Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 31 / Wednesday, February 17, 2016 / Notices 8103 

February 24, 2016, using one of the 

methods listed in the ADDRESSES

section. Your request must state: 

• The amount of time requested to 

speak; 

• The interest you represent (e.g., 

business, organization, affiliation), if 

any; and 

• A brief outline of the presentation. 

PowerPoint presentations and other 

electronic materials must be compatible 

with PowerPoint 2010 and other 

Microsoft Office 2010 formats. The 

NACOSH Chair may grant requests to 

address NACOSH as time and 

circumstances permit. 

Public docket of NACOSH meetings: 

OSHA places comments, requests to 

speak, and speaker presentations, 

including any personal information you 

provide, in the NACOSH docket, 

without change. Those documents also 

may be available online at http://

www.regulations.gov. Therefore, OSHA 

cautions you about submitting certain 

personal information such as Social 

Security numbers and birthdates. 

OSHA also places in the NACOSH 

docket meeting transcripts, meeting 

minutes, documents presented at the 

NACOSH meeting, and other documents 

pertaining to the NACOSH meetings. 

These documents may be available 

online at http://www.regulations.gov. 

Access to the public record of 

NACOSH meetings: To read or 

download documents in the NACOSH 

docket, go to Docket No. OSHA–2016– 

0001 at http://www.regulations.gov. The 

index for that Web page lists all of the 

documents in the docket; however, 

some documents (e.g., copyrighted 

materials) are not publicly available 

through that Web page. All documents 

in the NACOSH docket, including 

materials not available through http://

www.regulations.gov, are available in 

the OSHA Docket Office. Please contact 

the OSHA Docket Office for assistance 

in making submissions to, or obtaining 

materials from, the NACOSH docket. 

Electronic copies of this Federal 

Register notice are available at http://

www.regulations.gov. This notice, as 

well as news releases and other relevant 

information, also are available on 

OSHA’s Web page at http://

www.osha.gov. 

Authority and Signature 

David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, 

Assistant Secretary of Labor for 

Occupational Safety and Health, 

directed the preparation of this notice 

under the authority granted by 29 U.S.C. 

656; 5 U.S.C. App. 2; 29 CFR part 1912a; 

41 CFR part 102–3; and Secretary of 

Labor’s Order No. 1–2012 (77 FR 3912 

(1/25/2012)). 

Signed at Washington, DC, on February 11, 

2016. 

David Michaels, 

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational 

Safety and Health. 

[FR Doc. 2016–03295 Filed 2–16–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–26–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration 

[Docket No. OSHA–2012–0026] 

Regulations Containing Procedures for 

Handling of Retaliation Complaints; 

Revision of Approved Information 

Collection (Paperwork) Requirements 

for Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) Approval 

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration (OSHA), Labor. 

ACTION: Request for public comments. 

SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public 

comments concerning its proposal to 

extend and revise the collections of 

information currently approved by the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for handling of retaliation 

complaints filed with OSHA under 

various whistleblower protection 

statutes and the procedural regulations 

described in this notice. These 

regulations contain procedures 

employees must use to file a complaint 

with OSHA alleging that their employer 

violated a whistleblower protection 

provision contained in certain statutes 

that generally prohibit retaliatory action 

by employers against employees who 

engage in activities protected by the 

statutes. The collections of information 

include revisions to the form for 

employees to submit retaliation 

complaints to OSHA, including 

electronic submission. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted 

(postmarked, sent, or received) by April 

18, 2016. 

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. 

Facsimile: If your comments, 

including attachments, are not longer 

than 10 pages, you may fax them to the 

OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693–1648. 

Mail, hand delivery, express mail, 

messenger or courier service: When 

using this method, you must submit 

your comments and attachments to the 

OSHA Docket Office, OSHA Docket No. 

OSHA–2012–0026, U.S. Department of 

Labor, Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration, Room N–2625, 200 

Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC 20210. Deliveries (hand, express 

mail, messenger and courier service) are 

accepted during the Department of 

Labor’s and Docket Office’s normal 

business hours, 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., 

e.t. 

Instructions: All submissions must 

include the Agency name and OSHA 

docket number (OSHA–2012–0026) for 

the Information Collection Request 

(ICR). All comments, including any 

personal information you provide, are 

placed in the public docket without 

change, and may be made available 

online at http://www.regulations.gov. 

For further information on submitting 

comments see the ‘‘Public 

Participation’’ heading in the section of 

this notice titled SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION. 

Docket: To read or download 

comments or other material in the 

docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov 

or the OSHA Docket Office at the 

address above. All documents in the 

docket (including this Federal Register 

notice) are listed in the http://

www.regulations.gov index; however, 

some information (e.g., copyrighted 

material) is not publicly available to 

read or download from the Web site. All 

submissions, including copyrighted 

material, are available for inspection 

and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. 

You may also contact the Directorate of 

Whistleblower Protection Programs at 

the address below to obtain a copy of 

the ICR. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

MaryAnn Garrahan, Director, 

Directorate of Whistleblower Protection 

Programs, OSHA, U.S. Department of 

Labor, Room N–4624, 200 Constitution 

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210; 

telephone: (202) 693–2199; email 

Garrahan.Maryann@dol.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Department of Labor, as part of its 

continuing effort to reduce paperwork 

and respondent (e.g., an employee filing 

a retaliation complaint) burden, 

conducts a preclearance consultation 

program to provide the public with an 

opportunity to comment on proposed 

and continuing collections of 

information in accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (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 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
8104 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 31 / Wednesday, February 17, 2016 / Notices 

1Several of these regulations use the term 

‘‘discrimination’’ or ‘‘discrimination complaints’’ in 

their titles. These terms are synonymous with 

‘‘retaliation’’ and ‘‘retaliation complaints,’’ 

respectively. 

OSHA’s estimate of the information 

collection burden is accurate. 

The Agency is responsible for 

investigating alleged violations of 

‘‘whistleblower’’ provisions contained 

in a number of statutes. These 

whistleblower provisions generally 

prohibit retaliation by employers against 

employees who report alleged violations 

of certain laws or regulations. 

Accordingly, these provisions prohibit 

an employer from discharging or taking 

any other retaliatory action against an 

employee because the employee engages 

in any of the protected activities 

specified by the whistleblower 

provisions of the statutes. These statutes 

are covered under the following 

regulations: 29 CFR part 24, Procedures 

for the Handling of Retaliation 

Complaints under the Employee 

Protection Provisions of Six 

Environmental Statutes and Section 211 

of the Energy Reorganization Act of 

1974, As Amended (29 CFR part 24 

covers the: Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 

U.S.C. 300j–9(i); Federal Water 

Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. 1367; 

Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 U.S.C. 

2622; Solid Waste Disposal Act, 42 

U.S.C. 6971; Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 

7622; Energy Reorganization Act of 

1974, 42 U.S.C. 5851; and 

Comprehensive Environmental 

Response, Compensation and Liability 

Act, 42 U.S.C. 9610); 29 CFR part 1977, 

Discrimination Against Employees 

Exercising Rights under the WilliamsSteiger Occupational Safety and Health 

Act (29 CFR part 1977 covers the: 

Occupational Safety and Health Act, 29 

U.S.C. 660; Asbestos Hazard Emergency 

Response Act, 15 U.S.C. 2651; and 

International Safe Container Act, 46 

U.S.C. 80507); 29 CFR part 1978, 

Procedures for the Handling of 

Retaliation Complaints under the 

Employee Protection Provision of the 

Surface Transportation Assistance Act 

of 1982; 29 CFR part 1979, Procedures 

for Handling Discrimination Complaints 

Under the Wendell H. Ford Aviation 

Investment and Reform Act for the 21st 

Century; 29 CFR part 1980, Procedures 

for Handling of Discrimination 

Complaints Under Section 806 of the 

Corporate and Criminal Fraud 

Accountability Act of 2002 (Title VIII of 

the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002); 29 CFR 

part 1981, Procedures for the Handling 

of Discrimination Complaints under 

Section 6 of the Pipeline Safety and 

Improvement Act of 2002; 29 CFR part 

1982, Procedures for the Handling of 

Retaliation Complaints Under the 

National Transit Systems Security Act 

and the Federal Railroad Safety Act; 29 

CFR part 1983, Procedures for the 

Handling of Retaliation Complaints 

Under Section 219 of the Consumer 

Product Safety Improvement Act of 

2008; 29 CFR part 1984, Procedures for 

Handling of Retaliation Complaints 

Under Section 1558 of the Affordable 

Care Act; 29 CFR part 1985, Procedures 

for Handling Retaliation Complaints 

Under the Employee Protection 

Provision of the Consumer Financial 

Protection Act of 2010; 29 CFR part 

1986, Procedures for the Handling of 

Retaliation Complaints Under the 

Employee Protection Provision of the 

Seaman’s Protection Act (SPA), as 

Amended; and 29 CFR part 1987, 

Procedures for Handling Retaliation 

Complaints Under Section 402 of the 

FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. 

In addition, OSHA investigates 

complaints of retaliation filed under the 

recently-enacted whistleblower 

provision Section 31307 of the Moving 

Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century 

Act, 49 U.S.C. 30171. This statutory 

provision is included in the existing 

ICR. Collections of information 

contained in future regulations 

promulgated by the Agency with respect 

to a whistleblower provision of any 

other Federal law, except those that are 

assigned to another DOL agency, will be 

added to this information collection. 

OSHA’s whistleblower regulations 

specify the procedures that an employee 

must use to file a complaint alleging 

that their employer violated a 

whistleblower provision for which the 

Agency has investigative responsibility. 

Any employee who believes that such a 

violation occurred may file a complaint, 

or have the complaint filed on their 

behalf. Two of these regulations, 29 CFR 

parts 1979 and 1981, state that 

complaints must be filed in writing and 

should include a full statement of the 

acts and omissions, with pertinent 

dates, that the employee believes 

constitute the violation. The other 

regulations, 29 CFR parts 24, 1977, 

1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 

1986, and 1987 require no particular 

form of filing for complaints. However, 

it is OSHA’s policy to accept complaints 

in any form (i.e., orally or in writing) 

under all statutes. This policy helps 

ensure that employees of all 

circumstances and education levels will 

have equal access to the complaint filing 

process. 

OSHA proposes to revise this ICR to 

include revisions to the electronic 

complaint form, titled, ‘‘Notice of 

Whistleblower Complaint’’ (OSHA8– 

60.1), that will streamline the process 

for employees to submit complaints of 

retaliation to OSHA electronically 

directly through the Internet. The 

revisions to the form will not impact 

workers’ ability to electronically submit 

whistleblower complaints directly to 

OSHA 24-hours a day, which provides 

workers with greater flexibility for 

meeting statutory filing deadlines. 

Additionally, the revised form includes 

interactive features which make the 

form easier for an employee to 

understand and complete. By 

streamlining the Agency’s electronic 

complaint filing process, the revised 

form will reduce the Agency’s 

complaint processing time, which will 

improve the quality of the customer 

service that the Agency can offer the 

public. 

II. Special Issues for Comment 

OSHA has a particular interest in 

comments on the following issues: 

• Whether the proposed collections of 

information are necessary for the proper 

performance of the Agency’s functions, 

including whether the information is 

useful; 

• The accuracy of OSHA’s estimate of 

the burden (time and costs) of the 

collections of information, including the 

validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; 

• The quality, utility, and clarity of 

the information collected; and 

• Ways to minimize the burden on 

individuals who must comply; for 

example, by using automated or other 

technological information collection 

and transmission techniques. 

III. Proposed Actions 

OSHA is requesting that OMB 

approve the proposed extension and 

revision of the collections of 

information contained in OSHA’s 

statutory authorities and the regulations 

containing procedures for handling 

retaliation complaints at 29 CFR parts 

24, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 

1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987.1

Specifically, this revision contains a 

revised information collection 

instrument, a form, which employees 

may use to file complaints. In addition, 

OSHA is requesting an adjustment 

increase in burden hours from 2,872 

burden hours to 7,516 burden hours (a 

total increase of 4,644 hours). The 

adjustment increase is due to updated 

investigation data, which includes the 

number of complaints investigated as 

well as screened out complaints. The 

updated data shows an increase in the 

annual number of complaints filed. The 

Agency will summarize the comments 

submitted in response to this notice, 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 31 / Wednesday, February 17, 2016 / Notices 8105 

and will include this summary in the 

request to OMB. 

Type of Review: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Title: Regulations Containing 

Procedures for Handling Retaliation 

Complaints. 

OMB Number: 1218–0236. 

Affected Public: Individuals. 

Number of Respondents: 7,516. 

Frequency of Response: Once per 

complaint. 

Average Time per Response: 1 hour. 

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 7,516. 

Estimated Cost (Operation and 

Maintenance): $0. 

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. All 

comments, attachments, and other 

material must identify the Agency name 

and the OSHA docket number for the 

ICR (Docket No. OSHA–2012–0026). 

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 your 

electronic comments by your name, 

date, and the docket number so the 

Agency can attach them to your 

comments. 

Because of security procedures, the 

use of regular mail may cause a 

significant delay in the receipt of 

comments. For information about 

security procedures concerning the 

delivery of materials by hand, express 

delivery, messenger or courier service, 

please contact the OSHA Docket Office 

at (202) 693–2350, (TTY (877) 889– 

5627). 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 Web site. 

All submissions, including copyrighted 

material, are available for inspection 

and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. 

Information on using the http://

www.regulations.gov Web site to submit 

comments and access the docket is 

available at the Web site’s ‘‘User Tips’’ 

link. Contact the OSHA Docket Office 

for information about materials not 

available through the Web site, and for 

assistance in using the Internet to locate 

docket submissions. 

V. Authority and Signature 

David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, 

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 February 11, 

2016. 

David Michaels, 

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational 

Safety and Health. 

[FR Doc. 2016–03259 Filed 2–16–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–26–P 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

[Notice: (16–015)] 

NASA Advisory Council; Science 

Committee; Astrophysics 

Subcommittee; Meeting 

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public 

Law 92–463, as amended, the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration 

(NASA) announces a meeting of the 

Astrophysics Subcommittee of the 

NASA Advisory Council (NAC). This 

Subcommittee reports to the Science 

Committee of the NAC. The meeting 

will be held for the purpose of 

soliciting, from the scientific 

community and other persons, scientific 

and technical information relevant to 

program planning. 

DATES: Tuesday, March 15, 2016, 8:00 

a.m.–5:00 p.m., and Wednesday, March 

16, 2016, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Local 

Time. 

ADDRESSES: NASA Headquarters, Room 

3H42, 300 E Street SW., Washington, DC 

20546. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Ann Delo, Science Mission Directorate, 

NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 

20546, (202) 358–0750, fax (202) 358– 

2779, or ann.b.delo@nasa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

meeting will be open to the public up 

to the capacity of the room. This 

meeting will also be available 

telephonically and by WebEx. Any 

interested person may call the USA toll 

free conference call number 1–888–995– 

9162, passcode 2991610, on both days. 

The WebEx link is https:// 

nasa.webex.com/; the meeting number 

on March 15 is 992 641 163, password 

is Astrophysics!1; and the meeting 

number on March 16 is 999 231 439, 

password is Astrophysics!1. 

The agenda for the meeting includes 

the following topics: 

—Astrophysics Division Update, 

including Budget Updates from the 

FY2016 Appropriation and FY2017 

President’s Budget Request 

—Updates on Specific Astrophysics 

Missions 

—Reports from the Program Analysis 

Groups 

—Report on NASA Earth and Space 

Science Fellows Program 

Attendees will be requested to sign a 

register and to comply with NASA 

security requirements, including the 

presentation of a valid picture ID to 

Security before access to NASA 

Headquarters. Due to the Real ID Act, 

Public Law 109–13, any attendees with 

drivers licenses issued from noncompliant states/territories must present 

a second form of ID. [Federal employee 

badge; passport; active military 

identification card; enhanced driver’s 

license; U.S. Coast Guard Merchant 

Mariner card; Native American tribal 

document; school identification 

accompanied by an item from LIST C 

(documents that establish employment 

authorization) from the ‘‘List of the 

Acceptable Documents’’ on Form I–9]. 

Non-compliant states/territories are: 

American Samoa, Illinois, Minnesota, 

Missouri, New Mexico and Washington. 

Foreign nationals attending this meeting 

will be required to provide a copy of 

their passport and visa in addition to 

providing the following information no 

less than 10 working days prior to the 

meeting: full name; gender; date/place 

of birth; citizenship; visa information 

(number, type, expiration date); 

passport information (number, country, 

expiration date); employer/affiliation 

information (name of institution, 

address, country, telephone); title/ 

position of attendee; and home address 

to Ann Delo via email at 

ann.b.delo@nasa.gov or by fax at (202) 

358–2779. U.S. citizens and Permanent 

Residents (green card holders) are 

requested to submit their name and 

affiliation 3 working days prior to the 

meeting to Ann Delo. It is imperative 

that this meeting be held on these dates 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES