Indoor Air Quality; Proposed Rule

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

29 CFR Parts 1910, 1915, 1926 and 1928

[Docket No. H-122]

RIN 1218-AB37

Indoor Air Quality; Proposed Rule

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

ACTION: Extension of Comment Period and Rescheduling of Public Hearing.

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SUMMARY: By this document, the Occupational Safety and Health

Administration (OSHA) is extending the comment period and dates for

submitting notices of intention to appear, as well as hearing testimony

and evidence, and is postponing the public hearing on the proposed rule

on indoor air quality which was published on April 5, 1994 (59 FR

15968). The comment period was to end on June 29, 1994; public hearings

were scheduled to begin on July 12, 1994. Following publication of the

proposal, thirteen written requests to extend the comment period or

postpone the public hearing were received. As a result of these

requests, OSHA is extending the comment period to August 13, 1994.

Public hearings will be scheduled to begin on September 20, 1994.

DATES: Comments must be postmarked on or before August 13, 1994.

Notices of Intention to Appear at the public hearing must be postmarked

on or before August 5, 1994. Testimony and evidence to be submitted at

the hearing must be postmarked by August 13, 1994. The hearing will

begin at 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, September 20, 1994 in Washington, DC.

ADDRESSES: Comments are to be submitted in quadruplicate or 1 original

(hard copy) and 1 disk (5-1/4 or 3-1/2) in WP 5.0, 5.1, 6.0 or Ascii

to: Docket Office, Docket No. H-122, room N-2625, U. S. Department of

Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; Telephone:

(202) 219-7894. Any information not contained on disk, e.g., studies,

articles, etc., must be submitted in quadruplicate.

Notices of intention to appear and testimony and evidence are to be

submitted in quadruplicate to: Mr. Thomas Hall, Division of Consumer

Affairs, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 200

Constitution Avenue, NW., room N-3649, Washington, DC 20210; Telephone:

(202) 219-8615.

The hearing will be held in the auditorium, of the U.S. Department

of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. James F. Foster, Office of Public

Affairs, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, room N-3649, U.

S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC

20210; Telephone: (202) 219-8151.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On April 5, 1994, OSHA published a notice of proposed rulemaking on

indoor air quality (59 FR 15968 et seq.). The proposal covered a broad

range of issues falling into two major categories: (1) General indoor

air quality as manifested in sick building syndrome and building

related illnesses; and (2) environmental tobacco smoke.

Extension of the Comment Period and Re-scheduling of the Public

Hearings

Thus far OSHA has receive thirteen written requests to extend the

comment period or re-schedule the public hearing to a later date. These

requests have been received from: Business Council on Indoor Air (Exh.

9-121), Law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky, and Walker (Exh. 9-2265),

National Energy Management Institute (Exh. 9-229), Barrera Associates,

Inc. (Exh. 9-539), R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (Exh. 9-540), Clean

Air Device Manufacturers Coalition (Exh. 9-1610), ICF Kaiser

Environment and Energy Group (Exh. 9-1612), Philip Morris (Exh. 9-

2202), Total Indoor Environmental Quality Coalition (Exh. 9-541),

American Nurses Association (Exh. 9-2263), National Licensed Beverage

Association (Exh. 9-2264), United Technologies Carrier (Exh. 9-1613)

and United Air Specialists, Inc (Exh. 9-2288). The requesters believe

that a number of factors including the amount and complexity of

information relied on in the proposal, the desire of interested persons

to submit extensive comments and for various trade associations to

coordinate among their members justify a modest extension of time.

Based on these requests, the Agency has agreed to an extension of the

comment period and has re-scheduled the public hearings to allow more

time for interested persons to adequately prepare their response to the

OSHA proposal. OSHA's rules for participating in its rulemaking were

printed in the proposal (59 FR 16034). All persons interested in

participating in this proceeding are requested to review these rules in

their entirety. For public convenience these procedures are summarized

below.

Notice of Intention to Appear at the Informal Hearing

Pursuant to section 6(b)(3) of the OSH Act, an informal public

hearing will be held on the IAQ proposal in Washington, DC from

September 20 through October 14, 1994. The hearing may be extended if

this period is not adequate to accommodate all those filing valid

notices of intention to appear at the public hearing or the hearing may

be shortened if the schedule is completed earlier.

The hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, September 20, 1994

in the auditorium of the Frances Perkins Building, U.S. Department of

Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210.

Persons desiring to participate at the informal public hearing must

file a notice of intention to appear by August 5, 1994. The notice of

intention to appear must contain the following information:

1. The name, address, and telephone number of each person to

appear;

2. The capacity in which the person will appear;

3. The approximate amount of time required for the presentation;

4. The issues that will be addressed;

5. A brief statement of the position that will be taken with

respect to each issue; and

6. Whether the party intends to submit documentary evidence and, if

so, a brief summary of it.

The notice of intention to appear shall be mailed to Mr. Thomas

Hall, OSHA Division of Consumer Affairs, Docket No. H-122, U. S.

Department of Labor, room N-3647, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20210; Telephone: (202) 219-8615.

A notice of intention to appear may also be transmitted by

facsimile to (202) 219-5986, by the same date, provided that the

original and 3 copies are sent to the same address and postmarked by

the due date.

Individuals with disabilities wishing to attend the hearing should

contact the hearing management officer, Mr. Thomas Hall, to obtain

appropriate accommodations at the hearing.

Filing of Testimony and Evidence Before the Hearing

Any party requesting to appear at the hearing or anyone who intends

to submit documentary evidence, must provide in quadruplicate the

testimony and evidence to be presented at the informal public hearing.

One copy shall not be stapled or bound and must be suitable for

copying. These materials must be provided to Mr. Thomas Hall, OSHA

Division of Consumer Affairs at the address above and must be

postmarked no later than August 13, 1994.

Each submission will be reviewed carefully in light of the amount

of time requested in the notice of intention to appear. In instances

where the information contained in the submission does not justify the

amount of time requested, a more appropriate amount of time will be

allocated and the participant will be notified of that fact prior to

the informal public hearing.

Any party who has not complied with the above requirement may be

denied an opportunity to participate or may be requested to return for

questioning at a later time.

Any party who has not filed a notice of intention to appear may be

allowed to testify for no more than 10 minutes as time permits, at the

discretion of the Administrative Law Judge, but will not be allowed to

question other witnesses. Because of the great amount of interest that

the proposal has generated thus far, there may not be enough time to

accommodate those individuals wishing to make short presentations who

have not filed valid notices of intention to appear; however, efforts

will be made to allow such short presentations.

Notices of intention to appear, testimony and evidence will be

available for inspection and copying at the Docket Office at the

address noted above.

Conduct and Nature of Hearing

The hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. on September 20, 1994. At that

time, any procedural matters relating to the proceeding will be

resolved.

The nature of an informal rulemaking hearing is established in the

legislative history of section 6 of the OSH Act and is reflected by

OSHA's rules of procedure for hearings (29 CFR 1911.15(a)). Although

the presiding officer is an Administrative Law Judge and questioning by

interested persons is allowed on crucial issues, the proceeding is

informal and legislative in nature. The Agency's intent, in essence, is

to provide interested persons with an opportunity to make effective

oral presentation which can proceed expeditiously in the absence of

procedural restraints which impede or protract the rulemaking process.

Additionally, since the hearing is primarily for information

gathering and clarification, it is an informal administrative

proceeding rather than an adjudicative one. The technical rules of

evidence, for example, do not apply. The regulations that govern

hearings (29 CFR part 1911) and the pre-hearing guidelines to be issued

for this hearing will ensure fairness and due process and also

facilitate the development of a clear, accurate and complete record.

These rules and guidelines will be interpreted in a manner that

furthers the development of a clear record. Thus, questions of

relevance, procedure and participation generally will be decided so as

to favor the development of the record.

The hearings will be conducted in accordance with 29 CFR part 1911.

It should be noted that Sec. 1911.4 specifies that the Assistant

Secretary may, upon reasonable notice, issue alternative procedures to

expedite proceedings or for other good cause. The hearing will be

presided over by an Administrative Law Judge who makes no decision or

recommendation on the merits of OSHA's proposal. The responsibility of

the Administrative Law Judge is to ensure that the hearing proceeds at

a reasonable pace and in an orderly manner. The Administrative Law

Judge, therefore, will have all powers necessary and appropriate to

conduct a full and fair informal hearing as provided in 29 CFR Part

1911, including the powers:

1. To regulate the course of the proceedings;

2. To dispose of procedural requests, objections and comparable

matters;

3. To confine the presentations to the matters pertinent to the

issues raised;

4. To regulate the conduct of those present at the hearing by

appropriate means;

5. In the judge's discretion, to question and permit the

questioning of any witness and to limit the time for questioning; and

6. In the Judge's discretion, to keep the record open for a

reasonable, stated time to receive written information and additional

data, views and arguments from any person who has participated in the

oral proceedings.

OSHA recognizes that there may be interested persons or

organizations who, through their knowledge of the subject matter or

their experience in the field, would wish to endorse or support the

whole proposal or certain provisions of the proposal. OSHA welcomes

such supportive comments, including any pertinent data and cost

information which may be available, in order that the record of this

rulemaking will present a balanced picture of the public response on

the issues involved.

Authority and Signature

This document was prepared under the direction of Joseph A. Dear,

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, U. S.

Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC

20210. It is issued pursuant to section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety

and Health Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1593, 29 U.S.C. 655).

Signed at Washington, DC, this 6th day of June 1994.

Joseph A. Dear,

Assistant Secretary of Labor.

[FR Doc. 94-14323 Filed 6-13-94; 8:45 am]

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