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42 CFR Part 84, revision of tests and requirements for certification of respiratory protective devices, second notice of proposed rulemaking.

NIOSH

NIOSH 1989 Sep; :1-378

20025070

On August 27, 1987, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published in the Federal Register (52 FR 32401) a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for certification of respiratory protective devices. The Notice proposed a regulation for 42 CFR Part 84. Upon promulgation, 42 CFR Part 84 will replace 30 CFR Part 11. On October 8, 1987, additional information regarding procedures for public comment on the proposed rule was published in the Federal Register (52 FR 37639), and the public comment period was extended to December 28, 1987. Public meetings on the proposed rule were held January 20, 1988, in San Francisco, California, and January 27-28, 1988, in Washington, D.C. On February 25, 1988, NIOSH published a Federal Register notice (53 FR 5595) announcing a second extension of the public comment period to March 28, 1988. In the first NPRM of August 1987, NIOSH proposed extensive changes in the current performance test requirements for certifying respirators. These requirements were last promulgated as 30 CFR Part 11 in 1972 (37 FR 6244) with only minor amendements since that date. Concurrent with the publication of the proposed 42 CFR Part 84, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) of the Department of Labor published a notice in the Federal Register (52 FR 32313) proposing the withdrawal of 30 CFR Part 11, upon final publication of 42 CFR Part 84. During a 7-month comment period, NIOSH received 271 comments in response to the first proposal of August 27, 1987. The principal technical issues addressed in the comments included the focus of the proposed regulation on respirators used in mines and mining, the requirement that certification applicants perform workplace or simulated-workplace tests demonstrating respirator safety and efficacy, the requirement that particulate respirators be performance tested against both solid and liquid aerosols, and the requirement that chemical cartidges be both preconditioned and performance tested at 85% relative humidity. In developing this second NPRM, NIOSH considered all written comments submitted to the Docket before the closing date of March 28, 1988, during the 7-month comment period. NIOSH has concluded that this second proposed rule, if implemented, would create significant health benefits for up to 6.6 million users of NIOSH-certified respirators. This number could grow to up to 10 million users by the mid-1990s. Additionally, Part 84 will provide significant economic and other benefits to 32 comestic respirator manufacturers, owners of about 7 million nondisposable respirators, and those employers who annually purchase over 110 million disposable respirators. In general these benefits cannot be quantified. However they will be obtained at reasonable economic cost to respirator owners, purchasers, and manufacturers.

Respirators; Respiratory-equipment; Respiratory-function-tests; Exposure-assessment; Exposure-methods

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

19890901

Other

1989

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

OH