[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 118 (Wednesday, June 23, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32980-32981]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-13185]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. OSHA-2012-0002]


Asbestos in Construction Standard; Extension of the Office of 
Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of Information Collection 
(Paperwork) Requirements

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.

ACTION: Request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comments concerning the proposal to 
extend the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the 
information collection requirements specified in the Asbestos in 
Construction Standard.

DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by 
August 23, 2021.

ADDRESSES: 
    Electronically: You may submit comments, including attachments, 
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal. Follow the instructions online for submitting comments.
    Docket: To read or download comments or other material in the 
docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov. Documents in the docket are 
listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index; however, some 
information (e.g., copyrighted material) is not publicly available to 
read or download through the website. All submissions, including 
copyrighted material, are available for inspection through the OSHA 
Docket Office. Contact the OSHA Docket Office for assistance in 
locating docket submissions.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and the 
OSHA docket number for this Federal Register notice (OSHA-2012-0002). 
OSHA will place comments and requests to speak, including personal 
information, in the public docket, which may be available online. 
Therefore, OSHA cautions interested parties about submitting personal 
information such as social security numbers and birthdates. For further 
information on submitting comments, see the ``Public Participation'' 
heading in the section of this notice titled SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Seleda Perryman or Theda Kenney, 
Directorate of Standards and Guidance, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, 
telephone (202) 693-2222.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Department of Labor, as part of a continuing effort to reduce 
paperwork and respondent (i.e., employer) burden, conducts a 
preclearance consultation program to provide the public with an 
opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing information 
collection requirements in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This program ensures that 
information is in the desired format, the reporting burden (time and 
costs) is minimal, the collection instruments are clearly understood, 
and OSHA's estimate of the information collection burden is accurate. 
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) (29 U.S.C.

[[Page 32981]]

651 et seq.) authorizes information collection by employers as 
necessary or appropriate for enforcement of the OSH Act or for 
developing information regarding the causes and prevention of 
occupational injuries, illnesses, and accidents (29 U.S.C. 657). The 
OSH Act also requires OSHA to obtain such information with a minimum 
burden upon employers, especially those operating small businesses, and 
to reduce to the maximum extent feasible unnecessary duplication of 
efforts in obtaining said information (29 U.S.C. 657).
    The Asbestos in Construction Standard (29 CFR 1926.1101) protects 
workers from adverse health effects arising from workplace exposure to 
asbestos, including lung cancer, mesothelioma, asbestosis (an 
emphysema-like condition) and gastrointestinal cancer. The standard 
requires employers to monitor worker exposure, provide medical 
surveillance, and maintain accurate records of worker exposure to 
asbestos. These records will be used by employers, workers, and the 
Government to ensure that workers are not harmed by exposure to 
asbestos in the workplace.

II. Special Issues for Comment

    OSHA has a particular interest in comments on the following issues:
    <bullet> Whether the proposed information collection requirements 
are necessary for the proper performance of the agency's functions, 
including whether the information is useful;
    <bullet> The accuracy of OSHA's estimate of the burden (time and 
costs) of the information collection requirements, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
    <bullet> The quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
collected; and
    <bullet> Ways to minimize the burden on employers who must comply--
for example, by using automated or other technological information 
collection and transmission techniques.

III. Proposed Actions

    The agency is requesting an adjustment increase of 433,878.37 
burden hours, from, 3,765,456.27 to 4,199,334.64 hours. There are 
several reasons for this change in burden.
    First, the agency has updated the data sources used to estimate the 
number of respondents and unit costs. Second, in estimating the change 
in the number of buildings that may contain ACM/PACM, the 2018 ICR 
mistakenly omitted data from some years from the calculation. 
Correcting this error increases the number of buildings. Because the 
number of buildings is used to calculate the number of covered 
employees, the number of covered employees increased as a result of 
this change, increasing burden. Finally, this ICR renewal switches from 
using rounded decimal estimates of unit burden to unrounded fractions 
(for instance, from 0.08 to 5/60 for an item with five minutes of 
burden). This has a net effect of increasing burden.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Title: Asbestos in Construction Standard (29 CFR 1926.1101).
    OMB Control Number: 1218-0134.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profits.
    Number of Respondents: 1,104,261.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Average Time per Response: Varies.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 41,566,377.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 4,199,334.64.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $66,912,839.51.

IV. Public Participation--Submission of Comments on This Notice and 
Internet Access to Comments and Submissions

    You may submit comments in response to this document as follows: 
(1) Electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal; (2) by facsimile (fax); or (3) by hard copy. Please 
note: While OSHA's Docket Office is continuing to accept and process 
submissions by regular mail, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Docket 
Office is closed to the public and not able to receive submissions to 
the docket by hand, express mail, messenger, and courier service. All 
comments, attachments, and other material must identify the agency name 
and the OSHA docket number (Docket No. OSHA-2012-0002) for the ICR. You 
may supplement electronic submissions by uploading document files 
electronically. If you wish to mail additional materials in reference 
to an electronic or facsimile submission, you must submit them to the 
OSHA Docket Office (see the section of this notice titled ADDRESSES). 
The additional materials must clearly identify electronic comments by 
your name, date, and the docket number so that the agency can attach 
them to your comments.
    Due to security procedures, the use of regular mail may cause a 
significant delay in the receipt of comments.
    Comments and submissions are posted without change at http://www.regulations.gov. Therefore, OSHA cautions commenters about 
submitting personal information such as social security numbers and 
dates of birth. Although all submissions are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index, some information (e.g., copyrighted 
material) is not publicly available to read or download through this 
website.
    All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available for 
inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. Information on using 
the http://www.regulations.gov website to submit comments and access 
the docket is available at the website's ``User Tips'' link. Contact 
the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-2350, (TTY (877) 889-5627) for 
information about materials not available through the website, and for 
assistance in using the internet to locate docket submissions.

V. Authority and Signature

    James S. Frederick, Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for 
Occupational Safety and Health, directed the preparation of this 
notice. The authority for this notice is the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3506 et seq.) and Secretary of Labor's Order No. 1-2012 
(77 FR 3912).

    Signed at Washington, DC, on June 15, 2021.
James S. Frederick,
Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2021-13185 Filed 6-22-21; 8:45 am]
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