Respiratory Protection; Proposed Rule

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

29 CFR Parts 1910, 1915, and 1926

[Docket No. H-049]

RIN 1218-0099

Respiratory Protection; Proposed Rule

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

ACTION: Extension of date for filing of comments by testifiers.

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SUMMARY: By this document the Occupational Safety and Health

Administration (OSHA) is extending the date for testifiers at the OSHA

hearings to submit comments on the proposed rule from April 14, 1995 to

May 15, 1995, in order to provide additional time for those testifiers

submitting comments.

DATES: Testimony, comments and evidence to be submitted at the hearings

must be postmarked on or before May 15, 1995. Notices of intention to

appear at the hearing were due March 31, 1995. Comments for testifiers

must be postmarked on or before May 15, 1995. The hearing will begin at

9:30 a.m., Tuesday, June 6, 1995 in Washington, DC.

ADDRESSES: Testimony and documentary evidence are to be submitted in

quadruplicate to: Mr. Thomas Hall, OSHA Division of Consumer Affairs,

Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue,

N.W., Room N3649, Washington, D.C. 20210; (202) 219-8615. Testimony and

documentary evidence will be available for inspection and copying in

the Docket Office, Room N2625 at the above address.

Written comments should be submitted in quadruplicate or 1 original

(hardcopy) and 1 disk (5\1/4\ or 3\1/2\) in WordPerfect 5.0, 5.1, 6.0

or ASCII to: Docket Office, Docket H-049, U.S. Department of Labor,

Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Room N2625, 200

Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20210; (202) 219-7894. Any

information not contained on disk, e.g., studies, articles, etc., must

be submitted in quadruplicate.

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: Proposal: Mr. Richard Liblong,

Director, Office of Information and Consumer Affairs, Occupational

Safety and Health Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room

N3647, Washington, D.C. 20210; (202) 219-8151.

Hearings: Mr. Thomas Hall, Division of Consumer Affairs,

Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue,

N.W., Room N3649, Washington, D.C. 20210; (202) 219-8615.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On November 15, 1994, OSHA published a notice of proposed

rulemaking on its respiratory protection standard (59 FR 58884 et

seq.). The proposal is intended to update the current respirator

standard to reflect changes in methodology, technology, and approach

related to respiratory protection that have occurred since the existing

respiratory protection standard was adopted in 1971. [[Page 19193]]

A notice of the extension of the comment period and the

rescheduling of the public hearing was published on January 20, 1995

(60 FR 4132 et seq.). This notice extended the public comment period

for the proposal to April 14, 1995. The date for submitting a notice of

intention to appear at the hearing to testify was extended to March 31,

1995. The public hearings were rescheduled to start on June 6, 1995. On

March 23, 1995 (60 FR 15263) OSHA extended the period to submit

testimony until May 15, 1995.

Extension of Date for Submitting Comments

Several parties who will be testifying at the OSHA hearings have

requested an extension of time to file comments to May 15, 1995 because

they need additional time to prepare comments. Since the period for

submitting testimony has been extended this will not result in further

delays. Accordingly OSHA is extending the time for testifiers to submit

comments until May 15, 1995. The times to submit testimony and the

start of the hearing remain unchanged. See the earlier Federal Register

notices for the hearing procedures.

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 12th day of April, 1995.

Joseph A. Dear,

Assistant Secretary of Labor.

[FR Doc. 95-9434 Filed 4-14-95; 8:45 am]

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