59290 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 196 / Wednesday, October 12, 2005 / Proposed Rules 

accept peppers only from registered 

approved production sites. 

(7) The exporting country’s NPPO is 

responsible for export certification, 

inspection, and issuance of 

phytosanitary certificates. Each 

shipment of peppers must be 

accompanied by a phytosanitary 

certificate issued by the NPPO and 

bearing the declaration, ‘‘These peppers 

were grown in an approved production 

site and the shipment has been 

inspected and found free of the pests 

listed in the requirements.’’ The 

shipping box must be labeled with the 

identity of the production site. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 6th day of 

October 2005. 

N.E. Gutierrez, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–20388 Filed 10–11–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration 

29 CFR Parts 1910 and 1926 

[Docket No. S–0215] 

RIN 1218–AB67 

Electric Power Generation, 

Transmission, and Distribution; 

Electrical Protective Equipment; 

Extension of Comment Period; Change 

in Date of Public Hearing 

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration (OSHA), Labor. 

ACTION: Notice of hearing; extension of 

comment period; reopening of the 

period to file notices of intention to 

appear at an informal public hearing; 

additional issues for comment. 

SUMMARY: This notice reschedules an 

informal hearing on the proposed 

standards on electric power generation, 

transmission, and distribution and on 

electrical protective equipment, which 

were published on June 15, 2005. It also 

reopens the period to file notices of 

intention to appear at the informal 

public hearing, extends the period for 

written comments on the proposal, 

extends the period to provide the 

complete text of testimony and 

documentary evidence, and identifies 

additional issues on which OSHA is 

seeking comment. These periods are 

extended 90 days with this notice. 

DATES: Comments. Comments on the 

proposal must be submitted 

(postmarked or sent) by January 11, 

2006. 

Informal public hearing. OSHA will 

hold an informal public hearing in 

Washington, DC, beginning March 6, 

2006. The hearing will commence at 1 

p.m. on the first day, and at 9 a.m. on 

the second and subsequent days. 

Notices of intention to appear. Parties 

who intend to present testimony at the 

informal public hearing must notify 

OSHA in writing of their intention to do 

so no later than November 11, 2005. 

Hearing testimony and documentary 

evidence. Parties who request more than 

10 minutes for their presentations at the 

informal public hearing and parties who 

will submit documentary evidence at 

the hearing must submit the full text of 

their testimony and all documentary 

evidence postmarked no later than 

February 1, 2006. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit written 

comments, notices of intention to 

appear, hearing testimony, and 

documentary evidence—identified by 

docket number (S–215) or RIN number 

(1218–AB67)—by any of the following 

methods. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• OSHA Web site: http:// 

dockets.osha.gov/. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments 

on OSHA’s Web page. 

• Fax: If your written comments are 

10 pages or fewer, you may fax them to 

the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693–

1648. 

• Regular mail, express delivery, 

hand delivery, and courier service: 

Submit three copies to the OSHA 

Docket Office, Docket No. S–215, U.S. 

Department of Labor, 200 Constitution 

Avenue, NW., Room N2625, 

Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 

693–2350. (OSHA’s TTY number is 

(877) 889–5627.) OSHA Docket Office 

hours of operation are 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 

p.m., e.s.t. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

docket number or Regulatory 

Information Number (RIN) for this 

rulemaking. All comments received will 

be posted without change to http:// 

dockets.osha.gov/, including any 

personal information provided. For 

detailed instructions on submitting 

comments and additional information 

on the rulemaking process, see the 

‘‘Public Participation’’ heading of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read comments and background 

documents that can be posted go to 

http://dockets.osha.gov/. Written 

comments received, notices of intention 

to appear, and all other material related 

to the development of the proposed 

standard will be available for inspection 

and copying in the public record in the 

Docket Office at the address listed 

previously. 

Hearing: The hearing will be held in 

the auditorium of the U.S. Department 

of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, 

NW., Washington DC. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

General information and press 

inquiries: Mr. Kevin Ropp, Director, 

Office of Communications, Room 

N3647, OSHA, U.S. Department of 

Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 

693–1999. 

Technical information: Mr. David 

Wallis, Director, Office of Engineering 

Safety, Room N3609, OSHA, U.S. 

Department of Labor, 200 Constitution 

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; 

telephone (202) 693–2277 or fax (202) 

693–1663. 

Hearings: Ms. Veneta Chatmon, 

OSHA Office of Communications, 

Occupational Health and Safety 

Administration, Room N3647; 200 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20210; telephone (202) 693–1999. 

Electronic copies of this Federal 

Register notice, as well as news, are 

available at OSHA’s Web page on the 

Internet at http://www.osha.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 

15, 2005, OSHA published a proposal 

that would update the standards on 

electric power generation, transmission, 

and distribution and on electrical 

protective equipment for general 

industry and construction (70 FR 

34822). Interested parties were given 

until August 15, 2005, to submit notices 

of intention to appear at an informal 

hearing, and they were given until 

October 13, 2005, to submit written 

comments. 

The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) 

requested that OSHA extend the 

rulemaking period by 90 days. EEI 

argued that an extension is warranted 

because of the involvement of their 

membership in electric power 

restoration following Hurricane Katrina, 

as follows: 

EEI is the association of the nation’s investor 

owned electric companies. Many EEI member 

companies, their employees, and contractors 

they regularly engage, are now 

overwhelmingly occupied with providing 

assistance in the areas affected by Hurricane 

Katrina. This is especially so as to those 

involved in electric power transmission and 

distribution construction, as sister companies 

work to provide mutual aid, including 

restoration of electric power, to customers of 

those companies whose service territories 

include affected portions of southern states. 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 196 / Wednesday, October 12, 2005 / Proposed Rules 59291 

1SCADA is a computer system for monitoring 

and controlling equipment (in this case, electric 

power transmission and distribution lines and 

equipment). 

Stated simply, those involved in managing 

and performing such work are likely to have 

little, if any, time now or in the coming few 

months to focus on assisting EEI to prepare 

comments on the proposed rule. 

OSHA has received similar requests 

from other organizations. 

The Agency recognizes that many of 

the parties who would be interested in 

this rulemaking are heavily involved in 

responding to the destruction caused by 

Hurricane Katrina. The affected 

contractors and electric utilities, 

including utilities providing assistance 

directly affected areas, are likely to be 

spending significant resources on the 

restoration efforts, As EEI notes, these 

contractors and utilities will have little 

time in the next couple of months to 

respond to OSHA’s request for 

comments on the proposed standards. 

Therefore, OSHA is extending the 

rulemaking period by 90 days. 

Issues 

In the preamble to the proposal, 

OSHA specifically requested comments 

in nearly seventy areas, involving such 

issues as safe work procedures and 

requirements for protective equipment. 

For instance, OSHA requested 

comments on how employees can be 

insulated or isolated from multiphase 

exposure (70 FR 34831) and on whether 

the standard should require the 

employer to provide automated external 

defibrillators (70 FR 34842). OSHA 

received over 30 notices of intention to 

appear (NOITA) in response to the 

notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). 

The NOITAs raised many issues related 

to the proposal, some of which went 

beyond those listed in the NPRM. OSHA 

will consider evidence introduced on 

these issues during the rulemaking and 

invites the public to comment on them: 

• Whether the standard should 

include ground-to-ground, cradle-tocradle, or lock-to-lock rubber glove and 

sleeve requirements; 

• Whether the standard should 

include specific multicrew tagging 

requirements; 

• Whether the standard should 

include tagging requirements for 

systems using supervisory control and 

data acquisition (SCADA) equipment; 1

• Whether OSHA should revise the 

order of removal of protective grounds 

for the protection of employees as given 

in proposed § 1926.962(f)(2) and 

§ 1910.269(n)(7); 

• Whether the standard should 

include specific requirements for the 

creation of an equipotential zone; 

• Whether the standard should 

include requirements for an information 

trail tracking the job briefing between all 

levels of employees associated with the 

job, for example, between the 

supervisor, employee-in-charge, and 

crewmember; 

• Whether the standard should 

require fall arrest or work positioning 

equipment for employees transferring to 

another object while climbing; and 

• Whether the provisions for the 

testing of fall protection equipment in 

proposed § 1926.954(b) and 

§ 1910.269(g)(2) are appropriate. 

OSHA is not limiting comments, 

hearing requests, and documentary 

evidence to only these areas. OSHA 

invites comments, hearing requests, and 

documentary evidence on all issues 

raised by the proposal. 

Public Participation—Comments and 

Hearings 

OSHA encourages members of the 

public to participate in this rulemaking 

by submitting comments on the 

proposal, and by providing oral 

testimony and documentary evidence at 

the informal public hearing that the 

Agency will convene after the comment 

period ends. In this regard, the Agency 

invites interested parties having 

knowledge of, or experience with, safety 

related to working on electric power 

generation, transmission, or distribution 

installations to participate in this 

process, and welcomes any pertinent 

data and cost information that will 

provide it with the best available 

evidence on which to develop the final 

standard. 

This section describes the procedures 

the public must use to submit their 

comments to the docket in a timely 

manner, and to schedule an opportunity 

to deliver oral testimony and provide 

documentary evidence at the informal 

public hearings. Comments, notices of 

intention to appear, hearing testimony, 

and documentary evidence will be 

available for inspection and copying at 

the OSHA Docket Office. You also 

should read the earlier sections titled 

DATES and ADDRESSES for additional 

information on submitting comments, 

documents, and requests to the Agency 

for consideration in this rulemaking. 

Written comments. OSHA invites 

interested parties to submit written data, 

views, and arguments concerning this 

proposal. In particular, OSHA 

encourages interested parties to 

comment on the various issues raised in 

the summary and explanation of the 

proposal (70 FR 34826–34893) and in 

this notice. When submitting comments, 

parties must follow the procedures 

specified earlier in the sections titled 

DATES and ADDRESSES. The comments 

must clearly identify the provision of 

the proposal you are addressing, the 

position taken with respect to each 

issue, and the basis for that position. 

Comments, along with supporting data 

and references, received by the end of 

the specified comment period will 

become part of the proceedings record, 

and will be available for public 

inspection and copying at the OSHA 

Docket Office. 

Informal Public Hearing. Pursuant to 

section 6(b)(3) of the Occupational 

Safety and Health Act, members of the 

public will have an opportunity at an 

informal public hearing to provide oral 

testimony concerning the issues raised 

in this proposal. The hearings will 

connect at 1 p.m. on March 6, 2006. At 

that time, the presiding administrative 

law judge (ALJ) will resolve any 

procedural matters relating to the 

proceeding. The hearings will 

reconvene on subsequent days at 9 a.m. 

The legislative history of section 6 of 

the OSH Act, as well as OSHA’s 

regulation governing public hearings (29 

CFR 1911.15), establishes the purpose 

and procedures of informal public 

hearings. Although the presiding officer 

of such hearings is an ALJ, and 

questioning by interested parties is 

allowed on crucial issues, the 

proceeding is informal and legislative in 

purpose. Therefore, the hearing 

provides interested parties with an 

opportunity to make effective and 

expeditious oral presentations in the 

absence of procedural restraints or rigid 

procedures that could impede or 

protract the rulemaking process. In 

addition, the hearing is an informal 

administrative proceeding, rather than 

an adjudicative one in which the 

technical rules of evidence would 

apply, because its primary purpose is to 

gather and clarify information. The 

regulations that govern public hearings, 

and the prehearing guidelines issued for 

this hearing, will ensure participants 

fairness and due process, and will 

facilitate the development of a clear, 

accurate, and complete record. 

Accordingly, application of these rules 

and guidelines will be such that 

questions of relevance, procedure, and 

participation generally will favor 

development of the record. 

Conduct of the hearing will conform 

to the provisions of 29 CFR part 1911, 

‘‘Rules of Procedure for Promulgating, 

Modifying, or Revoking Occupational 

Safety and Health Standards.’’ The 

regulation at 29 CFR 1911.4, 

‘‘Additional or Alternative Procedural 

Requirements,’’ specifies that the 

Assistant Secretary may, on reasonable 

notice, issue alternative procedures to 

59292 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 196 / Wednesday, October 12, 2005 / Proposed Rules 

expedite proceedings or for other good 

cause. Although the ALJs who preside 

over these hearings make no decision or 

recommendations on the merits of 

OSHA’s proposal, they do have the 

responsibility and authority to ensure 

that the hearing progresses at a 

reasonable pace and in an orderly 

manner. To ensure that interested 

parties receive a full and fair informal 

hearing as specified by 29 CFR part 

1911, the ALJ has the authority and 

power to: Regulate the course of the 

proceedings; dispose of procedural 

requests, objections, and comparable 

matters; confine the presentations to 

matters pertinent to the issuers raised; 

use appropriate means to regulate the 

conduct of the parties who are present 

at the hearing; question witnesses, and 

permit others to question witnesses; and 

limit the time for such questioning. At 

the close of the hearing, the ALJ will 

establish a post-hearing comment period 

for parties who participated in the 

hearing. During the first part of this 

period, the participants may submit 

additional data and information to 

OSHA; during the second part of this 

period, they may submit briefs, 

arguments, and summations. 

Notice of Intention to Appear to 

Provide Testimony at the Informal 

Public Hearing. Interested parties who 

intend to provide oral testimony at the 

informal public hearings must file a 

notice of intention to appear by using 

the procedures specified earlier in the 

sections titled DATES and ADDRESSES. 

This notice must provide the: name, 

address, and telephone number of each 

individual who will provide testimony, 

and their preferred hearing location; 

capacity (for example, the name of the 

establishment or organization the 

individual is representing and the 

individual’s occupational title and 

position) in which each individual will 

testify; approximate amount of time 

required for each individual’s 

testimony; specific issues each 

individual will address, including a 

brief statement of the position that the 

individual will take with respect to each 

of these issues; and a brief summary of 

any documentary evidence the 

individual intends to present. 

OSHA emphasizes that the hearings 

are open to the public, and that 

interested parties are welcome to attend. 

However, only a party who files a 

complete notice of intention to appear 

may ask questions and participate fully 

in the proceedings. While a party who 

did not file a notice of intention to 

appear may be allowed to testify at the 

hearing if time permits, this 

determination is at the discretion of the 

presiding ALJ. 

Hearing Testimony and Documentary 

Evidence. Any party requesting more 

than 10 minutes to testify at the 

informal public hearing, or who intends 

to submit documentary evidence at the 

hearing, must provide the complete text 

of the testimony and the documentary 

evidence as specified earlier in the 

sections listed DATES and ADDRESSES. 

The Agency will review each 

submission and determine if the 

information it contains warrants the 

amount of time requested. If OSHA 

believes the requested time is excessive, 

it will allocate an appropriate amount of 

time to the presentation, and will notify 

the participant of this action, and the 

reasons for the action, before the 

hearing. The Agency may limit to 10 

minutes the presentation of any 

participant who fails to comply 

substantially with these procedural 

requirements; in such instances, OSHA 

may request the participant to return for 

questioning later. 

Certification of the Record and Final 

Determination after the Informal Public 

Hearing. Following the close of the 

hearing and post-hearing comment 

period, the presiding ALJ will certify the 

record to the Assistant Secretary of 

Labor for Occupational Safety and 

Health; the record will consist of all of 

the written comments, oral testimony, 

and documentary evidence received 

during the proceeding. However, the 

ALJ does not make or recommend any 

decisions as to the content of the final 

standard. Following certification of the 

record, OSHA will review the proposed 

provisions in light of all the evidence 

received as part of the record, and then 

will issue the final rule based on the 

entire record. 

Authority and Signature 

This document was prepared under 

the direction of Jonathan L. Snare, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor of 

Occupational Safety and Health, 200 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20210. 

This action is taken pursuant to 

sections 4, 6, and 8 of the Occupational 

Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 

653, 655, 657), Secretary of Labor’s 

Order No. 5–2002 (67 FR 65008), and 29 

CFR part 1911. 

Dated: Signed at Washington, DC this 6th 

day of October, 2005. 

Jonathan L. Snare, 

Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor. 

[FR Doc. 05–20421 Filed 10–11–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–26–M 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 73 

[DA 05–2636; MB Docket No. 05–274, RM–

11274; MB Docket No. 05–275, RM–11275] 

Radio Broadcasting Services; 

Coalgate, OK; and Silver Springs 

Shores, FL 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This document proposes new 

FM broadcast allotments at Coalgate, 

Oklahoma and Silver Springs Shores, 

Florida. The Audio Division, Media 

Bureau, requests comment on a petition 

filed by Charles Crawford, proposing the 

allotment of Channel 242A at Coalgate, 

Oklahoma, as the community’s second 

local aural transmission service. 

Channel 242A can be allotted to 

Coalgate in compliance with the 

Commission’s minimum distance 

separation requirements with a site 

restriction of 6.9 kilometers (4.3 miles) 

south of Coalgate. The reference 

coordinates for Channel 242A at 

Coalgate are 34–35–00 North Latitude 

and 96–10–00 West Longitude. See 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, infra. 

DATES: Comments must be filed on or 

before November 25, 2005, and reply 

comments on or before December 12, 

2005. 

ADDRESSES: Federal Communications 

Commission, 445 Twelfth Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20554. In addition to 

filing comments with the FCC, 

interested parties should serve the 

petitioner, his counsel, or consultant, as 

follows: Charles Crawford; 4553 

Bordeaux Ave.; Dallas, Texas 75205; 

and Carrie Tutera Martin; 726 Stetson 

Street; Orlando, Florida 32804. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: R. 

Barthen Gorman, Media Bureau, (202) 

418–2180. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

synopsis of the Commission’s Notice of 

Proposed Rule Making, MB Docket Nos. 

05–274, and 05–275, adopted September 

29, 2005 and released October 3, 2005. 

The full text of this Commission 

document is available for inspection 

and copying during regular business 

hours at the FCC’s Reference 

Information Center, Portals II, 445 

Twelfth Street, SW., Room CY–A257, 

Washington, DC 20554. The complete 

text of this decision may also be 

purchased from the Commission’s 

duplicating contractor, Best Copy and 

Printing, Inc., 445 12th Street, SW., 

Room CY–B402, Washington, DC,