[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 207 (Thursday, October 27, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61998-61999]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-21476]



[[Page 61998]]

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR 1218-0189(2006)]


Standard on Lead in Construction; 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 comment.

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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comment concerning its request for an 
extension of the information collection requirements contained in 29 
CFR 1926.62.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by the following dates:
    Hard copy: Your comments must be submitted (postmarked or received) 
by December 27, 2005.
    Facsimile and electronic transmission: Your comments must be 
received by December 27, 2005.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by OSHA Docket No. ICR-
1218-0189(2006), by any of the following methods:
    Regular mail, express delivery, hand delivery, and messenger 
service: Submit your comments and attachments to the OSHA Docket 
Office, Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, 
NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-2350 (OSHA's TTY number 
is (877) 889-5627). OSHA Docket Office and Department of Labor hours 
are 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., ET.
    Facsimile: If your comments are 10 pages or fewer in length, 
including attachments, you may fax them to the OSHA Docket Office at 
(202) 693-1648.
    Electronic: You may submit comments through the Internet at http://ecomments.osha.gov. Follow instructions on the OSHA Web page for 
submitting comments.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read or download comments or 
background materials, such as the complete Information Collection 
Request (ICR) (containing the Supporting Statement, OMB-83-I Form, and 
attachments), go to OSHA's Web page at http://www.OSHA.gov. In 
addition, the ICR, comments and submissions are available for 
inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office at the address above. 
You may also contact Todd Owen at the address below to obtain a copy of 
the ICR. For additional information on submitting comments, please see 
the ``Public Participation'' heading in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Todd Owen, Directorate of Standards 
and Guidance, OSHA, Room N-3609; 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20210, telephone: (202) 693-2222.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The Department of Labor, as part of its 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-95) (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, collection instruments 
are clearly understood, and OSHA's estimate of the information 
collection burden is accurate. The Occupational Safety and Health Act 
of 1970 (the Act) (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) authorizes information 
collection by employers as necessary or appropriate for enforcement of 
the Act or for developing information regarding the causes and 
prevention of occupational injuries, illnesses, and accidents (29 
U.S.C. 657).
    On January 5, 2005, OSHA published the Standards Improvement 
Project--Phase II, Final rule (70 FR 1112). The final rule removed and 
revised provisions of standards that were outdated, duplicative, 
unnecessary, or inconsistent and clarified or simplified regulatory 
language. The final rule contained several revisions to collections of 
information contained in the Lead in Construction Standard.\1\ These 
revisions included: allowing employers the option to post employee 
exposure-monitoring results instead of requiring individual 
notification and updating compliance plans annually. Those changes 
reduced paperwork burden hours while maintaining worker protection and 
improving consistency among standards. The reductions in burden hours 
were taken in the prior ICR. The following is a brief description of 
the current collection of information requirements contained in the 
Lead in Construction Standard.
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    \1\ OMB approved the reduction of 1,938 burden hours after 
reviewing the Information Collection Request for the Standards 
Improvement Project-Phase-II Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 
published October 31, 2002 (67 FR 66494). On January 5, 2005, when 
the Final rule was published (70 FR 1112) documentation was 
submitted to OMB revising the reduction of 1,938 hours to 1,220 
hours to reflect the decrease in time to conduct exposure 
monitoring.
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    The purpose of the Lead in Construction Standard and its 
information collection requirements is to reduce occupation lead 
exposure in the construction industry. Lead exposure can result in both 
acute and chronic effects and can be fatal in severe cases of lead 
toxicity. Some of the health affects associated with lead exposure 
include brain disorders which can lead to seizures, coma, and death; 
anemia; neurological problems; high blood pressure; kidney problems; 
reproductive problems; and decreased red blood cell production. The 
Standard requires that employers: establish and maintain a training 
program; review the compliance program annually; provide exposure-
monitoring, and medical surveillance programs; and maintain exposure-
monitoring and medical surveillance records. The records are used by 
employees, physicians, employers and OSHA to determine the 
effectiveness of the employer's compliance efforts. The Standard seeks 
to reduce disease by requiring exposure-monitoring to determine if lead 
exposures are too high, by requiring medical surveillance to determine 
if employee blood lead levels are too high, and by requiring treatment 
to reduce blood lead levels.

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

    OSHA proposes to request OMB's approval to extend the collection of 
information (paperwork) requirements necessitated by the Standard on 
Lead in Construction (29 CFR 1926.62). The Agency will include this 
summary in its request to OMB to extend the approval of these 
collection of information requirements.

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    Type of Review: Extension of currently approved information 
collection requirements.
    Title: Lead in Construction (29 CFR 1962.62).
    OMB Number: 1218-0189.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; Federal Government; 
State, Local or Tribal Government.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Average Time Per Response: Varies from 1 minute (.02 hour) for a 
clerical employee to notify employees of their right to seek a second 
medical opinion to 8 hours to develop a compliance plan.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,560,718.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $68,576,683.

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

    You may submit comments and supporting materials in response to 
this notice by (1) hard copy, (2) FAX transmission (facsimile), or (3) 
electronically through the OSHA Web page. Because of security-related 
problems, there may be a significant delay in the receipt of comments 
by regular mail. Please contact the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-
2350 (TTY) (877) 889-5627) for information about security procedures 
concerning the delivery of submissions by express delivery, hand 
delivery and courier service.
    All comments, submissions and background documents are available 
for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office at the above 
address. Comments and submissions posted on OSHA's Web page are 
available at http://www.OSHA.gov. Contact the OSHA Docket Office for 
information about materials not available through the OSHA Web page and 
for assistance using the Web page to locate docket submissions. 
Electronic copies of this Federal Register notice as well as other 
relevant documents are available on OSHA's Web page. Since all 
submissions become public, private information such as social security 
numbers should not be submitted.

V. Authority and Signature

    Jonathan L. Snare, 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. 5-
2002 (67 FR 65008).

    Signed at Washington, DC, on October 21, 2005.
Jonathan L. Snare,
Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor.
[FR Doc. 05-21476 Filed 10-26-05; 8:45 am]
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