OSHA can adopt minor rules or amendments without the usual notice-and-comment procedure when the public is not particularly interested, but the agency must include a written finding of good cause for omitting notice and public procedure. This is the limited exception created in 1911.5 and is informed by the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553).
OSHA may skip notice-and-comment when adopting a minor rule or amendment provided the change is one "in which the public is not particularly interested" and the agency incorporates a finding of good cause for not providing notice and public procedure. This limited allowance is described in 1911.5 and is read in light of the APA (5 U.S.C. 553).
The agency must incorporate a written finding of good cause explaining why notice and public procedure were not provided. The requirement to include that finding is explicit in 1911.5.
Section 6(b) is interpreted in light of the APA (5 U.S.C. 553) to permit issuance of minor rules or amendments without notice and comment when the public is not particularly interested, provided a finding of good cause is made. See 1911.5 for this explanation and the APA reference.
The test is whether the action is a "minor rule or amendment in which the public is not particularly interested," and the agency must adopt a finding of good cause for not providing notice and public procedure. This test and the required finding are described in 1911.5.
Yes—if the change is not a minor one in which the public is not particularly interested, the usual notice and public procedure required by the Administrative Procedure Act applies. The limited exception for omitting notice is set out in 1911.5.
No—the provision is a narrow allowance for truly minor changes where the public is not particularly interested; it requires a finding of good cause to omit notice and public procedure, so substantive changes that would attract public interest generally would not meet this standard. This limitation is reflected in 1911.5.
An agency must explicitly state a finding of good cause showing why notice and public procedure were not provided for the minor change. That requirement is prescribed in 1911.5.
No—1911.5 is a narrow exception read in light of the APA; it permits omission of notice-and-comment only for minor changes where the public is not particularly interested and only with a finding of good cause. The relationship between the exception and the APA is described in 1911.5.
OSHA describes them as "minor rules or amendments in which the public is not particularly interested," and any such adoption must include a finding of good cause for not providing notice and public procedure, as stated in 1911.5.
The text of the rule and its codification are in 1911.5, and the historical Federal Register citation is shown in the rule (37 FR 8664, Apr. 29, 1972).
No—1911.5 states the policy that minor rules may be adopted without notice when the public is not particularly interested, but it does not prescribe a specific test or metric for measuring public interest; the agency must nonetheless incorporate a finding of good cause for omitting notice and procedure. See 1911.5.