Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER); Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of Information Collection (Paperwork) Requirements

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. ICR-99-3]

Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER);

Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of

Information Collection (Paperwork) Requirements

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

ACTION: Notice of an opportunity for public comment.

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SUMMARY: OSHA solicits comments concerning the proposed reduction and

extension of the information collection requirements contained in the

standard on Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response

(HAZWOPER) (29 CFR 1910.120).

Request for Comment

The Agency is particularly interested in comments on the following

issues:

Whether the information collection requirements are

necessary for the proper performance of the Agency functions, including

whether the information is useful;

The accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden (time

and costs) 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, electronic, mechanical, and other

technological information and transmission collection techniques.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before August 30, 1999.

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

ICR-99-3, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S.

Department of Labor, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W.,

Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-2350. Commenters may

transmit written comments 10 pages or less in length by facsimile to

(202) 693-1648.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theda Kenney, Directorate of Safety

Standards Programs, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S.

Department of Labor, Room N-3605, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W.,

Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-2222. A copy of the Agency's

Information Collection Request (ICR) supporting the need for the

information collection requirements in the HAZWOPER standard is

available for inspection and copying in the Docket Office, or mailed on

request by telephoning Theda Kenney at (202) 693-2222 or Barbara

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

HAZWOPER, contact OSHA on the Internet at http://www.osha-slc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce

paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation

program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 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 costs)

is minimal, collection instruments are clearly understood, and OSHA's

estimate of the information collection burden is correct.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 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.) In this regard, the information collection

requirements in the HAZWOPER Standard (29 CFR 1910.120) prevent or

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minimize the consequences of accidents involving highly hazardous

chemicals.

II. Proposed Actions

OSHA proposes to reduce its earlier estimates of the burden hours

for the HAZWOPER Standard from 2,229,062 to 1,592,338 hours. The burden

reduction resulted when the Agency reestimated the number of clean-up

sites, as well as the number of storage, treatment, and disposal (STD)

sites (also referred to as Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

[RCRA] sites) from 725 to 1,115. OSHA determined that the number of

emergency response units remained the same as originally estimated. The

Agency also changed the methodology for the training requirements and

medical surveillance provisions, using the number of employees rather

than sites to better estimate the burden hours for these provisions.

In addition, OSHA identified several activities as usual and

customary business practices. Under PRA-95, the burden associated with

usual and customary activities are not calculated as part of the

paperwork burden.

OSHA will summarize the comments submitted in response to this

notice and will include this summary in the request to OMB to extend

the approval of the information collection requirements contained in

the HAZWOPER standard.

Type of Review: Extension of currently approved information

collection requirements.

Agency: Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Title: Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER)

(29 CFR 1910.120).

OMB Number: 1218-0202.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Federal government;

state, local or tribal government.

Number of Respondents: 38,363.

Frequency: Varies (On Occasion, Annually).

Average Time per Response: Varies from 5 minutes (.08 hr.) to 64

hours.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,592,338.

III. Authority and Signature

Charles N. Jeffress, 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. 6-96 (62 FR 111), and 29

CFR part 1911.

Signed at Washington, DC, this 25th day of June 1999.

Charles N. Jeffress,

Assistant Secretary of Labor.

[FR Doc. 99-16808 Filed 6-30-99; 8:45 am]

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