Department of Labor Peer Review Agenda

On December 16, 2004, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued its Final Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review. The Bulletin provides for agencies to peer review certain types of information before the information is disseminated to the public. In addition, the Bulletin provides for agencies to post a peer review agenda on their Web site by June 16, 2005, and update it at least every six months.

In accordance with the Bulletin, the Department of Labor has published and updated its peer review agenda as required. On June 16, 2006, the Department published the latest update of its peer review agenda. The Department recognizes the value of peer reviews and may conduct peer reviews of documents that do not meet the Bulletin’s influential scientific information criteria. Such reviews would not be listed on this peer review agenda.

The Department of Labor agencies with items on the peer review agenda are the Employee Benefits Security Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The other Department of Labor agencies, based on the reviews they have conducted, have not identified any upcoming influential scientific information. This peer review agenda can be updated at any time.

DOL Agenda:

Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) Agenda

1. Models and Data Supporting Estimates of the Effects of the Proposed Regulation Establishing Default Investments for Individual Account Plans on 401(k) Saving Outcomes

Since the last update of the peer review agenda in December 2005, EBSA has removed two items from its peer review agenda. EBSA has completed its peer review of Analytical Model and Data Supporting Estimates of Costs/Burdens of Proposed Amendments to Form 5500 Series Reports and placed the report on the agency's web site at Peer Review Report, and has determined that Models and Data Supporting Analysis of Certain Aspects of the Proposed Amendment of the Plan Assets-Participant Contributions Regulation is no longer “influential scientific information” and does not need to be peer reviewed.

You may submit comments on EBSA's peer review agenda by emailing them to ebsa.opr@dol.gov.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Agenda

1. OSHA 1 - Health Effects Analysis and Quantitative Risk Assessment for Crystalline Silica
2. OSHA 2 - Models and Data Supporting the Preliminary
Economic Analysis of Occupational Exposure to Crystalline Silica

Click on the OSHA link above to view OSHA’s peer review plans for each item. You may submit comments on the adequacy of OSHA's peer review plans by following the instructions provided.

If you have comments about the Departments peer review agenda, please e-mail them to PeerReview@dol.gov. Comments will be available for inspection and copying in the:

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy (OASP)
200 Constitution Avenue, NW
Room S2312
Washington, DC 20210
Tel: 202-693-5959

If you wish to view past Departmental peer review agendas, visit the Department's peer review agenda archives.

Because comments are available for public inspection, the Department cautions interested parties against including personal information such as social security numbers and birth dates. Please note that the Department will not respond to individual comments.