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DOL/OSHA RIN: 1218-AC08 Publication ID: Spring 2008 
Title: Updating OSHA Standards Based on National Consensus Standards 
Abstract: Under section 6(a) of the OSH Act, during the first two years of the Act, the Agency was directed to adopt national consensus standards as OSHA standards. Some of these standards were adopted as regulatory text, while others were incorporated by reference. In the more than 30 years since these standards were adopted by OSHA, the organizations responsible for these consensus standards have issued updated versions of these standards. However, in most cases, OSHA has not revised its regulations to reflect later editions of the consensus standards. OSHA standards also continue to incorporate by reference various consensus standards that are now outdated and, in some cases, out of print. The Agency is undertaking a multi-year project to update these standards. A notice describing the project was published in the Federal Register on November 24, 2004 (69 FR 68283). The first final rule was published on September 13, 2005. Several additional sets of standards are in preparation. An NPRM on Personal Protective (PPE) consensus standards was published on August 31, 2007, with a hearing on December 4, 2007. A direct final rule (DFR) on Miscellaneous Changes and Welding Definitions was published on December 14, 2007. In the next phase of the project, OSHA intends to publish a DFR to update consensus standards referenced for acetylene, and issue a final rule on the PPE consensus standards. 
Agency: Department of Labor(DOL)  Priority: Other Significant 
RIN Status: Previously published in the Unified Agenda Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Final Rule Stage 
Major: No  Unfunded Mandates: No 
CFR Citation: 29 CFR 1910    29 CFR 1915    29 CFR 1917 to 1918    29 CFR 1926   
Legal Authority: 29 USC 655(b)   
Legal Deadline:  None
Timetable:
Action Date FR Cite
NPRM  11/24/2004  69 FR 68706   
Direct Final Rule  11/24/2004  69 FR 68712   
NPRM Comment Period End  12/27/2004  69 FR 68706   
Withdraw Direct Final Rule  02/18/2005  70 FR 8290   
Direct Final Rule Effective Date  02/22/2005    
Final Rule  09/13/2005  70 FR 53925   
Final Rule Effective  11/14/2005    
NPRM  05/17/2007  72 FR 27771   
NPRM Comment Period End  06/16/2007    
Notice of Informal Public Hearing To Be Held--December 4, 2007  08/31/2007  72 FR 50302   
Direct Final Rule (Acetylene)  07/00/2008    
Final Rule (PPE)  11/00/2008    
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: No  Government Levels Affected: Undetermined 
Federalism: No 
Included in the Regulatory Plan: No 
RIN Data Printed in the FR: No 
Agency Contact:
Dorothy Dougherty
Director, Directorate of Standards and Guidance
Department of Labor
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Room N-3718, FP Building, 200 Constitution Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20210
Phone:202 693-1950
Fax:202 693-1678
Email: dougherty.dorothy@dol.gov