prescribed in the remaining sections of this subpart.

§ 1902.18 Previous hearing or other opportunity for comment on plan.

(a) Whenever an informal hearing has been held under §§ 1902.11 and 1902.13, any evidence submitted in such a hearing shall be considered and may be relied upon whenever it is found that no party will be prejudiced thereby because (1) of a lack of an opportunity for cross-examination afforded in the informal hearing on the issues involved, or (2) the veracity and demeanor of witnesses are not important with respect to the type of evidence involved (e.g., extensive technical or statistical data), or (3) for any other reason.

(b) Any written comments received in response to a notice issued under § 1902.11 shall be a part of the record of the proceeding.

(c) Whenever a formal hearing has been held under § 1902.14 the Assistant Secretary shall hold no additional hearing, and shall proceed to issue a tentative decision under § 1902.21.

§ 1902.19 Notice of hearing.

(a) Whenever the Assistant Secretary has issued no previous notice concerning the plan, or only informal rule making proceedings have been conducted concerning the plan, the Assistant Secretary shall publish in the FEDERAL REGISTER an appropriate notice concerning the plan and provide an opportunity for formal hearing and decision on the possible rejection of the plan and on any subsidiary issues. The notice also shall set forth such rules as may be necessary so as to assure compliance with 5 U.S.C. 556 and 557 in the conduct of the proceeding. The time for filing proposed findings and conclusions and exceptions to any tentative decision shall be set forth in the notice.

(b) Not later than 5 days following the publication of the notice in the FEDERAL REGISTER, required by paragraph (a) of this section, the applying State agency shall publish, or cause to be published, within the State reasonable notice containing the same information.

DECISIONS

§ 1902.20 Decision following informal proceeding.

(a) This section deals with a situation where the Assistant Secretary has (1) afforded interested persons an opportunity to submit written data, views, or arguments concerning a proposal, subject, or issue concerning a plan; or (2) has in addition provided an informal hearing concerning proposal, subject, or issue concerning a plan.

(b)(1)(i) After consideration of all relevant information which has been presented, if the Assistant Secretary approves a plan he shall issue a decision to that effect.

(ii) In the event the plan is approved under § 1902.2(b), the decision shall state that the plan does not fully meet the criteria set forth in § 1902.3, and shall summarize the schedule and any other measures for bringing the plan up to the level of such criteria.

(iii) The decision shall also reflect the Assistant Secretary's intention as to continued Federal enforcement of Federal standards in areas covered by the plan. Provisions for continued Federal enforcement shall take into consideration: (a) Whether the plan is approved under § 1902.2(a) or § 1902.2(b); the (b) schedule for coming up to Federal standards in any § 1902.2(b) plan; and (c) any other relevant matters.

(2) After consideration of all relevant information contained in any written or oral comments received in any informal proceeding, if the Assistant Secretary proposes to disapprove a plan, or the disposition of a subject or issue permits the possible disapproval of a plan, he shall publish a notice to that effect, and commence a proceeding meeting the requirements of § 1902.19.

and reasons or bases therefor on all material issues of fact, law, or discretion which have been presented. The tentative decision shall be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER.

(b) The State agency and other interested persons participating in the hearing may waive the tentative decision. In such event the Assistant Secretary shall issue a final decision under § 1902.22.

§ 1902.22 Final decision following formal proceeding.

(a) Except when interested persons participating in the hearing have waived the tentative decision under § 1902.21(b) interested persons participating in the hearing shall have an opportunity to file exceptions to a tentative decision and objections to such exceptions within periods of time to be specified in the tentative decision. An original and four copies of any exception or objections shall be filed.

(b) (1) Thereafter the Assistant Secretary shall issue a final decision ruling upon each exception and objection filed. The final decision shall be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER.

(2) Any final decision approving a plan shall contain the provisions prescribed in § 1902.20(b) (1) (iii) concerning Federal enforcement in areas covered by the plan.

§ 1902.23 Publication of decisions.

All decisions approving or disapproving a plan shall be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER.

Subpart D-Procedures for Determinations Under Section 18(e) of the Act

SOURCE: 40 FR 54782, Nov. 26, 1975, unless otherwise noted.

GENERAL

§ 1902.30 Purpose and scope.

This subpart contains procedures and criteria under which the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health (hereinafter referred to as the Assistant Secretary) under a delegation of authority from the Secretary of Labor (Secretary's Order 12-71, 36 FR 8754) will make his

As used in this subpart, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

Act means the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.)

Affirmative 18(e) determination means an affirmative determination under section 18(e) of the Act that the State plan or any modification thereof, is in actual operation meeting the criteria and indices of section 18(c) of the Act and subpart B of this part so as to warrant the withdrawal of the application of discretionary Federal enforcement and standards authority from issues covered by the plan, or by any modification thereof.

Assistant Regional Director means the Assistant Regional Director for Occupational Safety and Health for the region in which a State is located.

Assistant Secretary means the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.

Commencement of a case under section 18(e) of the Act means, for the purpose of retaining Federal jurisdiction despite an affirmative 18(e) determination, the issuance of a citation, and in the case of an imminent danger, the initiation of enforcement proceedings under section 13 of the Act.

Commencement of plan operations means the beginning of operations under a plan following the approval of the plan by the Assistant Secretary and in no case may be later than the effective date of the initial funding grant provided under section 23(g) of the Act.

Development step includes, but is not limited to, those items listed in the published developmental schedule, or any revisions thereof, for each plan contained in 29 CFR part 1952. A developmental step also includes those items specified in the plan as approved under section 18(c) of the Act for completion by the State, as well as those

items which under the approval decision were subject to evaluations. (See e.g., approval of Colorado and Michigan plans, 38 FR 25172, 38 FR 27388, respectively), and changes deemed necessary as a result thereof to make the State program at least as effective as the Federal program within the 3 years developmental period. (See 29 CFR 1953.10(a)).

Initial approval means approval of a State plan, or any modification thereof, under section 18(c) of the Act and subpart C of this part.

Person means any individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, legal representative, organized group of individuals, or any agency, authority or instrumentality of the United States or of a State.

Separable portion of a plan for purposes of an 18(e) determination generally means more than one industrial, occupational or hazard grouping as defined in § 1902.2(c) (1) which is administratively practicable and reasonably separable from the remainder of the plan. (See 29 CFR 1952.6(a).)

§ 1902.32 General policies.

(a) Sections 18 (e) and (f) of the Act provide for the continuing evaluation and monitoring of State plans approved under section 18(c) of the Act. The Assistant Secretary's decision whether to grant an affirmative 18(e) determination will be based, in part, on the results of these evaluations. Section 18(e) provides that a period of not less than 3 years shall have passed before the Assistant Secretary may make a determination that the State program in actual operations is applying the criteria of section 18(c) of the Act. In the case of a developmental plan, § 1902.2(b) of this part requires that the Assistant Secretary must have at least one year in which to evaluate the plan's actual operations following the completion of all developmental steps specified in the plan. Thus, to be considered for an 18(e) determination, at least three years shall have passed following commencement of operations after the initial approval of a State's occupational safety and health plan by the Assistant Secretary. In the case of a developmental plan, at least one year shall have

passed following the completion of all developmental steps, but, in any event, at least three years must have passed following initial approval of the plan before discretionary Federal enforcement authority and standards may be withdrawn from issues covered by an approved plan.

(b) In making an 18(e) determination, the Assistant Secretary will determine if actual operations under a State's plan, or under a separable portion of the plan, indicate that the State is applying the criteria of section 18(c) of the Act and the indices of effectiveness of subpart B of this part in a manner which renders operations under the plan "at least as effective as" operations under the Federal program in providing safe and healthful employment and places of employment within the State. In making this determination, the Assistant Secretary may consider such information which he deems appropriate for an informed decision.

(c) If the Assistant Secretary makes an affirmative 18(e) determination, the Federal enforcement provisions of sections 5(a) (2), 8 (except for the purposes of continuing evaluations under section 18(f) of the Act), 9, 10, 13 and 17 and standards promulgated under section 6 of the Act shall not apply with respect to those occupational safety and health issues covered under the plan which have been given an affirmative 18(e) determination. However, the Assistant Secretary may retain jurisdiction over proceedings commenced under sections 9, 10 and 13 of the Act before the date of his determination. In addition, the Assistant Secretary shall retain his jurisdiction under the anti-discrimination provisions of section 11(c) of the Act.

(d) If the Assistant Secretary determines that a State plan, or any portion thereof, has not met the criteria for an 18(e) determination, he shall retain his authority under the enforcement provisions of sections 5(a) (2), 8, 9, 10, 13, and 17 and his standards authority under section 6 of the Act in the issues found ineligible for an 18(e) determination. In addition, his decision may result in the commencement of proceedings for withdrawal of approval of the plan, or any separable

portion thereof, under 29 CFR part 1955.

(e) Once a State's plan, or any modification thereof, has been given an affirmative 18(e) determination, the State is required to maintain a program which will meet the requirements of section 18 (c) and will continue to be "at least as effective as" the Federal program operations in the issues covered by the determination. As the Federal program changes and thereby becomes more effective, the State is correspondingly required to adjust its program at a level which would provide a program for workplace safety and health which would be "at least as effective as" the improvements in the Federal program. A failure to comply with this requirement may result in the revocation of the affirmative 18(e) determination and the resumption of Federal enforcement and standards authority and/or in the commencement of proceedings for the withdrawal of approval of the plan, or any portion thereof, pursuant to 29 CFR part 1955.

(f) The Assistant Secretary may reconsider and, if necessary, rescind or revoke all or a separable portion of an affirmative 18(e) determination and reinstate concurrent Federal enforcement authority if he finds that a State does not maintain its commitment to provide a program for employee safety and health protection meeting the requirements of section 18(c) of the Act. This authority is designed to be used in instances where operations under a State program are found to be less effective than under the Federal program because of unusual circumstances which are temporary in nature. The Assistant Secretary may also use this procedure to reinstate Federal enforcement authority in conjunction with plan withdrawal proceedings in order to ensure that there is no serious gap in his commitment to assure safe and healthful working conditions so far as possible for every employee.

COMPLETION OF DEVELOPMENTAL STEPS-CERTIFICATION

§ 1902.33 Developmental period.

Upon the commencement of plan operations after the initial approval of a State's plan by the Assistant Secretary, a State has three years in which to complete all of the developmental steps specified in the plan as approved. Section 1953.11 of this chapter sets forth the procedures for the submission and consideration of developmental changes by the Assistant Secretary. Generally, whenever a State completes a developmental step, it must submit the resulting change as a supplement to its plan together with relevant documentation to the Assistant Secretary for his approval. The Assistant Secretary's approval of such changes is then published in the FEDERAL REGISTER and the pertinent subparts of part 1952 of this chapter are amended to reflect the completion of a developmental step.

§ 1902.34 Certification of completion of developmental steps.

(a) Upon the completion of all of the developmental steps in a State's plan, which is to be accomplished not later than three years following commencement of plan operations after approval of the plan by the Assistant Secretary under section 18(c), the Assistant Regional Director shall certify, as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, that all developmental steps in the plan have been met and that the State's program is to be evaluated on the basis of its eligibility for an 18(e) determination after at least one year of evaluations of the plan.

(b) Upon determining that a State has completed all of its developmental steps, the Assistant Regional Director shall prepare a certification which he shall promptly forward to the Assistant Secretary. The certification shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following;

(1) A list of all developmental steps or revisions thereof, plan amendments or changes which result in the completion of the steps or revisions thereof, and the dates the Assistant Secretary's or the Assistant Regional Direc

tor's approval of each change was published in the FEDERAL REGISTER;

(2) Substantive changes, if any, in the State program which were approved by the Assistant Secretary and their dates of publication in the FEDERAL REGISTER;

(3) Documentation that the legal basis for the applicable State merit system has been approved by the U.S. Civil Service Commission and that the actual operations of the State merit system has been found acceptable by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration with the advice of the U.S. Civil Service Commission; and

(4) A description of the issues which are covered by the State plan. Where applicable, the certification shall include a description of those separable portions of the plan which have been certified for 18(e) evaluation purposes as well as those portions of the plan which were not certified by the Assistant Regional Director.

(c) After a review of the certification and the State's plan, if the Assistant Secretary finds that the State has completed all the developmental steps specified in the plan, he shall publish the certification in the FEDERAL REGISTER and amend the appropriate subpart of part 1952 of this chapter to reflect this finding.

§ 1902.35 Effect of certification.

Publication of the certification acknowledging the completion of all of the developmental steps in a State's plan will automatically initiate the evaluation of a State's plan for the purposes of an 18(e) determination. Evaluation for the purposes of an 18(e) determination will continue for at least one year after the publication of the certification in the FEDERAL REGISTER. Federal enforcement authority under sections 5(a)(2), 8, 9, 10, 11(c), 13, and 17 of the Act and Federal standards authority under section 6 of the Act will not be relinquished during the evaluation period. Evaluation conducted for 18(e) determination purposes will be based on the criteria set forth in §§ 1902.37 and 1902.38.

BASIS FOR 18(e) DETERMINATIONS

§ 1902.36 General provisions.

(a) In making his evaluation of the actual operations of a State's plan for the purposes of an 18(e) determination, the Assistant Secretary shall consider all relevant data which will aid him in making an effective determination. In his evaluation he shall consider whether the requirements of section 18(c) of the Act and the criteria for State plans outlined in subpart B of this part as well as those in § 1902.37 are being applied in actual operations for a reasonable period of time in a manner which warrants the termination of concurrent Federal enforcement authority and standards in issues covered under the plan.

(b) The Assistant Secretary's evaluation for an 18(e) determination will be addressed to consideration of whether the criteria and indices in § 1902.37(a) are being applied by the State in such a manner as to render its program in operation at least as effective as operations under the Federal program. In considering the question of such application, the Assistant Secretary shall also consider the factors provided under § 1902.37(b). The Assistant Secretary's evaluation may include such other information on the application of the criteria and indices in § 1902.37 such as information developed from comments received from the public and the results of any hearings which may have been held under § 1902.40 concerning the proposed 18(e) determination.