Notice of Public Meeting on Review of the Cotton Dust Standard

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

29 CFR Part 1910

[Docket No. H-052-F]

Notice of Public Meeting on Review of the Cotton Dust Standard

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department

of Labor.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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

conducting a review of the Cotton Dust Standard in order to determine,

consistent with Executive Order 12866 on Regulatory Planning and Review

and Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, whether this

standard should be maintained without change, rescinded, or modified in

order to make it more effective or less burdensome in achieving its

objectives, to bring it into better alignment with the objectives of

Executive Order 12866, or to make it more consistent with the

objectives of the Regulatory Flexibility Act to achieve regulatory

goals while imposing as few burdens as possible on small employers.

Written public comments on all aspects of the Cotton Dust Standard

are welcomed. OSHA will also hold two stakeholder meetings that will be

open to the public to provide opportunities for interested parties to

comment on whether the Cotton Dust Standard should be eliminated,

modified, or continued without change to achieve the objectives

described above.

DATES: The first public meeting will be held on July 24, 1998, in

Atlanta, Georgia. The second public meeting will be held on July 30,

1998 in Washington, DC. Both meetings will begin at 9:00 a.m. and will

end at approximately 5:30 p.m. Requests from members of the public to

speak at these meetings should be received by OSHA no later than July

17, 1998, for the meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, and July 23, 1998, for

the meeting in Washington, DC. Written comments must be postmarked by

August 31, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The Atlanta meeting will be held at the Sheraton Gateway

Hotel, Atlanta Airport, 1900 Sullivan Road, College Park, Georgia

30337, Telephone (770) 997-1100, Fax (770) 997-1921.

The Washington, DC meeting will be held in the Auditorium of the

Frances Perkins Building at 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,

DC 20210.

Requests to speak at these public meetings should be sent to

Kathryn Condit, Office of Regulatory Analysis, Directorate of Policy,

Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Room N3627; 200

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210, Telephone (202) 219-

4916, extension 145, Fax (202) 219-4383.

Written comments on the Cotton Dust Standard should be submitted in

quadruplicate to Elaine Bynum, Docket Officer, Docket No. H-052-F, OSHA

Docket Office, Room N2625; 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC

20210, Telephone (202) 219-7894, Fax (202) 219-5046. Comments of 10

pages or fewer may be faxed to (202) 219-5046 as long as paper copies

are subsequently sent.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kathryn Condit, Office of Regulatory Analysis, Directorate of Policy,

Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Room N3627, 200

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210, Telephone (202) 219-

4916, extension 145, Fax (202) 219-4383.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Additional Information Concerning Public Participation

Requests to Speak at the Public Meetings. Requests should identify

the person and organization intending to appear, desired date of

appearance, address and phone and fax number, the amount of time

requested, audiovisual equipment required, and a brief summary of the

comments to be presented. Persons making timely written requests to

speak at the public meetings will be given priority for oral comments,

as time permits. Other persons wishing to speak should register before

the meetings from 8:30 to 9:00 a.m. OSHA will make every effort to

accommodate individuals wishing to speak at the public meetings.

Written Comments. OSHA will review written public comments as part

of the process of conducting this regulatory review of the Cotton Dust

Standard. All comments received will be included in Docket H-052-F and

will be available for public review in the Docket Office.

Additional Information on the Regulatory Review

OSHA has selected the Cotton Dust Standard for review in accordance

with the regulatory review provisions at Section 5 of Executive Order

12866 (58 FR 51735, 51739; Oct. 4, 1993) and Section 610 of the

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). In the event the

Agency determines, based on the results of this review, that the rule

should be rescinded or modified, appropriate rulemaking will be

initiated.

[[Page 34141]]

An important step in the review process involves the gathering and

analysis of information from affected persons about their experience

with the rule and any material changes in circumstances since issuance

of the rule. Comment concerning the following subjects would assist the

Agency in determining whether to retain the standard unchanged or to

initiate rulemaking for the purposes of revision or rescission:

1. The benefits and utility of the rule in its current form and, if

amended, in its amended form;

2. The continued need for the rule;

3. The complexity of the rule;

4. Whether and to what extent the rule overlaps, duplicates, or

conflicts with other Federal, State and local governmental rules;

5. Information on any new developments in technology, economic

conditions, or other factors affecting the ability of affected firms to

comply with the Cotton Dust rule; and

6. Alternatives to the rule or portions of the rule that would

minimize any significant impacts on small businesses while achieving

the objectives of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

Addtional Information on the Cotton Dust Standard

In 1978, OSHA promulgated a health standard for cotton dust (29 CFR

1910.1043) that set new permissible exposure limits for occupational

exposure to cotton dust for the textile industry as well as permissible

exposure limits for several other industries. The basis for this

rulemaking was OSHA's determination that exposure to cotton dust

presents a significant health hazard to employees. Exposure to cotton

dust, which may contain a mixture of many substances, including ground-

up plant matter, bacteria, fungi, soil, pesticides, and other

contaminants, can lead to the chronic respiratory disease known as

byssinosis (``brown lung''), as well as to production or aggravation of

respiratory symptoms characteristic of chronic lung disease, e.g.,

chronic bronchitis, asthma, emphysema and other non-specific diseases.

Since its promulgation in 1978, the Cotton Dust Standard has been

modified on several occasions to conform to court decisions (AFL-CIO v.

Marshall, 617 F.2d 636 (D.C. Cir. 1979); American Textile Manufacturers

Institute, Inc. v. Donovan, 452 U.S. 490 (1981); (50 FR 51120; December

13, 1985). The Cotton Dust Standard Sec. 1910.1043, currently applies

to the control of employee exposure to cotton dust in all workplaces

where employees engage in yarn manufacturing, engage in slashing and

weaving operations, or work in waste houses for textile operations.

The standard establishes a permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 200

micrograms per cubic meter of air (g/m3) as an 8-

hour time weighted average (TWA) for yarn manufacturing and cotton

washing operations, a PEL of 500 g/m3 as an 8-hour

TWA for textile mill waste house operations or exposure to dust from

``lower grade washed cotton'' during yarn manufacturing operations, and

a PEL of 750 g/m3 as an 8-hour TWA for exposure

during slashing and weaving operations (43 FR 27350; June 23, 1978).

The action levels established by the standard are: 100 g/

m3 as an 8-hour TWA for yarn manufacturing and cotton

washing operations, 250 g/m3 as an 8-hour TWA for

textile mill waste house operations, and 375 g/m3

as an 8-hour TWA for exposure during slashing and weaving operations.

The Cotton Dust Standard also includes provisions covering exposure

monitoring, engineering control use, written compliance and work

practice programs, respirators, medical surveillance, training, and

recordkeeping (43 FR 27350; June 23, 1978). In instances where an

employer can demonstrate that employee exposures are below the

appropriate action level, the employer is not obligated to comply with

many of the requirements of the standard.

The Cotton Dust Standard also applies, in part, to cottonseed

processing and cotton waste processing operations. Cottonseed

processing operations are not subject to an OSHA 8-hour time-weighted

average PEL. However, cottonseed processing operations are covered by

certain medical surveillance provisions, recordkeeping provisions, and

other requirements of Sec. 1910.1043 as specified in Sec. 1910.1043 as

specified in Sec. 1910.1043(a)(3). These requirements are included in

the scope of this regulatory review. The cotton waste processing

operations of waste recycling (sorting, blending, cleaning, willowing,

etc.) and garnetting must comply with a PEL of 1 mg/m \3\ as an 8-hour

time weighted average. This PEL is contained in Sec. 1910.1000, rather

than in Sec. 1910.1043, and it is therefore not included in the scope

of the current regulatory review effort. However, cotton waste

processing operations are covered by certain medical surveillance,

recordkeeping, and other requirements of Sec. 1910.1043 as specified in

Sec. 1910.1043(a)(3). These requirements are included in the scope of

this regulatory review.

The Cotton Dust Standard does not apply to the handling or

processing of woven or knitted materials, or to maritime operations

covered by 29 CFR Parts 1915 and 1918, or to harvesting or ginning of

cotton, or to the construction industry. In addition, facilities

processing washed cotton (as defined in paragraph (n) of

Sec. 1910.1043) may be exempt from all or part of the standard (see

Sec. 1910.1043 (n) for details).

In 1978, OSHA estimated that the Cotton Dust Standard would

generate compliance costs of $656.5 million in capital costs and $206.1

million in annual costs. The bulk of these costs were attributed to the

textile industry: $550.0 million in capital costs and $171.0 million in

annual costs (43 FR 27380; June 23, 1978). the remaining estimated

compliance costs were attributed to the waste processing, cottonseed

processing, and warehousing industries. In 1978, OSHA also provided a

benefits estimate for the yarn preparation industry alone of 4,904

cases of byssinosis avoided per year based on the new permissible

exposure limit of 200 g/m \3\ as an 8-hour TWA (43 FR 27379;

June 23, 1978). Several years later, compliance cost estimates made by

the American Textile Manufactures Institute, as well as compliance cost

estimates made by Centaur Associates, an OSHA contractor, indicated

that the actual cost to affected industries of complying with the

standard was substantially lower than OSHA's original estimates (50 FR

51166-51167; December 13, 1985). Modifications to the scope and

requirements of the Cotton Dust Standard occurring after 1978 also led

OSHA to lower its estimates of the compliance costs associated with the

standard (48 FR 26978; June 10, 1983).

Authority: This document was prepared under the direction of

Charles N. Jeffress, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational

Safety and Health, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.

20210.

Signed at Washington, D.C., this 15th day of June, 1998.

Charles N. Jeffress,

Assistant Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98-16624 Filed 6-22-98; 8:45 am]

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