DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

29 CFR Part 1926

[Docket No. S-205]

RIN 1218-AA40

Safety Standards for Scaffolds Used in the Construction Industry (Aerial Lifts); Effective Date and Office of Management and Budget Control Numbers Under Paperwork Reduction Act

AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Final rule; amendment; announcement of effective date and OMB approval of information collection requirements.

SUMMARY: This document announces the effective date of a provision in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's construction standard for scaffolds that addresses manufacturer certification of "field modified" aerial lifts. The document also adds an entry to display that the collection of information has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The amendment in this final rule and § 1926.453(a)(2), published at 61 FR 46026, are effective January 27, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laurence Davey, Directorate of Construction, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-3621, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210, telephone (202) 219- 7198.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the August 30, 1996, Federal Register at 61 FR 46026, et seq., OSHA revised the standards for scaffolds in construction, codified as subpart L of 29 CFR part 1926. The effective date for the revised subpart was November 29, 1996. However, in that same document, at 61 FR 46026 and 46103-46104, the Agency announced its intent to request Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for a provision addressing aerial lifts in § 1926.453(a)(2). OSHA stated that the effective date for § 1926.453(a)(2) would be announced in the Federal Register at a later date, once OSHA received approval for the information collection requirements in that provision from OMB. The aerial lift provisions contain a requirement for manufacturer certification of "field modified" aerial lifts, which was previously codified in § 1926.556, and which was redesignated at § 1926.453(a)(2) in the final rule.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), OMB has approved the information collection and assigned OMB control number 1218-0216, which expires on October 31, 2000. Under 5 CFR 1320.5(b), an Agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless: (1) The collection displays a valid control number, and (2) the agency informs potential persons who may respond to the collections of information that such persons are not required to respond to the collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Accordingly, now that OMB has approved the collections in § 1926.453(a)(2), OSHA is codifying the current OMB control number into § 1926.5, which is the central section in which OSHA displays its approved collections under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The effective date of § 1926.453(a)(2) is January 27, 1998.

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, N.W., Washington, DC 20210.

List of Subjects in 29 CFR Part 1926

Construction; Occupational safety and health; Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

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

Charles N. Jeffress,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.

Accordingly, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration amends 29 CFR part 1926 as set forth below.

PART 1926 -- [AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for subpart A of part 1926 continues to read as follows:

Authority: Section 107, Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (Construction Safety Act) (40 U.S.C. 333); secs. 4, 6, 8, Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653, 655, 657); Secretary of Labor's Order 12-71 (36 FR 8754), 8-76 (41 FR 25059), or 1-90 (55 FR 9033), as applicable; 29 CFR part 1911.

§ 1926.5 [Amended]

2. In § 1926.5, the table is amended by adding the entry "§ 1926.453(a)(2)......................................1218-0216" in numerical order.

[FR Doc. 98-1788 Filed 1-26-98; 8:45 am)