53 



other subsections of this section, the Secretary shall, 

 as soon as practicable during the period beginning 

 with the effective date of this chapter and ending 

 two years after such date, by rule promulgate as an 

 occupational safety or health standard any national 

 consensus standard, and any established Federal 

 standard, unless he determines that the promulga- 

 tion of such a standard would not result in improved 

 safety or health for specifically designated employ- 

 ees. In the event of conflict among any such stand- 

 ards, the Secretary shall promulgate the standard 

 which assures the greatest protection of the safety 

 or health of the affected employees. 



(b) Procedure for promulgation, modification, or rev- 

 ocation of standards. 



The Secretary may by rule promulgate, modify, or 

 revoke any occupational safety or health standard 

 in the following manner: 



(1) Whenever the Secretary, upon the basis of 

 Information submitted to him in writing by an in- 

 terested person, a representative of any organization 

 of employers or employees, a nationally recognized 

 standards-producing organization, the Secretary of 

 Health, Education, and Welfare, the National Insti- 

 tute for Occupational Safety and Health, or a State 

 or political subdivision, or on the basis of informa- 

 tion developed by the Secretary or otherwise avail- 

 able to him, determines that a rule should be pro- , 

 mulgated in order to serve the objectives of this 

 chapter, the Secretary may request the recommen- 

 dations of an advisory committee appointed under 

 section 656 of this title. The Secretary shall provide 

 such an advisory committee with any proposals of 

 his own or of the Secretary of Health, Education, 

 and Welfare, together with all pertinent factual in- 

 formation developed by the Secretary or the Secre- 

 tary of Health, Education, and Welfare, or otherwise 

 available, including the results of research, demon- 

 strations, and experiments. An advisory committee 

 shall submit to the Secretary its recommendations 

 regarding the rule to be promulgated within ninety 

 days from the date of its appointment or within such 

 longer or shorter period as may be prescribed by the 

 Secretary, but in no event for a period which is 

 longer than two hundred and seventy days. 



(2) The Secretary shall publish a proposed rule 

 promulgating, modifying, or revoking an occupa- 

 tional safety or health standard in the Federal 

 Register and shall afford interested persons a period 

 of thirty days after publication to submit written 

 data or comments. Where an advisory committee Is 

 appointed and the Secretary determines that a rule 

 should be issued, he shall publish the proposed rule 

 within sixty days after the submission of the advi- 

 sory committee's recommendations or the expiration 

 of the period prescribed by the Secretary for such 

 submission. 



(3) On on before the last day of the period pro- 

 vided for the submission of written data or com- 

 ments under paragraph (2) , any interested person 

 may file with the Secretary written objections to the 

 proposed nile, stating the grounds therefore and 

 requesting a public hearing on such objections. 

 Within thirty days after the last day for filing such 



objections, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal 

 Register a notice specifying the occupational safety 

 or health standard to which objections have been 

 filed and a hearing requested, and specifying a time 

 and place for such hearing. 



(4) Within sixty days after the expiration of the 

 period provided for the submission of written data 

 or comments under paragraph (2), or within sixty 

 days after the completion of any hearing held under 

 paragraph (3), the Secretary shall issue a rule pro- 

 mulgating, modifying, or revoking an occupational 

 safety or health standard or make a determination 

 that a rule should not be issued. Such a rule may 

 contain a provision delaying its effective date for 

 such period (not In excess of ninety days) as the 

 Secretary determines may be necessary to insure that 

 affected employers and employees will be Informed 

 of the existence of the standard and of its terms and 

 that employers affected are given an opportunity to 

 familiarize themselves and their employees with the 

 existence of the requirements of the standard. 



(5) The Secretary, in promulgating standards 

 dealing with toxic materials or harmful physical 

 agents luider this subsection, shall set the standard 

 which most adequately assures, to the extent feasi- 

 ble, on the basis of the best available evidence, that 

 no employee will suffer material impairment of 

 health or functional capacity even if such employee 

 has regular exposure to the hazard dealt with by 

 such standard for the period of his working life. De- 

 velopment of standards under this subsection shall 

 be based upon research, demonstrations, experi- 

 ments, and such other information as may be appro- 

 priate. In addition to the attainment of the highest 

 degree of health and safety protection for the em- 

 ployee, other considerations shall be the latest avail- 

 able scientific data in the field, the feasibility of the 

 standards, and experience gained under this and 

 other health and safety laws. Whenever practicable, 

 the standard promulgated shall be expressed in 

 terms of objective criteria and of the performance 

 desired. 



(6) (A) Any employer may apply to the Secretary 

 for a temporary order granting a variance from a 

 standard or any provision thereof promulgated un- 

 der this section. Such temporary order shall be 

 granted only if the employer files an application 

 which meets the requirements of clause (B) and es- 

 tablishes that 111 he is unable to comply with a 

 standard by its effective date because of unavail- 

 ability of professional or technical personnel or of 

 materials and equipment needed to come into com- 

 pliance with the standard or because necessary con- 

 struction or alteration of facilities cannot be com- 

 pleted by the effective date, (ii) he is taking all 

 available steps to safeguard his employees against 

 the hazards covered by the standard, and (ill) he has 

 an effective program for coming into compliance 

 with the standard as quickly as practicable. Any 

 temporary order issued under this paragraph shall 

 prescribe the practices, means, methods, operations, 

 and processes which the employer must adopt and 

 use while the order is in effect and state in detail his 

 program for coming into compliance with the stand- 



