Respiratory protective devices--NIOSH. Notice of proposed rulemaking.

This proposed rule addresses NIOSH's and the Department of Labor/Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA) certification requirements for respiratory protective devices. Specifically, the proposal would replace existing MSHA regulations with new public health regulations, while also upgrading current testing requirements for particulate filters. This action is the first of a series of modulates which will, over the next several years, upgrade current respirator requirements. This modular approach will allow improvements to be implemented on a priority basis as well as facilitate adaptation to new requirements by the manufacturers and users of respirators. Except for the particulate-filter requirements, most requirements of existing regulations would be incorporated into the new regulations without change. The proposed testing requirements for particulate filters would significantly improve the current approach to evaluating the effectiveness of an air-purifying respirator's filter to remove toxic particulates from the ambient air, updating existing provisions to be consistent with two decades of advances in respiratory protection technology. The certification of air-purifying respirators under these proposed requirements would also enable respirator users to select from a broader range of certified respirators that meet the current performance criteria recommended by CDC for respiratory devices used in health-care settings for protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the infectious agent that causes tuberculosis (TB). This Notice also announces an informal public meeting on the proposed rule, as indicated below. Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, MSHA is publishing a proposal to remove existing regulations at 30 CFR part 11, which would be made obsolete by a final rule resulting from this proposed rule.