Methylene Chloride; Partial Stay

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

29 CFR Part 1910

RIN 1218-AA95

Methylene Chloride; Partial Stay

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA),

Department of Labor.

ACTION: Final rule; partial stay of start-up dates for compliance.

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

SUMMARY: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has

received a motion for reconsideration of certain provisions of its

standard regulating occupational exposure to methylene chloride, 62 FR

1494 (Jan. 10, 1997). The motion, filed jointly by the International

Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers

of America, UAW; the Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance, Inc., and

others, requests, among other things, extensions of the current start-

up dates for installation of engineering controls and use of

respiratory protection for certain employers. It also requests an

interim stay of those compliance dates pending OSHA's ruling on the

motion for reconsideration.

OSHA has preliminarily evaluated the motion for reconsideration

and, based on that evaluation, finds good cause to grant in part the

movants' request for an interim stay of the start-up dates.

Accordingly, for those employers subject to the motion who would

otherwise need to use respiratory protection or install engineering

controls on or before April 10, 1998, OSHA is hereby delaying until

August 31, 1998 the requirement to use respiratory protection to

achieve the 8-hour TWA PEL, and to December 10, 1998 the requirement to

achieve the 8-hour TWA PEL and the STEL through engineering controls.

DATES: The effective date of this partial stay is December 18, 1997.

Under the stay, the start-up date for certain employers to use

respiratory protection to achieve the 8-hour TWA PEL is August 31,

1998, and the start-up date for certain employers to install

engineering controls is December 10, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Bonnie Friedman, Director, OSHA Office of Public Affairs, U.S.

Department of Labor, Room N3647, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW,

Washington, DC 20210, telephone (202) 219-8151.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OSHA published a new methylene chloride (MC)

standard on January 10, 1997 (62 FR 1494). The standard establishes an

8-hour time-weighted-average permissible exposure limit (8-hour TWA

PEL) for MC of 25 per million (ppm). It also sets a short term exposure

limit (STEL) of 125 ppm averaged over a 15 minute period. Employers

must achieve the 8-hour TWA PEL and the STEL, to the extent feasible,

by engineering and work practice controls. If such controls are unable

to achieve the exposure limits, and during the time they are being

implemented, employers must use respirators to protect employees

against excessive MC exposure.

The methylene chloride standard establishes different start-up

dates for employers in different size categories. It requires

compliance with the engineering control requirement by April 10, 2000

for employers with fewer than 20 employees; April 10, 1999 for

polyurethane foam manufacturers with 20 to 99 employees; and April 10,

1998 for all other employers. As originally published, compliance with

the requirement for respiratory protection was required by April 10,

1998 for employers with fewer than 20 employees; January 5, 1998 for

polyurethane foam manufacturers with 20 to 99 employees; and October 7,

1997 for all other employers. OSHA subsequently extended certain start-

up dates, including the requirement for all other employers to use

respiratory protection, to December 21, 1997. (62 FR 54382, Oct. 20,

1997).

On November 24, 1997, OSHA received a joint motion for

reconsideration of certain aspects of the standard from the

International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural

Implement Workers of America, UAW; the Halogenated Solvents Industry

Alliance, Inc.; Benco Sales, Inc.; Brock Woodcraft; Masters Magic

Products, Inc.; Bassco Foam, Inc; and Tupelo Foam Sales, Inc. Among

other things, the movants ask that the compliance dates for

installation of engineering controls and use of respiratory protection

to achieve the 8-hour TWA PEL be extended for employers who use

methylene chloride in certain specific applications. Those applications

are polyurethane foam

[[Page 66276]]

manufacturing; foam fabrication; furniture refinishing; general

aviation aircraft stripping; formulation of products containing

methylene chloride; boat building and repair; recreational vehicle

manufacture; van conversion; upholstery; and use of methylene chloride

in construction work for restoration and preservation of buildings,

painting and paint removal, cabinet making and/or floor refinishing and

resurfacing.

The motion for reconsideration requests that the standard's current

final engineering control start-up date of April 10, 2000, which is now

limited to employers with fewer than 20 employees, also apply to

employers in the specified application groups with 20-49 employees and

foam fabricators with 20-149 employees. According to the parties,

employers in these size categories, like those with fewer than 20

employees, have limited resources with which to develop and implement

engineering controls and will be able to use those resources more

efficiently if given sufficient time to develop and install effective

controls and to take advantage of compliance assistance that OSHA plans

to offer. The motion requests shorter extensions of the engineering

control dates for larger employers in these application groups. The

parties further request that respirator use to achieve the 8-hour TWA

PEL not be required before the engineering control start-up dates for

the employers covered by the motion. The parties assert that it would

better protect workers to enable these employers to concentrate their

resources on implementation of effective engineering controls rather

than divert part of those resources to interim respiratory protection

that would no longer be needed once full compliance with the 8-hour TWA

PEL and STEL is achieved by engineering controls. Unlike for most

substances, inexpensive respirators do not protect against MC

exposures. Thus, the extensions of start-up dates the parties seek are

designed to allow employers to allocate their resources effectively in

developing permanent engineering solutions that will reduce worker MC

exposures to below the 8-hour TWA PEL and STEL.

OSHA generally agrees that worker protection against MC exposure

will best be achieved if employers develop and install effective

engineering controls as soon as practicable. The agency recognizes that

employers require a reasonable amount of time to develop and install

such controls. OSHA's preliminary evaluation of the motion for

reconsideration indicates that the parties have provided good cause for

the extensions they seek. However, the agency intends to further

evaluate the motion and to ask for public comment on it.

In their motion, the parties ask that OSHA temporarily stay the

start-up dates for which they request extensions until OSHA takes final

action on the motion. OSHA finds good cause to grant in part the

movants' request for an interim stay in order to avoid the need for

employers to meet start-up dates that would no longer apply if the

motion is granted. At present, certain start-up dates that would be

extended if the motion is granted take effect on or before April 10,

1998. These include: December 21, 1997 for employers with 20 or more

employees (except polyurethane foam manufacturers with 20-99 employees)

to use respiratory protection to achieve the 8-hour TWA PEL; January 5,

1998 for polyurethane foam manufacturers with 20-99 employees to use

respiratory protection to achieve the 8-hour TWA PEL; April 10, 1999

for employers with fewer than 20 employees to use respiratory

protection to achieve the 8-hour TWA PEL; and April 10, 1998 for

employers with 20 or more employees (except polyurethane foam

manufacturers with 20-99 employees) to install engineering controls to

achieve the 8-hour TWA PEL and STEL. The only start-up dates scheduled

to take effect on or after April 10, 1998 are: April 10, 1999 for

polyurethane foam manufacturers with 20-99 employees to use engineering

controls to achieve the 8-hour TWA PEL and STEL; and April 10, 2000 for

employers with fewer than 20 employees to use engineering controls to

achieve the 8-hour TWA PEL and STEL.

OSHA recognizes that employers should receive a reasonable amount

of notice before the start-up dates for installation of engineering

controls and use of respirators take effect. Accordingly, to assure

that employers who would receive extensions of the start-up dates if

the motion is granted have sufficient notice, OSHA concludes it is

appropriate to extend the start-up dates that would otherwise take

effect on or before April 10, 1998. Accordingly, the agency is (1)

extending the start-up date for all employers subject to the motion to

use respiratory protection to achieve the 8-hour TWA PEL to August 31,

1998; and (2) extending the start-up for employers with 20 or more

employees (except polyurethane foam manufacturers with 20-99 employees)

to install engineering controls to achieve the 8-hour TWA PEL and STEL

to December 10, 1998. To further assure that employers are afforded a

reasonable amount of notice of the date by which they must comply with

these provisions, OSHA may further extend these start-up dates if a

final ruling on the joint motion is not issued sufficiently far in

advance of the August 31, 1998 start-up date for use of respiratory

protection to achieve the 8-hour TWA PEL that is being established by

this partial stay.

The parties request extensions of compliance deadlines only for

installation of engineering controls and for use of respiratory

protection to meet the 8-hour TWA PEL. As their motion points out,

employees exposed to methylene chloride will still receive important

protection from other provisions of the standard even if their motion

is granted. Thus, during the period covered by this partial stay,

employers will, by the start-up dates currently established by the

standard be required to achieve the STEL (by either engineering

controls or respiratory protection, at their option), implement all

feasible work practice controls to reduce methylene chloride exposures,

and comply with all other provisions of the MC standard that are not

being stayed. Moreover, all employers must achieve the prior limits

specified in 29 CFR 1910.1000 Table Z-2 with feasible engineering

controls until the new exposure limits take effect.

OSHA further finds that there is good cause to issue this stay

without notice and public comment because following such procedures

would be impractical, unnecessary or contrary to the public interest in

this case.

Authority and Signature: This document was prepared under the

direction of Charles N. Jeffress, Assistant Secretary of Labor for

Occupational Safety and Health, U.S. Department of Labor, 200

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210.

List of Subjects in 29 CFR Part 1910

Chemicals, Hazardous Substances, Occupational safety and health.

Signed at Washington, DC this 12th day of December 1997.

Charles N. Jeffress,

Assistant Secretary of Labor.

Part 1910 of title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended

as follows:

PART 1910--[AMENDED]

1. The general authority citation for subpart Z of 29 CFR part 1910

continues to read, in part, as follows:

Authority: Sections 4, 6, and 8 of the Occupational Safety and

Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653, 655, and 657); Secretary of

Labor's Order No. 12-71 (36 FR 8754), 8-76

[[Page 66277]]

(41 FR 25059), 9-83 (48 FR 35736), 1-90 (55 FR 9033), or 6-96 (62 FR

111), as applicable; and 29 CFR Part 1911.

* * * * *

2. A note is added after paragraph (o) of Sec. 1910.1052 to read as

follows:

Sec. 1910.1052 Methylene Chloride.

* * * * *

[Note to paragraph (o): The requirement of 29 CFR

1910.1052(g)(1) to use respiratory protection whenever an employee's

exposure to methylene chloride exceeds or can reasonably be expected

to exceed the 8-hour TWA PEL is hereby stayed until August 31, 1998

for employers engaged in polyurethane foam manufacturing; foam

fabrication; furniture refinishing; general aviation aircraft

stripping; formulation of products containing methylene chloride;

boat building and repair; recreational vehicle manufacture; van

conversion; upholstery; and use of methylene chloride in

construction work for restoration and preservation of buildings,

painting and paint removal, cabinet making and/or floor refinishing

and resurfacing.

The requirement of 29 CFR 1910.1052(f)(1) to implement

engineering controls to achieve the 8-hour TWA PEL and STEL is

hereby stayed until December 10, 1998 for employers with more than

100 employees engaged in polyurethane foam manufacturing and for

employers with more than 20 employees engaged in foam fabrication;

furniture refinishing; general aviation aircraft stripping;

formulation of products containing methylene chloride; boat building

and repair; recreational vehicle manufacture; van conversion;

upholstery; and use of methylene chloride in construction work for

restoration and preservation of buildings, painting and paint

removal, cabinet making and/or floor refinishing and resurfacing.]

[FR Doc. 97-33027 Filed 12-17-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510-26-M