Electrical Standards for Construction and General Industry; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of the Information Collection (Paperwork) Requirements

Federal Register, Volume 79 Issue 211 (Friday, October 31, 2014)

Federal Register Volume 79, Number 211 (Friday, October 31, 2014)

Notices

Pages 64838-64840

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office www.gpo.gov

FR Doc No: 2014-25941

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Docket No. OSHA-2011-0187

Electrical Standards for Construction and General Industry; 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 comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: OSHA solicits public comments concerning its request for an extension of the information collection requirements contained in the Electrical Standards for Construction (29 CFR part 1926, subpart K) and the Electrical Standards for General Industry (29 CFR part 1910, subpart S). The Standards address safety procedures for installation and maintenance of electric utilization equipment that prevent death and serious injuries among construction and general industry workers in the workplace caused by electrical hazards.

DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by December 30, 2014.

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 a copy of your comments and attachments to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. OSHA-2011-0187, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 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

Page 64839

docket number (OSHA-2011-0187) 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 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:

1. 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 accord 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 OSH 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). The OSH Act also requires that OSHA obtain such information with minimum burden upon employers, especially those operating small businesses, and to reduce to the maximum extent feasible unnecessary duplication of efforts in obtaining information (29 U.S.C. 657).

   The information collection requirements specified by the Electrical Standards for Construction and the Electrical Standards for General Industry alert workers to the presence and types of electrical hazards in the workplace, thereby preventing serious injury and death by electrocution. The information collection requirements in these Standards involve the following: The employer using electrical equipment that is marked with the manufacturer's name, trademark, or other descriptive markings that identify the producer of the equipment, and marking the equipment with the voltage, current, wattage, or other ratings necessary; requiring each disconnecting means for motors and appliances to be marked legibly to indicate its purpose, unless located and arranged so the purpose is evident; requiring the entrances to rooms and other guarded locations containing exposed live parts to be marked with conspicuous warning signs forbidding unqualified persons from entering; and, for construction employers only, establishing and implementing the assured equipment grounding conductor program instead of using ground-fault circuit interrupters.

2. Special Issues for Comment

   OSHA has a particular interest in comments on the following issues:

   Whether the proposed information collection requirements 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 cost) of the information collection requirements, 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 employers who must comply; for example, by using automated or other technological information collection and transmission techniques.

3. Proposed Actions

   OSHA is proposing an adjustment increase to the existing burden hours from 170,098 to 220,849 for the Electrical Standards for Construction and for General Industry, a total increase of 50,751 hours. The cost of the labels remains the same at $3.75 each, however, the cost of caution and warning signs increased to $10.95 6.95, a total increase of $4.00 each. The total cost over a five-year period to the employer is $18,863,802 (or $3,772,760 per year). The Agency will summarize any comments submitted in response to this notice, and will include this summary in the request to OMB to extend the approval of the information collection requirements contained in these Standards.

   Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

   Title: Electrical Standards for Construction (29 CFR part 1926, subpart K) and for General Industry (29 CFR part 1910, subpart S).

   OMB Control Number: 1218-0130.

   Affected Public: Business or other for-profits; Not-for-profit institutions; Federal Government; State, local, or tribal governments.

   Number of Respondents: 652,902.

   Frequency of Response: Occasionally.

   Total Responses: 3,041,060.

   Average Time per Response: Varies from three minutes (.08 hour) to post and construct each sign to four hours for a certified electrical engineer to document a hazardous classified location.

   Estimated Total Burden Hours: 220,849.

   Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $3,772,760.

4. 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 (Docket No. OSHA-2011-0187) for the ICR. 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).

   Page 64840

   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 from 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 from the Web site, and for assistance in using the Internet to locate docket submissions.

5. 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 October 28, 2014.

   David Michaels,

   Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.

   FR Doc. 2014-25941 Filed 10-30-14; 8:45 am

   BILLING CODE 4510-26-P