Summary: NIOSH received a petition to initiate rulemaking to change the provisions of Paragraph (f) of Section 84.83 in Title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, part 84 (42 CFR 84). This paragraph requires each remaining end-of-service-time indicator (EOSTI) or warning device to give an alarm when the remaining service time of the apparatus is reduced to within a range of 20 to 25 percent of its rated service time. The current requirement does not state that the device must initiate activation in the range; only that it needs to give an alarm in this range. The EOSTI needs to alarm between the two limits. It can remain on as the air pressure drops below those pressures, or stop alarming after a brief time.

The petition requests NIOSH to modify the provision to eliminate the upper limit of this range. The purpose of this change would be to allow each respiratory protection program manager to determine the most appropriate alarm setting, with 20 percent as the retained minimum, to provide SCBA users time to exit a scene.

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