[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 238 (Monday, December 13, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69528-69530]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-32179]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6507-4]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Health Effects of Particulate Matter and Co-Pollutant 
Exposures Near the El Paso/Juarez Border Crossings

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.), this document announces that EPA is planning to submit the 
following proposed Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB): Health Effects of Particulate Matter 
and Co-pollutant Exposures near the El Paso/ Juarez Border Crossings; 
EPA ICR Number: 1940.01. Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review 
and approval, EPA is soliciting comments on specific aspects of the 
proposed information collection as described below.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before February 11, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Human Studies Division, Health Effects Research Laboratory, 
Environmental Protection Agency, MD-58, Research Triangle Park, NC 
27711. Interested persons may obtain a copy of the ICR without charge 
by contacting: Dr. Melissa Gonzales, US EPA (MD 58-A), Research 
Triangle Park, NC, 27711.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Public comments and inquiries should 
be submitted to: Dr. Melissa Gonzales, (919) 966-7549, FAX: (919) 966-
7584, E-mail: [email protected]; or by mailing a request 
to the address above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 69529]]

    Affected entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are 
school officials, parents and children in the El Paso Independent 
School District.
    Title: Health Effects of Particulate Matter and Co-pollutant 
Exposures near the El Paso/Juarez Border Crossings (EPA ICR Number: 
1940.01).
    Abstract: An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays 
a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's 
regulations are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter 15. Before 
submitting the ICR to OMB for review and approval, EPA is soliciting 
comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as 
described below.
    The proposed study will be conducted by the Epidemiology and 
Biomarkers Branch, Human Studies Division, National Health and 
Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and 
Development, US EPA. The purpose of this study is to examine the 
respiratory health effects in school-age children of mobile source air 
pollutants. Further knowledge regarding the respiratory health effects 
of airborne particulate matter is required to reduce scientific 
uncertainties in the development of an Air Quality Criteria for 
Particulate Matter under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7403(d)). The 
National Academy of Science's Committee on Research Priorities for 
Airborne Particulate Matter has identified several issues of scientific 
uncertainty in health effects of airborne particulate matter exposures, 
including the role of particle size and the role of particulate matter 
constituents and co-pollutants. In this study of motor vehicle-related 
air pollution and children's health, the respiratory health effects of 
ultrafine particles (less than 0.3 microns in diameter), fine 
particulate matter (PM2.5; less than 2.5 microns in 
diameter), and gaseous co-pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and 
volatile organic compounds will be examined.
    The El Paso, Texas metropolitan area was selected because of a 
combination of environmental features. Heavily traveled interstate 
freeways run through the central part of the city and over 18 million 
vehicles annually cross three international ports of entry between the 
two cities. During the winter months, low-level temperature inversions 
routinely trap motor vehicle emissions close to ground level. These 
conditions lead to routine violations of National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards during the winter months. This combination of heavy traffic 
volume and wintertime meteorological conditions in a large metropolitan 
area provides an opportunity to investigate the health effects of 
mobile source pollutants in children.
    The parents of all children enrolled in the fourth and fifth grades 
of the El Paso Independent School District will receive an eight-page 
respiratory health questionnaire in both English and Spanish along with 
a written request for permission for their children to participate in a 
pulmonary function examination at their school. Participation in the 
study is entirely voluntary. The respiratory health questionnaire 
conforms to the ATS/DLD standard respiratory symptom questionnaire and 
consists of questions specific to the child such as general demographic 
information, childhood respiratory illness and history of asthma, and 
current respiratory health conditions. There also are questions 
regarding household characteristics and family history of smoking, 
asthma, and respiratory illnesses. Each parent will be asked to 
complete the questionnaire, seal the completed form in the provided 
envelope, and send the envelope back to the teacher with the child.
    Ambient air pollutants will be measured at twenty-two elementary 
schools in the El Paso metropolitan area. These twenty-two schools were 
selected to represent areas close to and far away from central El Paso 
and the international border crossings as well as those areas in 
between. Once explicit permission has been received from both the 
parent and the child, the children from the selected schools will 
attempt to perform a routine pulmonary function examination consisting 
of blowing three to eight times into a tube connected to a spirometer. 
The pulmonary function breathing test is no more stressful than blowing 
out the candles on a birthday cake. During the pulmonary function 
examination, a field technician will record each child's height and 
weight, and coach the child to perform the breathing test. A new, 
sterile, disposable mouthpiece will be used for each child. The 
pulmonary function examination will be conducted according to 
guidelines developed by the American Thoracic Society and will be 
conducted in the child's elementary school during normal school hours 
with an school nurse on site during the examinations.
    The information collected in this study will be used by scientists 
within EPA's Office of Research and Development. The data will be used 
to:
    (i) Provide a better understanding of the association between 
exposures to ultrafine particulate matter and co-pollutants and 
pulmonary illness in children;
    (ii) Assess the classification of children's exposure using data 
from the epidemiological study questionnaire, direct air pollutant 
measurements and exposure models for refining exposure classification 
methods for air pollution health studies;
    (iii) Identify key exposure factors for school age children to 
particulate matter and co-pollutants;
    (iv) Assess the prevalence of pulmonary illness, including reduced 
pulmonary function, in school children living in a metropolitan area 
along the US-Mexico border.
    The information will appear in the form of EPA reports, journal 
articles, and will also be made publicly available. An agency may not 
conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a 
collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB 
control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations are 
listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter 15. The EPA would like to 
solicit comments to:
    (i) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    (ii) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of 
the methodology and assumptions used;
    (iii) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; and
    (iv) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.

Burden Statement

    Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources 
expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or 
provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time 
needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize 
technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and 
verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and 
disclosing and providing information; adjust the existing ways to 
comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements; 
train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of

[[Page 69530]]

information; search data sources; complete and review the collection of 
information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the information.

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                                                                                         Estimated                                 Total
               Type of respondent                        Respondent activities           number of       Burden     Frequency      burden       Total
                                                                                        respondents      hours                     hours     burden cost
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Adult...........................................  Complete Questionnaire............           9,100         0.40            1        3,640    a $53,581
Child...........................................  Pulmonary Function Exam...........           4,300         0.35            1        1,505      b 7,751
    Total.......................................  ..................................          13,400  ...........  ...........        5,145       61,332
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a $14.72/hour.
b $5.15/hour (minimum wage).

    There are no direct respondent costs for this data collection. 
There is no annual recordkeeping burden for this ICR.

    Dated: December 1, 1999.
Hillel S. Koren,
Director, Human Studies Division, National Health and Environmental 
Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development.
[FR Doc. 99-32179 Filed 12-10-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P