Formaldehyde Standard; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Approval of Information Collection (Paperwork) Requirements

Formaldehyde Standard; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Approval of Information Collection (Paperwork) Requirements

DATES:

Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent, or received) by April 27, 2026.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The Department of Labor, as part of the continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent ( i.e., employer) burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the public with an opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing information collection requirements in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This program ensures that information is in the desired format, reporting burden (time and costs) is minimal, collection instruments are clearly understood, and OSHA's estimate of the information collection burden is accurate. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq. ) authorizes information collection by employers as necessary or appropriate for enforcement of the OSH Act or for developing information regarding the causes and prevention of occupational injuries, illnesses, and accidents (29 U.S.C. 657). The OSH Act also requires that OSHA obtain such information with a minimum burden upon employers, especially those operating small businesses, and to reduce to the maximum extent feasible unnecessary duplication of efforts in obtaining said information (29 U.S.C. 657).

The following sections describe who uses the information collected under each requirement, as well as how they use it. The purpose of these requirements are to help employers protect workers from slip, trip, and fall hazards.

The standard protects workers from the adverse health effects from occupational exposure to formaldehyde, including an itchy, runny, and stuffy nose; a dry or sore throat; eye irritation; headaches; and cancer of the lung, buccal cavity (mouth), and pharynx (throat). Formaldehyde solutions can damage the skin and burn the eyes. The standard specifies a number of collections of information. The following is a brief description of the collections of information contained in the Formaldehyde Standard. The standard requires employers to conduct worker exposure monitoring to determine workers' exposure to formaldehyde, notify workers of their formaldehyde exposures, provide medical surveillance to workers, provide examining physicians with specific information, ensure that workers receive a copy of their medical examination results, maintain workers' exposure monitoring and medical records for specific periods, and provide access to these records by the affected workers and their authorized representatives.

II. Special Issues for Comment

OSHA has a particular interest in comments on the following issues:

• Whether the proposed information collection requirements are necessary for the proper performance of the agency's functions to protect workers, including whether the information is useful;
• The accuracy of OSHA's estimate of the burden (time and costs) of the information collection requirements, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
• The quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and
• Ways to minimize the burden on employers who must comply; for example, by using automated or other technological information, and transmission techniques.

III. Proposed Actions

OSHA is requesting that OMB extend the approval of the information collection requirements contained in the Formaldehyde Standard. OSHA is seeking an adjustment increase in burden going from 266,812 to 277,695 hours, a total increase of 10,883 hours. The increase is due to an increase in the number of workers affected going from 1,858,364 to 1,953,732, an increase of 95,368 workers. Total capital costs increased from $54,153,624 to $59,913,352, an increase of $5,759,728. The increase is attributed to the rise in the number of covered workers undergoing exposure monitoring and medical examinations. Also, the costs to conduct a medical exam increased going from $259.12 to $269.48, and for contract industrial hygiene services to conduct exposure-monitoring sampling increased from $55.99 to $60.64.

OSHA will summarize the comments submitted in response to this notice and will include this summary in the request to OMB to extend the approval of the information collection requirements.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved data collection.

Title: Formaldehyde Standard (29 CFR 1910.1048).

OMB Control Number: 1218-0145.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profits.

Number of Respondents: 80,905.

Number of Responses: 1,045,878.

Frequency of Responses: On occasion.

Average Time per Response: Varies.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 277,695.

Estimated Cost (Operation and Maintenance): $59,913,352.

IV. Public Participation-Submission of Comments on This Notice and Internet Access to Comments and Submissions

You may submit comments in response to this document as follows: (1) electronically at https://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal eRulemaking Portal; or (2) by facsimile (fax), if your comments, including attachments, are not longer than 10 pages you may fax them to the OSHA Docket Office at 202-693-1648. All comments, attachments, and other material must identify the agency name and the OSHA docket number for the ICR (OSHA-2009-0041). You may supplement electronic submission by uploading document files electronically.

Comments and submissions are posted without change at https://www.regulations.gov. Therefore, OSHA cautions commenters about submitting personal information such as social security numbers and dates of birth. Although all submissions are listed in the https://www.regulations.gov index, some information ( e.g., copyrighted material) is not publicly available to read or download from this website. All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. Information on using the https://www.regulations.gov website to submit comments and access the docket is available at the website's "User Tips" link. Contact the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-2350, (TTY (877) 889-5627) for information about materials not available from the website, and for assistance in using the internet to locate docket submissions.

V. Authority and Signature

Amanda Laihow, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, directed the preparation of this notice. The authority for this notice is the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3506 et seq. ) and Secretary of Labor's Order No. 8-2020 (85 FR 58393).