[Federal Register: January 4, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 3)]
[Notices]               
[Page 895-897]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04ja08-53]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

[Docket No. OSHA-2006-0028]

 
MET Laboratories, Inc.; Expansion 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 expanding the recognition of MET 
Laboratories, Inc., (MET) as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory 
under 29 CFR 1910.7.

DATES: The expansion of recognition becomes effective on January 4, 
2008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: MaryAnn Garrahan, Director, Office of 
Technical Programs and Coordination Activities, NRTL Program, 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of 
Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N-3655, 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 expansion of recognition of MET Laboratories, Inc., 
(MET) as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL). MET's 
expansion covers the use of additional test standards. OSHA's current 
scope of recognition for MET may be found in the following 
informational Web page: http://www.osha.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/met.html.
    OSHA recognition of an NRTL signifies that the organization has met 
the legal requirements in Sec.  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 approved by the NRTL 
to meet OSHA standards that require testing and certification.
    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 that details its scope of recognition. These pages can be 
accessed from our Web site at http://www.osha.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/index.html.
    MET submitted an application, dated April 25, 2006 (see Exhibit 41-
1, as cited in the preliminary notice), to expand its recognition to 
include 22 additional test standards. One standard, however, is already 
included in MET's scope. The NRTL Program staff determined that the 
remaining 21 standards are "appropriate test standards" within the 
meaning of 29 CFR 1910.7(c). In connection with this request, OSHA did 
not perform an on-site review of MET's NRTL testing facilities. 
However, NRTL Program assessment staff reviewed information pertinent 
to the request and recommended that MET's recognition be expanded to 
include the additional test standards listed below (see Exhibit 41-2, 
as cited in the preliminary notice). Therefore, OSHA is approving these 
21 test standards for the expansion.
    The preliminary notice announcing the expansion application was 
published in the Federal Register on July 6, 2007 (72 FR 37056). 
Comments were requested by July 23, 2007, but no comments were received 
in response to this notice. OSHA is now proceeding with this final 
notice to grant MET's expansion application.
    The most recent application processed by OSHA specifically related 
to MET's recognition granted an expansion, and the final notice for 
this expansion was published on February 27, 2007 (72 FR 8797).
    You may obtain or review copies of all public documents pertaining 
to the MET application by contacting the Docket Office, Occupational 
Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N-2625, Washington, DC 20210. Docket No. 
OSHA-2006-0028 (formerly NRTL1-88) contains all materials in the record 
concerning MET's recognition.
    The current address of the MET facility (site) already recognized 
by OSHA is: MET Laboratories, Inc., 914 West Patapsco Avenue, 
Baltimore, MD 21230.

Final Decision and Order

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

Limitation

    OSHA limits the expansion of MET's recognition to testing and 
certification of products for demonstration of conformance to the 
following test standards, each of which OSHA has determined is an 
appropriate test standard, within the meaning of 29 CFR 1910.7(c):

ANSI A17.5 Elevator and Escalator Electrical Equipment
UL 250 Household Refrigerators and Freezers
UL 399 Drinking Water Coolers
UL 430 Waste Disposers
UL 474 Dehumidifiers
UL 498A Current Taps and Adapters
UL 563 Ice Makers
UL 749 Household Dishwashers
UL 826 Household Electric Clocks
UL 858 Household Electric Ranges
UL 998 Humidifiers
UL 1005 Electric Flatirons
UL 1082 Household Electric Coffee Makers and Brewing-Type Appliances
UL 1086 Household Trash Compactors
UL 1261 Electric Water Heaters for Pools and Tubs
UL 1640 Portable Power-Distribution Equipment
UL 1741 Inverters, Converters, Controllers and Interconnection System 
Equipment for Use With Distributed Energy Resources
UL 1994 Luminous Egress Path Marking Systems
UL 2157 Electric Clothes Washing Machines and Extractors
UL 2158 Electric Clothes Dryers
UL 60335-2-8 Household and Similar Electrical Appliances, Part 2: 
Particular Requirements for Shavers, Hair Clippers, and Similar 
Appliances
    The designations and titles of the above test standards were 
current at the time of the preparation of the preliminary notice.
    OSHA's recognition of MET, 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, if a test standard also 
covers any product(s) for which OSHA does not require such testing and 
certification, an NRTL's scope of recognition does not include that 
product(s).
    A test standard listed above may be 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.

Conditions

    MET 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 MET's facilities and records for 
purposes of ascertaining continuing compliance with the terms of its 
recognition and to investigate as OSHA deems necessary;
    If MET 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;
    MET 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, MET 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;
    MET 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;
    MET will meet all the terms of its recognition and will always 
comply with all OSHA policies pertaining to this recognition; and
    MET will continue to meet the requirements for recognition in all 
areas where it has been recognized.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 26th day of December, 2007.
Edwin G. Foulke, Jr.,
Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. E7-25612 Filed 1-3-08; 8:45 am]

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