MSHA Proposed Rule
Diesel Particulate Matter Exposure of Underground Metal and Nonmetal Miners [02/20/2004]
[PDF Version]
Volume 69, Number 34, Page 7881
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Mine Safety and Health Administration
30 CFR Part 57
RIN 1219-AB29
Diesel Particulate Matter Exposure of Underground Metal and
Nonmetal Miners
AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Proposed rule; limited reopening of comment period.
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SUMMARY: This document announces a limited reopening of the comment
period on the notice of proposed rulemaking, published in the Federal
Register on August 14, 2003, to obtain public comment on three new
documents related to this rulemaking. We will consider these comments
as we develop the final rule.
DATES: Comments must be received by April 5, 2004.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 1219-AB29, by any
of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov
.
E-mail: comments@msha.gov. Include ``RIN 1219-
AB29'' in the subject line of the message.
Fax: (202) 693-9441.
Mail, Hand Delivery, or Courier: MSHA, 1100
Wilson Blvd, Room 2350, Arlington, Virginia 22209.
Instructions: All comments, including any personal information
contained therein, will be posted without change to http://www.msha.gov/currentcomments.htm
.
Docket: The entire rulemaking record may be viewed in MSHA's public
reading room at 1100 Wilson Boulevard, Room 2349, Arlington, Virginia.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marvin W. Nichols, Jr., Director,
Office of Standards, Regulations, and Variances, MSHA, 1100 Wilson
Blvd., Room 2350, Arlington, Virginia 22209-3939,
Nichols.Marvin@dol.gov, (202) 693-9440 (telephone), or (202) 693-9441
(facsimile).
SUPPLEMENATARY INFORMATION:
Background
On January 19, 2001, we published a rule at 66 FR 5706 that
established new health standards for underground metal and nonmetal
miners by requiring use of approved equipment and low sulfur fuel, and
by setting an interim and final concentration limit for diesel
particulate matter (DPM) in the underground mining environment. Under a
settlement agreement reached in response to legal challenges to the
2001 rule, we amended portions of the rule on February 27, 2002 (67 FR
9180), and initiated this rulemaking. We published the advance notice
of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on September 25, 2002 (67 FR 60199), and
published the proposed rule on August 14, 2003 (68 FR 48668). The
proposed rule would revise the interim concentration limit; designate
elemental carbon as the surrogate for measuring DPM for the interim
limit; allow an extension of time in which to achieve compliance with
the interim limit; apply our longstanding hierarchy of controls used
for other exposure-based health standards for metal and nonmetal mines,
including engineering and administrative controls supplemented by
respiratory protection, but prohibit rotation of miners; and revise the
requirements for the DPM control plan. Four public hearings were held
on the proposed rule between September 16, 2003 and October 7, 2003.
The comment period closed on October 14, 2003. The legal challenge is
stayed pending completion of additional rulemaking actions.
Limited Reopening of Comment Period
We recently received new information related to this rulemaking,
and concluded that it is in the public interest to obtain comments on
this information. Therefore, the comment period is reopened for the
limited purpose of obtaining public comment on:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Center for Disease Control, National Institute of Occupational Safety
and Health, ``The Effectiveness of Selected Technologies in Controlling
Diesel Emissions in an Underground Mine--Isolated Zone Study at
Stillwater Mining Company's Nye Mine,'' January 5, 2004.
In addition, two other documents have come to the Agency's
attention and MSHA is also seeking comments on:
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Center
for Disease Control, National Institute of Occupational Safety and
Health, ``Respirator Usage in Private Sector Firms, 2001,'' September,
2003.
Chase, Gerald, ``Characterizations of Lung
Cancer in Cohort Studies and a NIOSH Study on Health Effects of Diesel
Exhaust in Miners,'' undated, received January 5, 2004.
These documents can be accessed at http://www.msha.gov. We invite
public comment on the findings of these documents and their impact on
this rulemaking. We will disregard any comments that are outside the
scope of these documents.
Dated: February 13, 2004.
Dave D. Lauriski,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 04-3656 Filed 2-19-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-43-P
