[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 84 (Monday, May 2, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25675-25677]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09370]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. OSHA-2012-0031]


The 4,4'-Methylenedianiline 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 4,4'-
Methylenedianiline (MDA) in the Construction Standard.

DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by 
July 1, 2022.

ADDRESSES:
    Electronically: You may submit comments and attachments 
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, which is 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 at (202) 693-2350 (TTY 
(877) 889-5627) for assistance in locating docket submissions.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and OSHA 
docket number (OSHA-2012-0031) for the Information Collection Request 
(ICR). OSHA will place all comments,

[[Page 25676]]

including any personal information, in the public docket, which may be 
made 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 the 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, 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. 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 that OSHA obtain such information with minimum burden upon 
employers, especially those operating small businesses, and to reduce 
to the maximum extent feasible unnecessary duplication of effort in 
obtaining information (29 U.S.C. 657).
    The following sections describe who uses the information collected 
under each requirement, as well as how they use it. The purpose of 
these requirements is to reduce employees' risk of death or serious 
injury by ensuring that employment has been tested and is in safe 
operating condition.
    The information collection requirements specified in the 4',4'-
Methylenedianiline Standard for Construction (the ``MDA Standard'') (29 
CFR 1926.60) protect employees from the adverse health effects that may 
result from their exposure to MDA, including cancer, liver and skin 
disease. The major paperwork requirements specify that employers must 
perform initial, periodic, and additional exposure monitoring; notify 
each worker in writing of their results as soon as possible but no 
longer than 5 days after receiving exposure monitoring results; and 
routinely inspect the hands, face, and forearms of each worker 
potentially exposed to MDA for signs of dermal exposure to MDA. 
Employers must also: establish a written compliance program; institute 
a respiratory protection program in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.134 
(OSHA's Respiratory Protection Standard); and develop a written 
emergency plan for any construction operation that could have an MDA 
emergency (i.e., an unexpected and potentially hazardous release of 
MDA).
    Employers must label any material or products containing MDA, 
including containers used to store MDA-contaminated protective clothing 
and equipment. They also must inform personnel who launder MDA-
contaminated clothing of the requirement to prevent release of MDA, and 
personnel who launder or clean MDA-contaminated protective clothing or 
equipment must receive information about the potentially harmful 
effects of MDA. In addition, employers must post warning signs at 
entrances or access ways to regulated areas, as well as train workers 
exposed to MDA at the time of their initial assignment, and at least 
annually thereafter.
    Other paperwork provisions of the MDA Standard require employers to 
provide workers with medical examinations, including initial, periodic, 
emergency and follow-up examinations. As part of the medical-
surveillance program, employers must ensure that the examining 
physician receives specific written information, and that they obtain 
from the physician a written opinion regarding the worker's medical 
results and exposure limitations.
    The MDA Standard also specifies that employers are to establish and 
maintain exposure-monitoring and medical-surveillance records for each 
worker who is subject to these requirements, make any required record 
available to OSHA compliance officers and the National Institute for 
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for examination and copying, and 
provide exposure-monitoring and medical-surveillance records to workers 
and their designated representatives.

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 to 
protect workers, 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 20 hours, from 
986 to 1,006 hours and a cost increase of $68,724 to $146,718. There 
are two main reasons for this adjustment. First, the agency has updated 
the data sources used to estimate the number of respondents, burden, 
and cost (such as the loaded hourly wage rates, turnover rate and unit 
cost for laboratory analysis and medical exams). Second, 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).
    OSHA will summarize the comments submitted in response to this 
notice and will include this summary in the request to OMB to extend 
the approval of the information collection requirements.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Title: The 4,4'-Methylenedianiline in Construction Standard (CFR 
1926.60).
    OMB Control Number: 1218-0183.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profits.
    Number of Respondents: 330.
    Number of Responses: 2,630.
    Frequency of Responses: On occasion.
    Average Time per Response: Varies.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,006.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $152,658.

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

[[Page 25677]]

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 for 
the ICR (Docket No. OSHA-2012-0031). You may supplement electronic 
submissions by uploading document files electronically. If you wish to 
mail additional materials in reference to an electronic or a 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 your 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 from 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 from the website, and for 
assistance in using the internet to locate docket submissions.

V. Authority and Signature

    James S. Frederick, Deputy 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 April 7, 2022.
James S. Frederick,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2022-09370 Filed 4-29-22; 8:45 am]
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