[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 163 (Tuesday, August 24, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52034-52035]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-21059]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. OSHA-2010-0039]


Portable Fire Extinguishers (Annual Maintenance Certification 
Record); Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) 
Approval of the Information Collection (Paperwork) Requirements

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.

ACTION: Request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits comments concerning its proposal to extend the 
Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the information 
collection requirements contained in the Portable Fire Extinguishers 
Standard (Annual Maintenance Certification Record) (29 CFR 
1910.157(e)(3)).

DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by 
October 25, 2010.

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 three copies of your comments 
and attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2010-0039, 
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 for the Information Collection Request (ICR) (OSHA-2010-
0039). 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 through the website. All submissions, 
including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and 
copying at the OSHA Docket Office. You may contact Theda Kenney at the 
address below to obtain a copy of the ICR.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 52035]]

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).
    Paragraph (e)(3) of the Standard specifies that employers must 
subject each portable fire extinguisher to an annual maintenance 
inspection and record the date of the inspection. In addition, this 
provision requires employers to retain the inspection record for one 
year after the last entry or for the life of the shell, whichever is 
less, and to make the record available to OSHA on request. This 
recordkeeping requirement assures employees and Agency compliance 
officers that portable fire extinguishers located in the workplace will 
operate normally in case of fire; in addition, this requirement 
provides evidence to OSHA compliance officers during an inspection that 
the employer performed the required maintenance checks on the portable 
fire extinguishers.

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 is requesting that OMB extend its approval of the information 
collection requirements contained in the Portable Fire Extinguishers 
Standard (Annual Maintenance Certification Record) (29 CFR 
1910.157(e)(3)). OSHA is proposing to decrease the burden hours in the 
currently approved information collection request from 69,019 to 67,995 
(a total decrease of 1,024 hours). This decrease is due to updated data 
showing a decrease in the number of fire extinguishers affected by the 
Standard.
    The Agency will summarize the comments submitted in response to 
this notice and will include this summary in the request to OMB.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Title: Portable Fire Extinguishers (Annual Maintenance 
Certification Record) (29 CFR 1910.157(e)(3)).
    OMB Number: 1218-0238.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; Federal Government; 
State, Local, or Tribal Government.
    Number of Respondents: 1,359,900.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Average Time per Response: One minute (.02 hour) to maintain the 
certification records to 30 minutes (.50 hour) to inspect a fire 
extinguisher and to generate and maintain the certification record.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 67,995 hours.
    Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $19,582,560.

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-2010-0039). 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 
date 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 website 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. 5-2007 
(72 FR 31160).

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 16th day of August 2010.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2010-21059 Filed 8-23-10; 8:45 am]
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