103 of 

the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act 

of 1977. 

Alternatives: 

This rulemaking would amend and 

improve health protection from that 

afforded by the existing standard. 

MSHA will consider alternative 

methods of addressing miners’ 

exposure based on the capabilities of 

the sampling and analytical methods. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

MSHA will prepare estimates of the 

anticipated costs and benefits 

associated with the proposed rule. 

Risks: 

For over 70 years, toxicology 

information and epidemiological 

studies have shown that exposure to 

respirable crystalline silica presents 

potential health risks to miners. These 

potential adverse health effects include 

simple silicosis, progressive massive 

fibrosis (lung scarring). Evidence 

indicates that exposure to silica may 

cause cancer. MSHA believes that the 

health evidence forms a reasonable 

basis for reducing miners’ exposure to 

respirable crystalline silica. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

NPRM 04/00/11 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

Undetermined 

Small Entities Affected: 

Businesses, Governmental Jurisdictions 

Government Levels Affected: 

Local, State 

URL For More Information: 

www.msha.gov/regsinfo.htm 

URL For Public Comments: 

www.regulations.gov 

Agency Contact: 

Patricia W. Silvey 

Director, Office of Standards, Regulations, 

and Variances 

Department of Labor 

Mine Safety and Health Administration 

1100 Wilson Boulevard 

Room 2350 

Arlington, VA 22209–3939 

Phone: 202 693–9440 

Fax: 202 693–9441 

Email: silvey.patricia@dol.gov 

RIN: 1219–AB36 

DOL—MSHA 

107. OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO 

COAL MINE DUST (LOWERING 

EXPOSURE) 

Priority: 

Other Significant 

Unfunded Mandates: 

Undetermined 

Legal Authority: 

30 USC 811; 30 USC 812 

CFR Citation: 

30 CFR 70; 30 CFR 71; 30 CFR 75; 30 

CFR 90 

Legal Deadline: 

None 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 64279 

Abstract: 

The Federal Coal Mine Health and 

Safety Act of 1969 established the first 

comprehensive respirable dust 

standards for coal mines. These 

standards were designed to reduce the 

incidence of coal workers’ 

pneumoconiosis (black lung) and 

silicosis and eventually eliminate these 

diseases. While significant progress has 

been made toward improving the health 

conditions in our Nation’s coal mines, 

miners continue to be at risk of 

developing occupational lung disease, 

according to the National Institute for 

Occupational Safety and Health 

(NIOSH). In September 1995, NIOSH 

issued a Criteria Document in which 

it recommended that the respirable coal 

mine dust permissible exposure limit 

(PEL) be cut in half. In February 1996, 

the Secretary of Labor convened a 

Federal Advisory Committee on the 

Elimination of Pneumoconiosis Among 

Coal Miners (Advisory Committee) to 

assess the adequacy of MSHA’s current 

program and standards to control 

respirable dust in underground and 

surface coal mines, as well as other 

ways to eliminate black lung and 

silicosis among coal miners. The 

Committee represented the labor, 

industry and academic communities. 

The Committee submitted its report to 

the Secretary of Labor in November 

1996, with the majority of the 

recommendations unanimously 

supported by the Committee members. 

The Committee recommended a 

number of actions to reduce miners’ 

exposure to respirable coal mine dust. 

MSHA will publish a proposed rule to 

address miners’ exposure to respirable 

coal mine dust. 

Statement of Need: 

Comprehensive respirable dust 

standards for coal mines were designed 

to reduce the incidence, and eventually 

eliminate, CWP and silicosis. While 

significant progress has been made 

toward improving the health conditions 

in our Nation’s coal mines, miners 

remain at risk of developing 

occupational lung disease, according to 

NIOSH. Recent NIOSH data indicates 

increased prevalence of CWP ‘‘clusters’’ 

in several geographical areas, 

particularly in the Southern 

Appalachian Region. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

Promulgation of this regulation is 

authorized by the Federal Mine Safety 

and Health Act of 1977 as amended by 

the Mine Improvement and New 

Emergency Response Act of 2006. 

Alternatives: 

MSHA is considering amendments, 

revisions, and additions to existing 

standards. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

MSHA will develop a preliminary 

regulatory economic analysis to 

accompany the proposed rule. 

Risks: 

Respirable coal dust is one of the most 

serious occupational hazards in the 

mining industry. Occupational 

exposure to excessive levels of 

respirable coal mine dust can cause 

workers’ pneumoconiosis and silicosis, 

which are potentially disabling and can 

cause death. MSHA is pursuing both 

regulatory and nonregulatory actions to 

eliminate these diseases through the 

control of coal mine respirable dust 

levels in mines and reduction of 

miners’ exposure. MSHA will develop 

a risk assessment to accompany the 

proposed rule. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

NPRM 09/00/10 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

Undetermined 

Small Entities Affected: 

Businesses 

Government Levels Affected: 

None 

Additional Information: 

1219-AB14 (Verification of 

Underground Coal Mine Operators’ 

Dust Control Plans and Compliance 

Sampling for Respirable Dust) and 

1219-AB18 (Determination of 

Concentration of Respirable Coal Mine 

Dust) have been integrated. 

Agency Contact: 

Patricia W. Silvey 

Director, Office of Standards, Regulations, 

and Variances 

Department of Labor 

Mine Safety and Health Administration 

1100 Wilson Boulevard 

Room 2350 

Arlington, VA 22209–3939 

Phone: 202 693–9440 

Fax: 202 693–9441 

Email: silvey.patricia@dol.gov 

Related RIN: Related to 1219–AA81, 

Related to 1219–AB14, Related to 

1219–AB18 

RIN: 1219–AB64 

DOL—Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration (OSHA) 

PRERULE STAGE 

108. OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO 

CRYSTALLINE SILICA 

Priority: 

Economically Significant. Major under 

5 USC 801. 

Unfunded Mandates: 

This action may affect State, local or 

tribal governments. 

Legal Authority: 

29 USC 655(b); 29 USC 657 

CFR Citation: 

29 CFR 1910; 29 CFR 1915; 29 CFR 

1917; 29 CFR 1918; 29 CFR 1926 

Legal Deadline: 

None 

Abstract: 

Crystalline silica is a significant 

component of the earth’s crust, and 

many workers in a wide range of 

industries are exposed to it, usually in 

the form of respirable quartz or, less 

frequently, cristobalite. Chronic 

silicosis is a uniquely occupational 

disease resulting from exposure of 

employees over long periods of time 

(10 years or more). Exposure to high 

levels of respirable crystalline silica 

causes acute or accelerated forms of 

silicosis that are ultimately fatal. The 

current OSHA permissible exposure 

limit (PEL) for general industry is based 

on a formula recommended by the 

American Conference of Governmental 

Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) in 1971 

(PEL=10mg/cubic meter/(% silica + 2), 

as respirable dust). The current PEL for 

construction and maritime (derived 

from ACGIH’s 1962 Threshold Limit 

Value) is based on particle counting 

technology, which is considered 

obsolete. NIOSH and ACGIH 

recommend 50μg/m3 and 25μg/m3 

exposure limits, respectively, for 

respirable crystalline silica. 

Both industry and worker groups have 

recognized that a comprehensive 

standard for crystalline silica is needed 

to provide for exposure monitoring, 

medical surveillance, and worker 

training. The American Society for 

Testing and Materials (ASTM) has 

published a recommended standard for 

addressing the hazards of crystalline 

silica. The Building Construction 

Trades Department of the AFL-CIO has 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
64280 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 

also developed a recommended 

comprehensive program standard. 

These standards include provisions for 

methods of compliance, exposure 

monitoring, training, and medical 

surveillance. 

Statement of Need: 

Workers are exposed to crystalline 

silica dust in general industry, 

construction, and maritime industries. 

Industries that could be particularly 

affected by a standard for crystalline 

silica include: Foundries, industries 

that have abrasive blasting operations, 

paint manufacture, glass and concrete 

product manufacture, brick making, 

china and pottery manufacture, 

manufacture of plumbing fixtures, and 

many construction activities including 

highway repair, masonry, concrete 

work, rock drilling, and tuckpointing. 

The seriousness of the health hazards 

associated with silica exposure is 

demonstrated by the fatalities and 

disabling illnesses that continue to 

occur; between 1990 and 1996, 200 to 

300 deaths per year are known to have 

occurred where silicosis was identified 

on death certificates as an underlying 

or contributing cause of death. It is 

likely that many more cases have 

occurred where silicosis went 

undetected. In addition, the 

International Agency for Research on 

Cancer (IARC) has designated 

crystalline silica as a known human 

carcinogen. Exposure to crystalline 

silica has also been associated with an 

increased risk of developing 

tuberculosis and other nonmalignant 

respiratory diseases, as well as renal 

and autoimmune respiratory diseases. 

Exposure studies and OSHA 

enforcement data indicate that some 

workers continue to be exposed to 

levels of crystalline silica far in excess 

of current exposure limits. Congress has 

included compensation of silicosis 

victims on Federal nuclear testing sites 

in the Energy Employees’ Occupational 

Illness Compensation Program Act of 

2000. There is a particular need for the 

Agency to modernize its exposure 

limits for construction and maritime 

workers, and to address some specific 

issues that will need to be resolved to 

propose a comprehensive standard. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

The legal basis for the proposed rule 

is a preliminary determination that 

workers are exposed to a significant 

risk of silicosis and other serious 

disease and that rulemaking is needed 

to substantially reduce the risk. In 

addition, the proposed rule will 

recognize that the PELs for construction 

and maritime are outdated and need to 

be revised to reflect current sampling 

and analytical technologies. 

Alternatives: 

Over the past several years, the Agency 

has attempted to address this problem 

through a variety of non-regulatory 

approaches, including initiation of a 

Special Emphasis Program on silica in 

October 1997, sponsorship with NIOSH 

and MSHA of the National Conference 

to Eliminate Silicosis, and 

dissemination of guidance information 

on its Web site. The Agency is 

currently evaluating several options for 

the scope of the rulemaking. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

The scope of the proposed rulemaking 

and estimates of the costs and benefits 

are still under development. 

Risks: 

A detailed risk analysis is under way. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

Completed SBREFA 

Report 

12/19/03 

Initiate Peer Review 

of Health Effects 

and Risk 

Assessment 

05/22/09 

Complete Peer 

Review 

01/00/10 

NPRM 07/00/10 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

Yes 

Small Entities Affected: 

Businesses 

Government Levels Affected: 

Federal 

Federalism: 

This action may have federalism 

implications as defined in EO 13132. 

Agency Contact: 

Dorothy Dougherty 

Director, Directorate of Standards and 

Guidance 

Department of Labor 

Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration 

200 Constitution Avenue NW. 

FP Building 

Room N–3718 

Washington, DC 20210 

Phone: 202 693–1950 

Fax: 202 693–1678 

Email: dougherty.dorothy@dol.gov 

RIN: 1218–AB70 

DOL—OSHA 

PROPOSED RULE STAGE 

109. HAZARD COMMUNICATION 

Priority: 

Economically Significant. Major under 

5 USC 801. 

Unfunded Mandates: 

This action may affect the private 

sector under PL 104-4. 

Legal Authority: 

29 USC 655(b); 29 USC 657 

CFR Citation: 

29 CFR 1910.1200; 29 CFR 1915.1200; 

29 CFR 1917.28; 29 CFR 1918.90; 29 

CFR 1926.59; 29 CFR 1928.21 

Legal Deadline: 

None 

Abstract: 

OSHA’s Hazard Communication 

Standard (HCS) requires chemical 

manufacturers and importers to 

evaluate the hazards of the chemicals 

they produce or import, and prepare 

labels and material safety data sheets 

to convey the hazards and associated 

protective measures to users of the 

chemicals. All employers with 

hazardous chemicals in their 

workplaces are required to have a 

hazard communication program, 

including labels on containers, material 

safety data sheets (MSDS), and training 

for employees. Within the United States 

(U.S.), there are other Federal agencies 

that also have requirements for 

classification and labeling of chemicals 

at different stages of the life cycle. 

Internationally, there are a number of 

countries that have developed similar 

laws that require information about 

chemicals to be prepared and 

transmitted to affected parties. These 

laws vary with regard to the scope of 

substances covered, definitions of 

hazards, the specificity of requirements 

(e.g., specification of a format for 

MSDSs), and the use of symbols and 

pictograms. The inconsistencies 

between the various laws are 

substantial enough that different labels 

and safety data sheets must often be 

used for the same product when it is 

marketed in different nations. 

The diverse and sometimes conflicting 

national and international requirements 

can create confusion among those who 

seek to use hazard information. Labels 

and safety data sheets may include 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 64281 

symbols and hazard statements that are 

unfamiliar to readers or not well 

understood. Containers may be labeled 

with such a large volume of 

information that important statements 

are not easily recognized. Development 

of multiple sets of labels and safety 

data sheets is a major compliance 

burden for chemical manufacturers, 

distributors, and transporters involved 

in international trade. Small businesses 

may have particular difficulty in coping 

with the complexities and costs 

involved. 

As a result of this situation, and in 

recognition of the extensive 

international trade in chemicals, there 

has been a long-standing effort to 

harmonize these requirements and 

develop a system that can be used 

around the world. In 2003, the United 

Nations adopted the Globally 

Harmonized System of Classification 

and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). 

Countries are now adopting the GHS 

into their national regulatory systems. 

OSHA is considering modifying its HCS 

to make it consistent with the GHS. 

This would involve changing the 

criteria for classifying health and 

physical hazards, adopting 

standardized labeling requirements, and 

requiring a standardized order of 

information for safety data sheets. 

Statement of Need: 

Multiple sets of requirements for labels 

and safety data sheets present a 

compliance burden for U.S. 

manufacturers, distributors, and 

transports involved in international 

trade. Adoption of the GHS would 

facilitate international trade in 

chemicals, reduce the burdens caused 

by having to comply with differing 

requirements for the same product, and 

allow companies that have not had the 

resources to deal with those burdens 

to be involved in international trade. 

This is particularly important for small 

producers who may be precluded 

currently from international trade 

because of the compliance resources 

required to address the extensive 

regulatory requirements for 

classification and labeling of chemicals. 

Thus every producer is likely to 

experience some benefits from domestic 

harmonization, in addition to the 

benefits that will accrue to producers 

involved in international trade. 

Most importantly, comprehensibility of 

hazard information and worker safety 

will be enhanced as the GHS will: (1) 

provide consistent information and 

definitions for hazardous chemicals; (2) 

address stakeholder concerns regarding 

the need for a standardized format for 

material safety data sheets; and (3) 

increase understanding by using 

standardized pictograms and 

harmonized hazard statements. The 

increase in comprehensibility and 

consistency will reduce confusion and 

thus improve worker safety and health. 

Several nations, including the European 

Union, have adopted the GHS with an 

implementation schedule through 2015. 

U.S. manufacturers, employers, and 

employees will be at a disadvantage in 

the event that our system of hazard 

communication is not compliant with 

the GHS. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

The Occupational Safety and Health 

Act of 1970 authorizes the Secretary of 

Labor to set mandatory occupational 

safety and health standards to assure 

safe and healthful working conditions 

for working men and women (29 U.S.C. 

651). 

Alternatives: 

The alternative to the proposed 

rulemaking would be to take no 

regulatory action. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

The estimates of the costs and benefits 

are still under development. 

Risks: 

OSHA’s risk analysis is under 

development. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

ANPRM 09/12/06 71 FR 53617 

ANPRM Comment 

Period End 

11/13/06 

Complete Peer 

Review of 

Economic Analysis 

11/19/07 

NPRM 09/30/09 74 FR 50279 

NPRM Comment 

Period End 

12/29/09 

Hearing 02/00/10 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

No 

Government Levels Affected: 

Local, State 

Federalism: 

This action may have federalism 

implications as defined in EO 13132. 

Agency Contact: 

Dorothy Dougherty 

Director, Directorate of Standards and 

Guidance 

Department of Labor 

Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration 

200 Constitution Avenue NW. 

FP Building 

Room N–3718 

Washington, DC 20210 

Phone: 202 693–1950 

Fax: 202 693–1678 

Email: dougherty.dorothy@dol.gov 

RIN: 1218–AC20 

DOL—OSHA 

FINAL RULE STAGE 

110. CRANES AND DERRICKS IN 

CONSTRUCTION 

Priority: 

Economically Significant. Major under 

5 USC 801. 

Legal Authority: 

29 USC 651(b); 29 USC 655(b); 40 USC 

333 

CFR Citation: 

29 CFR 1926 

Legal Deadline: 

None 

Abstract: 

A number of industry stakeholders 

asked OSHA to update the cranes and 

derricks portion of subpart N (29 CFR 

1926.550), specifically requesting that 

negotiated rulemaking be used. 

In 2002, OSHA published a notice of 

intent to establish a negotiated 

rulemaking committee. A year later, in 

2003, committee members were 

announced and the Cranes and Derricks 

Negotiated Rulemaking Committee was 

established and held its first meeting. 

In July 2004, the committee reached 

consensus on all issues resulting in a 

final consensus document. 

Statement of Need: 

There have been considerable 

technological changes since the 

consensus standards upon which the 

1971 OSHA standard is based were 

developed. In addition, industry 

consensus standards for derricks and 

crawler, truck and locomotive cranes 

were updated as recently as 2004. 

The industry indicated that over the 

past 30 years, considerable changes in 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES
64282 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 

both work processes and crane 

technology have occurred. There are 

estimated to be 64 to 89 fatalities 

associated with cranes each year in 

construction, and a more up-to-date 

standard would help prevent them. 

Summary of Legal Basis: 

The Occupational Safety and Health 

Act of 1970 authorizes the Secretary of 

Labor to set mandatory occupational 

safety and health standards to assure 

safe and healthful working conditions 

for working men and women (29 USC 

651). 

Alternatives: 

The alternative to the proposed 

rulemaking would be to take no 

regulatory action and not update the 

standards in 29 CFR 1926.550 

pertaining to cranes and derricks. 

Anticipated Cost and Benefits: 

The estimates of the costs and benefits 

are still under development. 

Risks: 

OSHA’s risk analysis is under 

development. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

Notice of Intent To 

Establish 

Negotiated 

Rulemaking 

07/16/02 67 FR 46612 

Comment Period End 09/16/02 

Request for 

Comments on 

Proposed 

Committee 

Members 

02/27/03 68 FR 9036 

Request for 

Comments Period 

End 

03/31/03 68 FR 9036 

Established 

Negotiated 

Rulemaking 

Committee 

06/12/03 68 FR 35172 

Rulemaking 

Negotiations 

Completed 

07/30/04 

SBREFA Report 10/17/06 

NPRM 10/09/08 73 FR 59714 

NPRM Comment 

Period Extended 

12/02/08 73 FR 73197 

NPRM Comment 

Period End 

01/22/09 

Public Hearing 03/20/09 

Close Record 06/18/09 

Final Rule 07/00/10 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: 

Yes 

Small Entities Affected: 

Businesses 

Government Levels Affected: 

Undetermined 

Agency Contact: 

Noah Connell 

Deputy Director, Directorate of 

Construction 

Department of Labor 

Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration 

200 Constitution Avenue NW. 

FP Building 

Room N–3468 

Washington, DC 20210 

Phone: 202 693–2020 

Fax: 202 693–1689 

RIN: 1218–AC01 

BILLING CODE 4510–23–S 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with RULES