[Federal Register: August 30, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 167)]
[Notices]               
[Page 51371-51373]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30au05-64]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. NRTL2-98]

 
NSF International, Renewal of Recognition

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration's final decision granting the renewal of recognition of 
NSF International (NSF) as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory 
under 29 CFR 1910.7.

DATES: The renewal of recognition becomes effective on August 30, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Office of Technical Programs and 
Coordination Activities, NRTL Program, Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Room N3653, Washington, DC 20210, or phone (202) 693-2110.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Notice of Final Decision

    The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) hereby 
gives notice of the renewal of recognition of NSF International (NSF) 
as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL). This renewal 
covers NSF's existing scope of recognition, which may be found in the 
following informational Web page: http://www.osha.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/nsf.html.

    OSHA recognition of an NRTL signifies that the organization has met 
the legal requirements in Section 1910.7 of Title 29, Code of Federal 
Regulations (29 CFR 1910.7). Recognition is an acknowledgment that the 
organization can perform independent safety testing and certification 
of the specific products covered within its scope of recognition and is 
not a delegation or grant of government authority. As a result of 
recognition, employers may use products ``properly certified'' \1\ by 
the NRTL to meet OSHA standards that require testing and certification.
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    \1\ Properly certified means, in part, that the product is 
labeled or marked with the NRTL's registered certification mark 
(i.e., the registered mark the NRTL uses for its NRTL work) and that 
the product certification falls within the scope of recognition of 
the NRTL.
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    The Agency processes applications by an NRTL for initial 
recognition or for expansion or renewal of this recognition following 
requirements in Appendix A to 29 CFR 1910.7. This appendix requires that 
the Agency publish two notices in the Federal Register in processing an 
application. In the first notice, OSHA announces the application and provides 
its preliminary finding and, in the second notice, the Agency provides its 
final decision on the application. These notices set forth the NRTL's 
scope of recognition or modifications of that scope. We maintain an 
informational Web page for each NRTL, which details its scope of 
recognition. These pages can be accessed from our Web site at http://www.osha-slc.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/index.html.

    NSF International (NSF) initially received OSHA recognition as a 
Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory on December 10, 1998 (63 FR 
68309) for a five-year period ending on December 10, 2003. Appendix A 
to 29 CFR 1910.7 stipulates that the period of recognition of an NRTL 
is five years and that an NRTL may renew its recognition by applying 
not less than nine months, nor more than one year, before the 
expiration date of its current recognition. NRTLs submitting requests 
within this allotted time period retain their recognition during OSHA's 
renewal process. NSF submitted a request, dated February 21, 2003 (see 
Exhibit 13-2) \2\, to renew its recognition, within the allotted time 
period, and retained its recognition pending OSHA's final decision in 
this renewal process. The NRTL Program staff performed an on-site 
review (assessment) of NSF's NRTL facilities and in the on-site review 
report, dated November 21, 2003 (see Exhibit 13-4)*, the program staff 
recommended the renewal of NSF's recognition. The preliminary notice 
announcing the renewal application was published in the Federal 
Register on February 28, 2005 (70 FR 9678). Comments were requested by 
March 15, but no comments were received in response to this notice.
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    \2\ Exhibits 13-2 and 13-4 were referred to as Exhibits 14-1 and 
16, respectively, in the February 28, 2005 notice.
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    You may obtain or review copies of all public documents pertaining 
to the NSF application by contacting the Docket Office, Occupational 
Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N2625, Washington, DC, 20210. Docket No. 
NRTL2-98 contains all materials in the record concerning NSF's 
application.
    The current address of the NSF facility (site) already recognized 
by OSHA and included as part of the renewal is:
    NSF International, 789 Dixboro, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105.

Final Decision and Order

    NRTL Program staff has examined the application, the assessor's 
report, and other pertinent information. Based upon this examination 
and the assessor's recommendation, OSHA finds that NSF International 
has met the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.7 for renewal of its 
recognition, subject to the limitation and conditions listed below. 
Pursuant to the authority in 29 CFR 1910.7, OSHA hereby renews the 
recognition of NSF, subject to this limitation and these conditions.

Limitation

    OSHA limits the renewal of NSF's recognition to testing and 
certification of products for demonstration of conformance to the test 
standards listed below. OSHA has determined that each of these 
standards meets the requirements for an appropriate test standard, 
within the meaning of 29 CFR 1910.7(c).

UL 73 Motor-Operated Appliances
UL 94 Tests for Flammability of Plastic Materials for Parts in Devices 
and Appliances
UL 197 Commercial Electric Cooking Appliances
UL 399 Drinking-Water Coolers
UL 466 Electric Scales
UL 471 Commercial Refrigerators and Freezers
UL 514B Fittings for Cable and Conduit
UL 514C Nonmetallic Outlet Boxes, Flush-Device Boxes and Covers
UL 514D Cover Plates for Flush-Mounted Wiring Devices
UL 541 Refrigerated Vending Machines
UL 563 Ice Makers
UL 621 Ice Cream Makers
UL 651 Schedule 40 and 80 PVC Conduit
UL 651A Type EB and A Rigid PVC Conduit and HDPE Conduit
UL 651B Continuous Length HDPE Conduit
UL 749 Household Dishwashers
UL 751 Vending Machines
UL 763 Motor-Operated Commercial Food Preparing Machines
UL 921 Commercial Electric Dishwashers
UL 982 Motor-Operated Household Food Preparing Machines
UL 1081 Swimming Pool Pumps, Filters, and Chlorinators
UL 1453 Electric Booster and Commercial Storage Tank Water Heaters
UL 1563 Electric Spas, Equipment Assemblies, and Associated Equipment
UL 1795 Hydromassage Bathtubs
UL 1821 Thermoplastic Sprinkler Pipe and Fittings for Fire Protection
UL 61010A-1 Electrical Equipment For Laboratory Use; Part 1: General 
Requirements

    OSHA's recognition of NSF, or any NRTL, for a particular test 
standard is limited to equipment or materials (i.e., products) for 
which OSHA standards require third party testing and certification 
before use in the workplace. Consequently, an NRTL's scope of 
recognition excludes any product(s) falling within the scope of a test 
standard for which OSHA has no NRTL testing and certification 
requirements.
    Many UL test standards also are approved as American National 
Standards by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). However, 
for convenience, we use the designation of the standards developing 
organization for the standard as opposed to the ANSI designation. Under 
our procedures, any NRTL recognized for an ANSI-approved test standard 
may use either the latest proprietary version of the test standard or 
the latest ANSI version of that standard. You may contact ANSI to find 
out whether or not a test standard is currently ANSI-approved.

Supplemental Programs

    The renewal includes NSF's continued use of the supplemental 
programs for which it is approved. Use of these programs is based upon 
the criteria detailed in OSHA's March 9, 1995, Federal Register notice 
(60 FR 12980). This notice lists nine (9) programs, eight of which 
(called the supplemental programs) an NRTL may use to control and 
audit, but not to generate, the data relied upon for product 
certification. An NRTL's initial recognition will always include the 
first or basic program, which requires that all product testing and 
evaluation be performed in-house by the NRTL that will certify the 
product. OSHA has already recognized NSF for the programs listed below. 
See http://www.osha.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/nsf.html.

    Program 2: Acceptance of testing data from independent 
organizations, other than NRTLs.
    Program 4: Acceptance of witnessed testing data.
    Program 5: Acceptance of testing data from non-independent 
organizations.
    Program 8: Acceptance of product evaluations from organizations 
that function as part of the International Electrical Commission 
Certification Body (IEC-CB) Scheme.
    Program 9: Acceptance of services other than testing or evaluation 
performed by subcontractors or agents.
    OSHA developed these supplemental programs to limit how an NRTL may 
perform certain aspects of its work and to permit the activities 
covered under a program only when the NRTL meets certain criteria. In 
this sense, they are special conditions that the Agency places on an 
NRTL's recognition. OSHA does not consider these programs in 
determining whether an NRTL meets the requirements for recognition 
under 29 CFR 1910.7. However, these programs help to define the scope 
of that recognition.

Conditions

    NSF must also abide by the following conditions of the recognition, 
in addition to those already required by 29 CFR 1910.7:
    OSHA must be allowed access to NSF's facility and records for 
purposes of ascertaining continuing compliance with the terms of its 
recognition and to investigate as OSHA deems necessary;
    If NSF has reason to doubt the efficacy of any test standard it is 
using under this program, it must promptly inform the test standard 
developing organization of this fact and provide that organization with 
appropriate relevant information upon which its concerns are based;
    NSF must not engage in or permit others to engage in any 
misrepresentation of the scope or conditions of its recognition. As 
part of this condition, NSF agrees that it will allow no representation 
that it is either a recognized or an accredited Nationally Recognized 
Testing Laboratory (NRTL) without clearly indicating the specific 
equipment or material to which this recognition is tied, or that its 
recognition is limited to certain products;
    NSF must inform OSHA as soon as possible, in writing, of any change 
of ownership, facilities, or key personnel, and of any major changes in 
its operations as an NRTL, including details;
    NSF will meet all the terms of its recognition and will always 
comply with all OSHA policies pertaining to this recognition; and
    NSF will continue to meet the requirements for recognition in all 
areas where it has been recognized.

    Signed at Washington, DC this 15th day of August, 2005.
Jonathan L. Snare,
Deputy Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 05-17182 Filed 8-29-05; 8:45 am]

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