Document ID: OSHA-2006-0028-0010
Agency: osha
Document Type: Notice
Title: Expansion of Scope of NRTL Recognition of MET Laboratories, Inc.; Correction of Scope of NRTL Recognition of FM Approvals, LLC. Action: Notice
Posted Date: 2010-12-13T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 238 (Monday, December 13, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77671-77673]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-31190]

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket Nos. OSHA-2006-0028, OSHA-2007-0041]

Expansion of the Scope of NRTL Recognition of MET Laboratories, 
Inc.; Correction of the Scope of NRTL Recognition of FM Approvals, LLC

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration's final decision expanding the recognition of MET 
Laboratories, Inc., as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory 
(NRTL) under 29 CFR 1910.7. This notice also proposes a correction to 
the scope of recognition of FM Approvals, LLC.

DATES: The expansion of recognition of MET Laboratories, Inc., becomes 
effective on December 13, 2010. For the FM Approvals, LLC, correction, 
submit information or comments, or any request for extension of the 
time to comment, on or before December 28, 2010. All submissions must 
bear a postmark or provide other evidence of the submission date. Do 
not submit comments or other responses regarding the expansion of 
recognition of MET Laboratories, Inc.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments by any of the following methods:
    Electronically: Submit comments electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Follow 
the instructions online for making electronic submissions.
    Fax: If submissions, including attachments, are no longer than 10 
pages, commenters may fax them to the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-
1648.
    Mail, hand delivery, express mail, or messenger or courier service: 
Submit one copy of the comments to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. 
OSHA-2007-0041, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210. Deliveries (hand, express mail, and 
messenger and courier service) are accepted during the Department of 
Labor's and Docket Office's normal business hours, 8:15 a.m.-4:45 p.m., 
e.t.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and the 
OSHA docket number (i.e., OSHA-2007-0041). OSHA will place all 
submissions, including any personal information provided, in the public 
docket without revision, and these submissions will be made available 
online at http://www.regulations.gov.
    Docket: To read or download submissions 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 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 Web site. All submissions, including copyrighted material, 
are available for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office.
    Extension of comment period: Submit requests for an extension of 
the comment period on or before December 28, 2010 to the Office of 
Technical Programs and Coordination Activities, NRTL Program, 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of 
Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N-3655, Washington, DC 20210, 
or by fax to (202) 693-1644.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: MaryAnn Garrahan, Director, Office of 
Technical Programs and Coordination Activities, NRTL Program, 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of 
Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N-3655, Washington, DC 20210, 
or phone (202) 693-2110.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Notice of Final Decision

    The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) hereby 
gives notice that it is expanding recognition of MET Laboratories, 
Inc., (MET) as an NRTL. MET's expansion covers the use of additional 
test standards. OSHA's current scope of recognition for MET is in the 
following informational Web page: http://www.osha.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/met.html.
    OSHA recognition of an NRTL signifies that the organization has met 
the legal requirements specified in 29 CFR 1910.7. Recognition is an 
acknowledgment that the organization can perform independent safety 
testing and certification of the specific products covered within its 
scope of recognition, and is not a delegation or grant of government 
authority. As a result of recognition, employers may use products 
approved by the NRTL to meet OSHA standards that require product 
testing and certification.
    The Agency processes applications by an NRTL for initial 
recognition, or for expansion or renewal of this recognition, following 
requirements in Appendix A to 29 CFR 1910.7. This appendix requires 
that the Agency publish two notices in the Federal Register in 
processing such an application. In the first notice, OSHA announces the 
application and provides its preliminary finding and, in the second 
notice, the Agency provides its final decision on the application. 
These notices set forth the NRTL's scope of recognition or 
modifications of that scope. OSHA maintains an informational Web page 
for each NRTL that details its scope of recognition. These pages are 
available from the Web site at http://www.osha.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/index.html. Each NRTL's scope of recognition has three elements: (1) 
The type of products the NRTL may test, with each type specified by its 
applicable test standard; (2) the recognized site(s) that has/have the 
technical capability to perform the testing and certification 
activities for test standards within the NRTL's scope; and (3) the 
supplemental program(s) that the NRTL may use, each of which allows the 
NRTL to rely on other parties to perform activities necessary for 
product testing and certification.
    MET submitted two applications, dated October 6 and November 3, 
2008, to expand its recognition to include 18 additional test 
standards. (Exs. 2 and 3--MET expansion applications dated 10/6/2008 
and 11/3/2008.) The NRTL Program staff determined that these standards 
are ``appropriate test

[[Page 77672]]

standards'' within the meaning of 29 CFR 1910.7(c). In connection with 
this request, NRTL Program staff did not perform any on-site review of 
MET's recognized site. The staff only performed a comparability 
analysis,\1\ and recommended expansion of MET's recognition to include 
the 12 test standards listed below. The Agency published a preliminary 
notice announcing the expansion application in the Federal Register on 
July 28, 2010 (75 FR 44289). OSHA requested comments on the notice by 
August 12, 2010; OSHA received no comments in response to this notice. 
OSHA now is proceeding with this final notice to grant MET's expansion 
application.
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    \1\ This analysis involves determining whether the testing and 
evaluation requirements of test standards already in an NRTL's scope 
are comparable to the requirements in the standards requested by the 
NRTL.
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    All public documents pertaining to the MET application are 
available for review by contacting the Docket Office, Occupational 
Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N-2625, Washington, DC 20210. These 
materials also are available online at http://www.regulations.gov under 
Docket No. OSHA-2006-0028.

Final Decision and Order

    NRTL Program staff examined MET's application, the comparability 
analysis, and other pertinent information. Based on this examination 
and the analysis, OSHA finds that MET meets the requirements of 29 CFR 
1910.7 for expansion of its recognition, subject to the limitation and 
conditions specified below. Pursuant to the authority granted by 29 CFR 
1910.7, OSHA hereby expands the recognition of MET, subject to this 
limitation and these conditions.

Limitation

    OSHA limits the expansion of MET's recognition to testing and 
certification of products for demonstration of conformance to the 
following test standards, each of which OSHA determines is an 
appropriate test standard within the meaning of 29 CFR 1910.7(c):

UL 244A Solid State Controls for Appliances
UL 412 Refrigeration Unit Coolers
*UL 458 Power Converters/Inverters and Power Converter/Inverter Systems 
for Land Vehicles and Marine Crafts
UL 466 Electric Scales
UL 561 Floor-Finishing Machines
UL 1230 Amateur Movie Lights
UL 1278 Movable and Wall or Ceiling Hung Electric Room Heaters
UL 1594 Sewing and Cutting Machines
UL 1795 Hydromassage Bathtubs
UL 1951 Electric Plumbing Accessories
UL 1996 Electric Duct Heaters
UL 2021 Fixed and Location Dedicated Electric Room Heaters

    *OSHA approves this standard for testing and certification of 
products for use within recreational vehicles and mobile homes.

The designations and titles of these test standards were current at the 
time of the preparation of this notice.
    OSHA limits recognition of any NRTL for a particular test standard 
to equipment or materials (i.e., products) for which OSHA standards 
require third-party testing and certification before use of the product 
in the workplace. Consequently, if a test standard also covers any 
product for which OSHA does not require such testing and certification, 
an NRTL's scope of recognition does not include that product.
    The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) may approve the 
test standards listed above as American National Standards. However, 
for convenience, we may use the designation of the standards-developing 
organization for the standard as opposed to the ANSI designation. Under 
the NRTL Program's policy (see OSHA Instruction CPL 1-0.3, Appendix C, 
paragraph XIV), any NRTL recognized for a particular test standard may 
use either the proprietary version of the test standard or the ANSI 
version of that standard. Contact ANSI to determine whether a test 
standard is currently ANSI-approved.

Conditions

    MET also must abide by the following conditions of the recognition, 
in addition to those conditions already required by 29 CFR 1910.7:
    1. MET must allow access to its facilities and records to ascertain 
continuing compliance with the terms of its recognition, and to perform 
investigations as OSHA deems necessary;
    2. If MET has reason to doubt the efficacy of any test standard it 
is using under this program, it must promptly inform the test standard-
developing organization of this concern, and provide that organization 
with appropriate relevant information upon which it bases its concern;
    3. MET must not engage in, or permit others to engage in, any 
misrepresentation of the scope or conditions of its recognition. As 
part of this condition, MET agrees that it will allow no representation 
that it is either a recognized or an accredited NRTL without clearly 
indicating the specific equipment or material to which this recognition 
applies, and also clearly indicating that its recognition is limited to 
specific products;
    4. MET must inform OSHA as soon as possible, in writing, of any 
change of ownership, facilities, or key personnel, and of any major 
changes in its operations as an NRTL, including details of these 
changes;
    5. MET will meet all the terms of its recognition, and will always 
comply with all OSHA policies pertaining to this recognition; and
    6. MET will continue to meet the requirements for recognition in 
all areas covered by its scope of recognition.

Correction to FM Approvals Scope of Recognition

    On October 25, 2010, OSHA published a notice (75 FR 65521) to 
expand the recognition of FM Approvals, LLC (FM). One of the standards 
added to FM's scope was UL 484 (Air Room Air Conditioners). Subsequent 
to the publication, FM informed OSHA that it instead intended to 
request recognition of UL 464 (Audible Signal Appliances). OSHA 
determined that FM has the capability for this standard, and proposes 
to add it to FM's scope of NRTL recognition.
    OSHA welcomes public comments as to whether FM meets the 
requirements specified by 29 CFR 1910.7 for the proposed correction to 
its scope of recognition as a NRTL. Comments should consist of 
pertinent written documents and exhibits. Commenters needing more time 
to comment must submit a request in writing, stating the reasons for 
the request. OSHA must receive the written request for an extension by 
the due date for comments. OSHA will limit any extension to 30 days 
unless the requester justifies a longer period. OSHA may deny a request 
for an extension if it is not adequately justified. To obtain or review 
copies of the correction to FM's scope of recognition and other 
pertinent documents, and all submitted comments, contact the Docket 
Office, Room N-2625, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 
U.S. Department of Labor, at the above address; these materials also 
are available online at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. 
OSHA-2007-0041.
    The NRTL Program staff will review all timely comments and, after 
addressing the issues raised by these comments, will recommend whether 
to correct FM's scope of recognition. The Assistant Secretary will make 
the final decision on granting the request, and, in

[[Page 77673]]

making this decision, may undertake other proceedings prescribed in 
Appendix A to 29 CFR 1910.7. OSHA will publish a public notice of this 
final decision in the Federal Register. However, because OSHA is only 
correcting the recognition, if OSHA receives no comments, it will add 
the standard to FM's scope without publishing a notice of final 
decision.

Authority and Signature

    David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, Assistant Secretary of Labor for 
Occupational Safety and Health, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20210, directed the preparation of this notice. 
Accordingly, the Agency is issuing this notice pursuant to Sections 
6(b) and 8(g) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 
U.S.C. 655 and 657), Secretary of Labor's Order No. 4-2010 (75 FR 
55355), and 29 CFR part 1911.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on December 8, 2010.
David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2010-31190 Filed 12-10-10; 8:45 am]
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