Proposed Rule2026-11093
Amending the Medical Evaluation Requirements in the Respiratory Protection Standard for Certain Types of Respirators
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 3, 2026
Issuing agencies
Labor DepartmentOccupational Safety and Health Administration
Abstract
OSHA is providing an additional comment period to allow interested persons to comment on OSHA's proposal to remove some medical evaluation requirements from the Respiratory Protection Rule, 29 CFR 1910.134, for certain types of respirators. This proposed change would only impact filtering facepiece respirators and loose-fitting powered air-purifying respirators. Following consideration of the rulemaking by OSHA's Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH), OSHA is re-opening the record for this rulemaking to provide an additional 30 days for public comment.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 106 (Wednesday, June 3, 2026)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 3, 2026)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33130-33131]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-11093]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
29 CFR Part 1910
[Docket No. OSHA-2025-0006]
RIN 1218-AD48
Amending the Medical Evaluation Requirements in the Respiratory
Protection Standard for Certain Types of Respirators
AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of reopening of the rulemaking record.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: OSHA is providing an additional comment period to allow
interested persons to comment on OSHA's proposal to remove some medical
evaluation requirements from the Respiratory Protection Rule, 29 CFR
1910.134, for certain types of respirators. This proposed change would
only impact filtering facepiece respirators and loose-fitting powered
air-purifying respirators. Following consideration of the rulemaking by
OSHA's Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH),
OSHA is re-opening the record for this rulemaking to provide an
additional 30 days for public comment.
DATES: The comment period for the proposed rule published July 1, 2025
at 90 FR 28463 is reopened. Written comments must be submitted on or
before July 6, 2026.
ADDRESSES:
Written comments: You may submit comments and attachments,
identified by Docket No. OSHA-2025-0006, electronically at
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, which is the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Follow
the instructions online for making electronic submissions.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency's name and
the docket number for this rulemaking (Docket No. OSHA-2025-0006). When
uploading multiple attachments to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, please number
all of your attachments because <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> will not
automatically number the attachments. This will be very useful in
identifying all attachments. For example, Attachment 1_title of your
document, Attachment 2_title of your document, Attachment 3_title of
your document. For assistance with commenting and uploading documents,
please see the Frequently Asked Questions on <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>.
All comments, including any personal information you provide, are
placed in the public docket without change and may be made available
online at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. Therefore, OSHA cautions commenters
about submitting information they do not want made available to the
public, or submitting materials that contain personal information
(either about themselves or others), such as Social Security Numbers
and birthdates.
Docket: The docket for this rulemaking (Docket No. OSHA-2025-0006)
is available at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, the Federal eRulemaking Portal.
Additional materials and information related to OSHA's consultation
with the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH)
will be available at <a href="https://www.osha.gov/advisorycommittee/accsh/minutes">https://www.osha.gov/advisorycommittee/accsh/minutes</a>. All comments and submissions are listed in the
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> index; however, some information (e.g., copyrighted
material) may not be publicly available to read or download through
that website. All documents submitted to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, including
copyrighted material, are available for inspection through the OSHA
Docket Office. Contact the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693-2350 (TTY
number: (877) 889-5627) for assistance in locating docket submissions.
Copies of this Federal Register Notice: Electronic copies of this
Federal Register document are available at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>.
This Federal Register notice, as well as news releases and other
relevant information, is available at OSHA's web page at <a href="http://www.osha.gov">http://www.osha.gov</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
For press inquiries: Contact Frank Meilinger, Director, OSHA Office
of Communications, U.S. Department of Labor; telephone: (202) 693-1999;
email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e28d918a83818d8f8f91a2868d8ecc858d94"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fa9589929b9995979789ba9e9596d49d958c">[email protected]</span></a>.
For general information and technical inquiries: Contact Andrew
Levinson, Director, Directorate of Standards and Guidance, Occupational
Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor; telephone:
(202) 693-1950; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#650a160d044b01160225010a094b020a13"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8be4f8e3eaa5eff8eccbefe4e7a5ece4fd">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 1, 2025, OSHA published a proposal
to update the Respiratory Protection Standard, 29 CFR 1910.134, by
amending the medical evaluation requirements specified in the medical
evaluation paragraph (e) where an employee is required to wear either a
filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) or loose-fitting powered air-
purifying respirator (PAPR). The proposal and a full explanation of the
proposed change are provided in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 90
FR 28463. Using a respirator may place a physiological burden on
employees that varies with the job and workplace conditions in which
the respirator is used and the medical status of the employee. OSHA has
preliminarily determined this burden differs based on the type of
respirator worn and therefore proposes an amendment to the medical
evaluation requirements of the standard for FFRs and loose-fitting
PAPRs (90 FR 28463). The comment period was scheduled to end on
September 2, 2025, but was subsequently extended an additional 60 days
to November 1, 2025, in response to requests from the public (90 FR
40541, 08/20/2025).
At the time of publication of the proposal, OSHA was in the process
of appointing members to the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety
and Health (ACCSH). OSHA stated in the proposal that it would present
this proposed rule to ACCSH once that process was complete and would
place the Committee's recommendations on the OSHA website and in the
docket for this proposed rule to allow the public to provide comments
on those recommendations. On March 31, 2026, OSHA consulted with ACCSH
on this proposed rule.
On March 31 and April 1, 2026 the Committee members discussed
differing views of the proposal, and on April 1 the Committee approved
the following recommendation by a vote of five to four: ``ACCSH
recommends that OSHA not proceed with the proposal to remove the
medical evaluation requirements and continue to look for best practices
and provide those to employers.'' OSHA
[[Page 33131]]
is now reopening the rulemaking record to allow for public comment for
an additional 30 days. To read or download the ACCSH recommendations,
comments, and other materials submitted in the docket, go to Docket No.
OSHA-2025-0006 at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. Additional materials and
information related to OSHA's consultation with ACCSH will be available
at <a href="https://www.osha.gov/advisorycommittee/accsh/minutes">https://www.osha.gov/advisorycommittee/accsh/minutes</a>.
Authority and Signature
This document was prepared under the direction of David Keeling,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. It is
issued under the authority of sections 4 and 6 of the Occupational
Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653 and 655), section 41 of
the Longshore and Harbor Worker's Compensation Act (section 107 of the
Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (the Construction Safety
Act); section 41 of the Longshore and Harbor Worker's Compensation Act
(40 U.S.C. 3704); section 41 of the Longshore and Harbor Worker's
Compensation Act (3 U.S.C. 941), 29 CFR part 1911, and Secretary of
Labor's Order No. 07-2025 (90 FR 27878).
Dated: May 21, 2026.
David Keeling,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health
[FR Doc. 2026-11093 Filed 6-2-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-26-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on June 3, 2026.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.