TITLE 16. LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT

SAFETY AND HEALTH CODES BOARD

Final Regulation

REGISTRAR'S NOTICE: The following regulation is exempt from the Administrative Process Act in accordance with § 2.2-4006 A 4 c of the Code of Virginia, which excludes regulations that are necessary to meet the requirements of federal law or regulations, provided such regulations do not differ materially from those required by federal law or regulation. The Safety and Health Codes Board will receive, consider, and respond to petitions by any interested person at any time with respect to reconsideration or revision.

Titles of Regulations: 16VAC25-90. Federal Identical General Industry Standards (amending 16VAC25-90-1910.1020).

16VAC25-100. Federal Identical Shipyard Employment Standards (amending 16VAC25-100-1915.1001).

Statutory Authority: § 40.1-22 of the Code of Virginia.

Effective Date: November 15, 2009.

Agency Contact: John J. Crisanti, Planning and Evaluation Manager, Department of Labor and Industry, Powers-Taylor Building, 13 South Thirteenth Street, Richmond, VA 23219, telephone (804) 786-4300, FAX (804) 786-8418, TTY (804) 786-2376, or email john.crisanti@doli.virginia.gov.

Summary:

As part of the ongoing review of its regulations, federal OSHA amended various safety and health standards in need of corrections, housekeeping changes, or technical amendments. The revisions do not affect the substantive requirements or coverage of the standards involved, modify or revoke existing rights and obligations, or establish new rights and obligations. The revisions include updating references from existing OSHA standards, including standards governing occupational noise exposure, vinyl chloride, inorganic arsenic, lead, cadmium, coke oven emissions, and bloodborne pathogens. During its June 19, 2006, meeting, the board adopted the preponderance of various corrections and technical amendments to Parts 1910 – General Industry, 1915 – Shipyard Employment, and 1926 – Construction, as published in 71 FR 16669 on April 3, 2006. It did not, however, adopt any amendments that substituted "29 CFR 1910.1020" for "29 CFR 1910.20" when referencing the regulation for Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records [items 1, 34 and 36] because the Virginia unique regulation [16VAC25-80 (29 CFR 1910.20)], not the current federal regulation, 29 CFR 1910.1020, was in effect in Virginia at that time. Additionally, in 29 CFR Part 1913, "Rules of Agency Practice and Procedure Concerning OSHA Access to Employee Medical Records" under item 34 [p. 16674], paragraph (n) was removed because it specified an effective date that expired over 20 years ago. As a result of a recent periodic review of current regulations, the board repealed its Virginia unique version of Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records [16VAC25-80 (29 CFR 1910.20)] and adopted the federal regulation, 29 CFR 1910.1020. The board thereby adopted federal OSHA changes relating to this regulation. The effective date of the newly adopted regulation is August 20, 2009.

Note on Incorporation by Reference: Pursuant to § 2.2-4103 of the Code of Virginia, 29 CFR Part 1910, General Industry Standards, and 29 CFR Part 1915, Shipyard Employment Standards, are declared documents generally available to the public and appropriate for incorporation by reference. For this reason the documents will not be printed in the Virginia Register of Regulations. The documents are available for inspection at the Department of Labor and Industry, 13 South 13th Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, and in the office of the Registrar of Regulations, General Assembly Building, 9th and Broad Streets, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Statement of Final Agency Action: On August 13, 2009, the Safety and Health Codes Board adopted federal OSHA's revised final rule for Corrections and Technical Amendments to Parts 1910 and 1915 (for those provisions which, among other things, removed "29 CFR 1910.20" and added in its place "29 CFR 1910.1020" in items 1, 34 and 36), as published in 71 FR 16669 on April 3, 2006. Except for the aforementioned changes, all other corrections and technical amendments in this 2006 revision were adopted by the board on June 19, 2006, and became effective on September 1, 2006. The effective date of this revision is November 15, 2009.

Federal Terms and State Equivalents: When the regulations, as set forth in the clarifications and correcting amendments to the final rule for the General Industry Standards, 29 CFR Part 1910, and Shipyard Employment Standards, 29 CFR Part 1915, are applied to the Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry or to Virginia employers, the following federal terms shall be considered to read as follows:

Federal Terms	VOSH Equivalent
29 CFR	VOSH Standard
Assistant Secretary	Commissioner of Labor and Industry
Agency	Department
April 3, 2006	September 1, 2006
April 3, 2006	November 15, 2009

VA.R. Doc. No. R10-2145; Filed September 15, 2009, 10:33 a.m.