The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, published in the Federal Register November 15, 1994, 59 FR 58884, addresses proposed changes to current respiratory protection standards 29 CFR 1910.134, 29 CFR 1915.152, and 29 CFR 1926.103.

SUMMARY

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is proposing to modify existing standards on respiratory protection to reflect those changes that have occurred in methodology, technology, and the approach related to respiratory protection since the current standard was adopted in 1971. Updating the current standard will enable employers to provide effective protection for employees who wear respirators.

The proposed standard includes the requirements for the following:

• a respiratory protection program

• procedures for selecting respirators

• medical evaluation

• procedures for fit testing

• respirator usage

• procedures for maintaining respirators

• training

• criteria for evaluating program effectiveness

Public hearings are being scheduled to provide interested parties the opportunity to orally present information and data related to the issues raised by this proposed rule.

COMMENTS TO OSHA

Dates: Written comments on the proposed standard must be postmarked on or before February 13, 1995. Notices of intention to appear at the informal public hearings on the proposed standard must be postmarked by January 27, 1995. Parties who request more than 10 minutes for their presentations at the informal public hearing and parties who will submit documentary evidence at the hearing must submit the full text of their testimony and all documentary evidence postmarked no later than February 13, 1995. The hearing is scheduled in Washington, DC, on March 7, 1995, and will continue until Friday, March 24, 1995.

Addresses: Written comments should be submitted in quadruplicate or 1 original (hardcopy) and 1 disk (5 1/4" or 3 1/2") in WordPerfect 5.0, 5.1, 6.0 or ASCII to The Docket Office, Docket H-049, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Room N2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210; (202) 219-7894. (Any information not contained on disk must be submitted in quadruplicate.) Notices of intention to appear at the informal rulemaking hearing, testimony, and documentary evidence are to be submitted in quadruplicate to Mr. Tom Hall, OSHA Division of Consumer Affairs, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N3649, Washington, DC 20210; (202) 219-8615. Written comments received, notices of intention to appear, and all other material related to the development of this proposed standard will be available for inspection and copying in the public record in the Docket Office, Room N2439, at the above address.

The hearing will be held in the auditorium of the U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.

For further information on the proposal or hearings contact the following individuals:

Proposal:
Ms. Anne Cyr
Office of Information and Consumer Affairs
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
200 Constitution Avenue, NW
Room N3647, Washington, DC 20210
(202) 219-8151.

Hearings:
Mr. Tom Hall
Division of Consumer Affairs
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
200 Constitution Avenue, NW
Room N3649, Washington, DC 20210
(202) 219-8615.

COMMENTS TO DOE

It is requested that a copy of any comments forwarded to OSHA also be forwarded to Mr. Roy Gibbs, Acting Director, Office of Occupational Safety, EH-31, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20585.