Page 79 - Plant design and economics for chemical engineers

GENERAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS 61

TABLE 3
Federal repositories of federal regulations

1. Federal Register (FR)-Published daily, Monday through Friday, excepting federal holidays.
Provides regulations and legal notices issued by federal agencies. The Federal Register is arranged
in the same manner as the CFR (see below), as follows:
a. Title-Each title represents a broad area that is subject to federal regulations. There are a
total of 50 titles. For example, Title 29 involves labor, and Title 40 is about protection of
the environment.
b. Chapter-Each chapter is usually assigned to a single issuing agency. For example, Title 29,
Chapter XVII, covers the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; Title 40,
Chapter I, covers the Environmental Protection Agency.
c. Part-Chapters or subchapters are divided into parts, each consisting of a unified body of
regulations devoted to a specific subject. For example, Title 40, Chapter I, Subchapter C,
Part 50, is National Primary and Secondary Ambient Air Quality Standards. Title 29,
Chapter XVII, Part 1910, is Occupational Safety and Health Standards. Parts can further
be divided into subparts, relating sections within a part.
d. Section-The section is the basic unit of the CFR (see below), and ideally consists of a short,
simple presentation of one proposition.
e. Paragraph-When internal division of a section is necessary, sections are divided into
paragraphs (which may even be further subdivided).
2. FR Index-Published monthly, quarterly, and annually. The index is based on a consolidation
of contents entries appearing in the month’s issues of the Federal Register together with broad
subject references. The quarterly and annual index consolidates the previous three months’ and
12 months’ issues, respectively.
3. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)-Published quarterly and revised annually. A codification in
book form of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive
departments and agencies of the federal government.
4. CFR GeneralIndex-Revised annually. July 1. Contains broad subject and title references.
5. Cumulative List of CFR Sections Affected-Published monthly and revised annually according
to the following schedule: Titles 1-16 as of Jan. 1; 17-27 as of April 1; 28-41 as of July 1;
42-50 as of Oct. 1. The CFR is also revised according to these dates. Provides users of the CFR
with amendatory actions published in the Federal Register.

designs that provide equivalent protection. Some sections are very specific,
while others are rather vague. Additionally, some sections refer to other sets of
codes such as ASME and ASNI. As a result, when a designer cannot obtain a
satisfactory interpretation of a regulation from the standards, the regional or
area OSHA should be contacted and an interpretation requested. Since many
states also have approved plans comparable to that of the federal government,
the designer must also be aware of these regulations.
It should be noted that maintaining an awareness of federal regulations is
not an end in itself, but a necessary component for legally acceptable plant
design. To aid the design engineer, Table 3 presents a listing of federal
repositories for environmental and safety regulations.