Cadmium in General Industry Standard; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of the Information-Collection (Paperwork) Requirements

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-1218-0185(2001)]

Cadmium in General Industry Standard; 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 comments.

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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits comments concerning its proposal to decrease the

total burden-hour estimates for, and to extend OMB approval of, the

collection-of-information requirements specified by the Cadmium in

General Industry Standard (29 CFR 1910.1027).\1\ This standard controls

occupational exposure to cadmium, thereby preventing serious disease

(e.g., lung cancer, prostate cancer, kidney disease) and death among

exposed employees.

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\1\ Based on its assessment of the paperwork requirements

contained in this standard, the Agency estimates that the total

burden hours decreased compared to its previous burden-hour

estimate. Under this notice, OSHA is not proposing to revise these

paperwork requirements in any substantive manner, only to decrease

the burden hours imposed by the existing paperwork requirements.

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DATES: Submit written comments on or before December 3, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Docket Office, Docket No.

ICR-1218-0815(2001), OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-2625, 200

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone (202) 693-

2350. Commenters may transmit written comments of 10 pages or less by

facsimile to (202) 693-1648.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Todd Owen, Directorate of Policy,

OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Room

[[Page 50457]]

N-3641, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210; telephone

(202) 693-2444. A copy of the Agency's Information-Collection Request

(ICR) supporting the need for the information collections specified in

the Cadmium in General Industry Standard is available for inspection

and copying in the Docket Office or by requesting a copy from Todd Owen

at (202) 693-2444. For electronic copies of the ICR contact OSHA on the

Internet at http://www.osha.gov/comp-links.html, and select

``Information Collection Requests.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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 cost)

is minimal, collection instruments are understandable, and OSHA's

estimate of the information-collection burden is correct. The

Occupational Safety and Health Act of the 1970 (the Act) 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 information-collection requirements specified in the Cadmium in

General Industry Standard (Sec. 1910.1027; ``the Standard'') protect

employees from the adverse health effects that may result from

occupational exposure to cadmium. The major information-collection

requirements in the Standard include conducting employee exposure

monitoring, notifying employees of their cadmium exposures,

implementing a written compliance program, implementing medical

surveillance of employees, providing examining physicians with specific

information, ensuring that employees receive a copy of their medical-

surveillance results, maintaining employees' exposure-monitoring and

medical-surveillance records for specific periods, and providing access

to these records by OSHA, the National Institute of Occupational Safety

and Health, the employee who is the subject of the records, the

employee's representative, and other designated parties.

II. 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.

III. Proposed Actions

OSHA is requesting to decrease the existing burden-hour estimate

for, and to extend OMB approval of, the collection-of-information

requirements specified by the Standard. In this regard, the Agency is

requesting to decrease the current burden-hour estimate from 148,172

hours to 120,770 hours, a total decrease of 27,402 hours. This decrease

results mainly from removing the burden hours required for employers to

conduct respirator fit testing; the Agency now accounts for these

burden hours under the ICR for the Respiratory Protection Standard

Sec. 1910.134; OMB control number 1218-0099). OSHA will summarize the

comments submitted in response to this notice, and will include this

summary in its request to OMB to extend its approval of these

information-collection requirements.

Type of Review: Extension of currently approved information-

collection requirements.

Title: Cadmium in General industry.

OMB Number: 1218-0185.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit

institutions; Federal Government; State, local, or tribal governments.

Number of Respondents: 53,161.

Frequency of Response: On occasion; semi-annually; annually.

Average Time per Response: Varies from five minutes (.08 hour) for

several provisions (e.g., maintaining an employee's exposure-monitoring

or medical-surveillance record, providing information about an employee

to the physician), to 1.5 hours to review and update a compliance

program or to administer an employee medical examination.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 120,770 hours.

Estimated Cost Operation and Maintenance): $6,190,792.

IV. Authority and Signature

John L. Henshaw, 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), Secretary of Labor's Order No. 3-2000 (65 FR 50017).

Signed at Washington, DC, on September 27th, 2001.

John L. Henshaw,

Assistant Secretary of Labor.

[FR Doc. 01-24700 Filed 10-2-01; 8:45 am]

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