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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 08-728

PROPOSED RULEMAKING

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

[ 7 PA. CODE CH. 139 ]

Amusement Rides and Attractions Erected Permanently or Temporarily at Carnivals, Fairs and Amusement Parks; Advance Notice of Final Rulemaking

[38 Pa.B. 1830]
[Saturday, April 19, 2008]

   The Department of Agriculture (Department) provides this advance notice of final rulemaking regarding Amusement Rides and Attractions Erected Permanently or Temporarily at Carnivals, Fairs and Amusement Parks. Proposed rulemaking was published at 37 Pa.B. 2823 (June 23, 2007).

Statutory Authority

   The Amusement Ride Inspection Act (act) (4 P. S. §§ 401--419) provides the legal authority for this final-form rulemaking.

   Section 4 of the act (4 P. S. § 404) prescribes the powers and duties of the Department with respect to amusement rides and authorizes the Department to adopt regulations necessary to its administration of the provisions of the act.

Background

   The Department afforded the public a 30-day comment period with respect to the proposed rulemaking. Comments were received from several amusement park operations, as well as from the Independent Regulatory Review Commission. Early in the process of drafting the proposed rulemaking, the Department recommended to the Amusement Ride Safety Advisory Board (Board), and that Board agreed, that prospective commentators should be afforded a second window within to offer comments on the final-form rulemaking. This notice provides that second opportunity to comment.

Summary of Changes from the Proposed Rulemaking

   The Department made a number of changes to the final-form rulemaking in response to comments it received. Although interested persons are encouraged to view the draft final-form rulemaking for themselves, the following presents a general summary of some of the changes from the proposed rulemaking:

   Section 139.2. Definitions. Clarifying language has been added to the proposed definitions of ''operation,'' ''professional engineer'' and ''qualified inspector.''
Section 139.4. Registration. Language has been added to address situations where the required Department-issued registration plate cannot be readily attached to an amusement ride or amusement attraction so as to be plainly visible to the riding public.
Section 139.5. Insurance. Language has been added to address changes in insurance-related statutes and to simplify the required certificate that demonstrates adequate insurance coverage for an amusement ride or amusement attraction.
Section 139.9. Qualified inspectors. Language has been added to require the Department to report the results of a Qualified Inspector Test within 30 days of the test, and to limit the Department's discretion with respect to continuing education of inspectors so that it would always entail at least 16 hours of continuing education during the period of certification.
Section 139.10. Advisory board. Although the Department originally proposed to delete this entire section, it will be retained and revised, to track with the provisions of the act addressing the composition and functions of this Board.
Section 139.11. Accident reporting. Language has been added to clarify that the 48-hour window within which an amusement ride or amusement attraction owner must report ride or attraction-related deaths, serious injuries or illnesses does not open until the owner acquires knowledge of the reportable incident.
Section 139.12. Variances. Although the Department originally proposed to delete this entire section, it will be retained and revised, to track with the provisions of the Act addressing variances.
Section 139.75. Fire protection and prevention. Language has been added to more clearly describe how fire extinguishers should be located with respect to gasoline-driven amusement rides and rides that might present fire hazards.
Section 139.76. Ride and attraction operators and attendants. Language has been added to clarify that the number of operators and attendants for an amusement ride or amusement attraction must meet or exceed the numbers recommended by the ride or attraction manufacturer or the ASTM International F-24 Committee Standards, whichever may be higher.

Obtaining or Viewing the Draft Final-Form Regulation

   The draft final-form regulation can be viewed or downloaded from the Department's web site: www. agriculture.state.pa.us. Interested persons may also obtain a copy of the document by contacting John Dillabaugh, Director, Bureau of Ride and Measurement Standards, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, 2301 North Cameron Street, Harrisburg, PA 17110-9408, (717) 772-4189.

Comments

   Interested persons are invited to submit comments on the draft final-form regulation. The comment period expires at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6, 2008. Written comments must be delivered to the Department by that date and time. The comments should be delivered to John Dillabaugh, Director, Bureau of Ride and Measurement Standards, at the address set forth in the preceding paragraph.

DENNIS C WOLFF,   
Secretary

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 08-728. Filed for public inspection April 18, 2008, 9:00 a.m.]


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