60358 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 198 / Friday, October 10, 2008 / Notices 

9821 (voice), or (202) 693–9801 

(facsimile). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Contact the employee listed in the 

ADDRESSES section of this notice. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Noise is one of the most pervasive 

health hazards in mining. Exposure to 

hazardous sound levels results in the 

development of occupational noiseinduced hearing loss (NIHL), a serious 

physical, psychological, and social 

problem. NIHL can be distinguished 

from aging and medical factors, 

diagnosed, and prevented. NIHL is 

among the ‘‘top ten’’ leading 

occupational diseases and injuries. 

For many years, the risk of acquiring 

an NIHL was accepted as an inevitable 

consequence associated with mining 

occupations. Miners use mechanized 

equipment and work under conditions 

that often expose them to hazardous 

sound levels. But MSHA standards, 

OSHA standards, military standards, 

and others around the world have been 

established in recognition of the 

controllability of this risk. Records of 

miner exposures are necessary so that 

mine operators and MSHA can evaluate 

the need for and effectiveness of 

engineering controls, administrative 

controls, and personal protective 

equipment to protect miners from 

harmful levels of exposure. 

II. Desired Focus of Comments 

Currently, the Mine Safety and Health 

Administration (MSHA) is soliciting 

comments concerning the proposed 

extension of the information collection 

related to the Noise Exposure 

Assessment; Audiometric Testing, 

Evaluation, and Records and Training in 

all Mines. MSHA is particularly 

interested in comments that: 

• Evaluate whether the collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

• Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

collection of information, including the 

validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; 

• Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and 

• Minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including through the 

use of appropriate automated, 

electronic, mechanical, or other 

technological collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology, 

e.g., permitting electronic submissions 

of responses. 

A copy of the proposed information 

collection request can be obtained by 

contacting the employee listed in the 

ADDRESSES section of this notice or 

viewed on the internet by accessing the 

MSHA home page (http:// 

www.msha.gov/) and selecting ‘‘Rules 

and Regs’’, and then selecting ‘‘Fed Reg 

Docs.’’ 

III. Current Actions 

Records of miner exposures are 

necessary so that mine operators and 

MSHA can ensure that engineering 

controls, administrative controls, and 

personal protective equipment are used 

to protect miners from harmful levels of 

exposure. However, the Agency believes 

that extensive records for this purpose 

now maintained by the coal mining 

sector are not needed, Part 62 replaced 

these requirements with a performanceoriented approach to monitoring. The 

final rule expanded notification of 

exposure information to miners to assist 

them in becoming more active 

participants in hearing conservation 

efforts. 

Hearing tests of miners are offered 

and if a miner takes the test mine 

operators are required to compile and 

maintain a record of each audiometric 

test. Detection of a hearing loss can 

trigger certain protective actions under 

Part 62. The record will be used by mine 

operators and MSHA to verify that the 

testing was done and the required 

actions implemented. Part 62 also 

requires the mine operator to provide 

training to overexposed miners about 

the hazards of noise exposure, hearing 

protector selection and use, the hearing 

test program, and the operator’s noise 

controls. Records of training are needed 

to confirm that miners receive the 

information they need to become active 

participants in hearing conservation 

efforts. There is no existing requirement 

for such records; however, training 

records required under other MSHA 

regulations are used for similar 

purposes. 

Type of Review: Extension. 

Agency: Mine Safety and Health 

Administration. 

Title: Noise exposure assessment; 

audiometric testing, evaluation, and 

records and training in all mines. 

OMB Number: 1219–0120. 

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit institutions. 

Respondents: 14,726. 

Responses: 764,753. 

Burden Hours: 84,146. 

Total Burden Cost (operating/ 

maintaining): $5,472,084. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and/or 

included in the request for Office of 

Management and Budget approval of the 

information collection request; they will 

also become a matter of public record. 

Dated at Arlington, Virginia, this 2nd day 

of October 2008. 

David L. Meyer, 

Director, Office of Administration and 

Management. 

[FR Doc. E8–24038 Filed 10–9–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–43–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration 

[Docket No. OSHA–2008–0002] 

National Advisory Committee on 

Occupational Safety and Health 

(NACOSH), Charter Renewal 

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration (OSHA), Labor. 

ACTION: Notice of renewal of the 

NACOSH charter. 

SUMMARY: The Secretary of Labor has 

renewed the charter of the National 

Advisory Committee on Occupational 

Safety and Health (NACOSH) for two 

years. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Deborah Crawford, OSHA Directorate of 

Evaluation and Analysis, Room N–3641, 

U.S. Department of Labor, 200 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20210; telephone (202) 693–1932. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NACOSH 

was established by Section 7(a) of the 

Occupational Safety and Health Act of 

1970 (the Act) (29 U.S.C. 651, 656) to 

advise, consult with, and make 

recommendations to the Secretary of 

Labor and the Secretary of Health and 

Human Services on matters relating to 

the administration of the Act. Under the 

Act, Congress intended NACOSH to be 

a continuing advisory committee of 

indefinite duration. 

NACOSH operates in accordance with 

the Federal Advisory Committee Act 

(FACA) (5 U.S.C. App. 2) and OSHA’s 

regulations on advisory committees (29 

CFR parts 1912 and 1912a). Pursuant to 

FACA and its implementing regulations 

(41 CFR 102–3), the NACOSH charter 

must be renewed every two years. The 

current charter expires on January 29, 

2009. The Secretary has determined that 

renewing the NACOSH charter is 

necessary and in the public interest. The 

new Committee charter will expire two 

years from the date it is filed. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 198 / Friday, October 10, 2008 / Notices 60359 

To read or download a copy of the 

new NACOSH charter, go to Docket No. 

OSHA–2008–0002 at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal. The charter also is 

available for inspection and copying at 

the OSHA Docket Office, N–2625, U.S. 

Department of Labor, 200 Constitution 

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; 

telephone (202) 693–2350. In addition, 

the charter may be viewed or 

downloaded at the Federal Advisory 

Committees Database at http:// 

www.fido.gov. 

Authority and Signature 

Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., Assistant 

Secretary of Labor for Occupational 

Safety and Health, directed the 

preparation of this notice under the 

authority granted by Sections 6(b) and 

7(a) of the Occupational Safety and 

Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655, 656), 

the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

U.S.C. App. 2), 29 CFR parts 1912 and 

1912a, 41 CFR 102–3, and Secretary of 

Labor’s Order 5–2007 (72 FR 31160). 

Signed at Washington, DC this 6th day of 

October 2008. 

Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., 

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational 

Safety and Health. 

[FR Doc. E8–24189 Filed 10–9–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–26–P 

MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE 

CORPORATION 

[MCC FR 08–15] 

Report on the Criteria and 

Methodology for Determining the 

Eligibility of Candidate Countries for 

Millennium Challenge Account 

Assistance in Fiscal Year 2009 

AGENCY: Millennium Challenge 

Corporation. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This report to Congress is 

provided in accordance with section 

608(b) of the Millennium Challenge Act 

of 2003, 22 U.S.C.A. 7701, 7707(b) (the 

‘‘Act’’). 

Dated: October 7, 2008. 

Henry Pitney, 

(Acting) Vice President and General Counsel, 

Millennium Challenge Corporation. 

Report on the Criteria and Methodology 

for Determining the Eligibility of 

Candidate Countries for Millennium 

Challenge Account Assistance in Fiscal 

Year 2009 Summary 

This report to Congress is provided in 

accordance with section 608(b) of the 

Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, 22 

U.S.C.A. 7701, 7707(b) (the Act). 

The Act authorizes the provision of 

Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) 

assistance to countries that enter into 

compacts with the United States to 

support policies and programs that 

advance the prospects of such countries 

achieving lasting economic growth and 

poverty reduction. The Act requires the 

Millennium Challenge Corporation 

(MCC) to take a number of steps in 

determining the countries that, based on 

their demonstrated commitment to just 

and democratic governance, economic 

freedom and investing in their people, 

and the opportunity to reduce poverty 

and generate economic growth in the 

country, will be eligible for MCA 

assistance during fiscal year 2009 

(FY09). These steps include the 

submission of reports to the 

congressional committees specified in 

the Act and the publication of notices in 

the Federal Register that identify: 

1. The countries that are ‘‘candidate 

countries’’ for MCA assistance during 

FY09 based on their per-capita income 

levels and their eligibility to receive 

assistance under U.S. law, and countries 

that would be candidate countries but 

for specified legal prohibitions on 

assistance (section 608(a) of the Act); 

2. The criteria and methodology that 

the Board of Directors of MCC (the 

Board) will use to measure and evaluate 

the relative policy performance of the 

candidate countries consistent with the 

requirements of section 607 of the Act 

in order to select ‘‘MCA eligible 

countries’’ from among the ‘‘candidate 

countries’’ (section 608(b) of the Act); 

and 

3. The list of countries determined by 

the Board to be ‘‘MCA eligible 

countries’’ for FY09, with justification 

for eligibility determination and 

selection for compact negotiation, 

including which of the MCA eligible 

countries the Board will seek to enter 

into MCA compacts (section 608(d) of 

the Act). 

This report sets out the criteria and 

methodology to be applied in 

determining eligibility for new partner 

countries for FY09 MCA assistance. 

The Criteria and Methodology for FY09 

MCC reviews all of its indicators and 

methodology annually to ensure that the 

best measures are being used and, from 

time to time, recommends changes or 

refinements if MCC identifies better 

methodologies, better indicators, or 

improved sources of data. MCC takes 

into account public comments received 

on the previous year’s criteria and 

methodology and consults with a broad 

range of experts in the development 

community and within the U.S. 

Government. 

MCC recommends no changes to the 

selection criteria and methodology for 

this fiscal year. 

Potential Future Changes 

Since FY07, MCC has pursued 

research and consultation to explore the 

possibility of adopting a new education 

indicator in the Investing in People 

category. However, MCC was unable to 

identify an indicator that would 

significantly strengthen the selection 

criteria in FY09. MCC will continue to 

explore potential measures. Over the 

last fifteen years, much attention has 

been focused on enrolling and keeping 

more children in school, but not 

necessarily on enhancing the quality of 

education. With the support of the 

World Bank, USAID, UNESCO, the 

Basic Education Coalition, and others, 

efforts are currently underway to 

develop cross-country measures of 

learning outcomes, educational quality, 

and governments’ commitment to 

improving educational quality. 

However, these efforts are still under 

development and there are currently no 

education quality indicators that are 

viable for MCC purposes at this time. In 

assessing new indicators, MCC favors 

those that: (1) Are developed by an 

independent third party; (2) utilize 

objective and high quality data that rely 

upon an analytically rigorous 

methodology; (3) are publicly available; 

(4) have broad country coverage; (5) are 

comparable across countries; (6) have a 

clear theoretical or empirical link to 

economic growth and poverty 

reduction; (7) are policy linked (i.e., 

measure factors that governments can 

influence within a two to three year 

horizon); and (8) have broad consistency 

in results from year to year. 

Many of MCC’s candidate countries in 

the lower middle income category have 

realized substantial success in achieving 

high levels of performance on select 

Investing in People indicators. MCC will 

explore options for alternative measures 

of an Investing in People policy 

framework that do a better job of 

distinguishing among high performers 

to incorporate in future fiscal years for 

the lower middle income countries. 

Several of MCC’s early compacts are 

due to conclude within the next two 

years. MCC will review whether the 

selection criteria and methodology 

should be modified when applied to 

selecting a country as eligible for a 

second compact. 

Criteria and Methodology 

The Board will select eligible 

countries based on the following, among 

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