[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 240 (Wednesday, December 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70013-70014]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-32519]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6509-1]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; A Pilot Study of Children's Total Exposure to 
Persistent Pesticides and Other Persistent Organic Pollutants (CTEPP)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.), this document announces that the following Information 
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: A Pilot Study of Children's 
Total Exposure to Persistent Pesticides and Other Persistent Organic 
Pollutants, EPA ICR Number 1892.02. The ICR describes the nature of the 
information collection and its expected burden and cost; where 
appropriate, it includes the actual data collection instrument.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before January 14, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For a copy of the ICR contact Sandy 
Farmer at EPA by phone at (202) 260-2740, by email at 
[email protected], or download off the Internet at http://
www.epa.gov/icr and refer to EPA ICR No. 1892.02. For technical 
information about the collection contact Gary Evans at (919) 541-3124.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: A Pilot Study of Children's Total Exposure to Persistent 
Pesticides and Other Persistent Organic Pollutants, EPA ICR Number 
1892.02. This is a new collection.
    Abstract: The research study, ``A Pilot Study of Children's Total 
Exposure to Persistent Pesticides and Other Persistent Organic 
Pollutants,'' (CTEPP) is a pilot-scale project involving about 260 
children, which investigates the possible exposures that young children 
may have to common contaminants in their everyday surroundings. These

[[Page 70014]]

contaminants include several pesticides, phenols, polychlorinated 
biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, some of which are 
suspected of being endocrine disrupters. The targeted compounds are 
persistent in the indoor and sometimes the outdoor environments, so 
that very low levels may exist in the children's surrounding 
microenvironments and provide a source of chronic, non-acute exposure. 
The aim of CTEPP is to obtain scientifically valid data and 
statistically robust relationships describing the exposures of a 
subpopulation of young children, between the ages of 18 months and 5 
years, in several North Carolina and Ohio counties. The CTEPP data will 
be used to evaluate and refine existing exposure models so that 
improved, realistic estimates of exposure can be made, and to identify 
the important exposure pathways.
    The CTEPP study has direct practical utility to the Food Quality 
and Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA). It will provide critical data on 
aggregate chronic, sub-acute pesticide exposures and pathways for 
approximately 260 children in several microenvironments. It will allow 
evaluation and refinement of the approaches and models used for 
estimating exposure, and it will facilitate the identification of the 
important exposure pathways. The objectives of CTEPP are thus 
threefold: (1) To measure the total exposures at sub-acute levels of a 
small set of preschool children in several NC and OH counties to a 
suite of persistent pesticides and other persistent organic pollutants 
that they may encounter in their everyday environments; (2) to evaluate 
and refine exposure models using real, physical data; and (3) to 
apportion the exposure pathways and identify the important exposure 
media, so that ultimately children's exposures can be lowered. 
Therefore, CTEPP investigates the total exposures to persistent organic 
compounds in the environment of a group of pre-elementary school 
children through the ingestion, inhalation, and dermal absorption 
pathways, in several non-occupational settings, through multiple 
environmental media.
    Responses to the collection of information are voluntary. 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 Federal Register 
document required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on this 
collection of information was published on 2/1/1999 (64 FR 4868); no 
comments were received.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 6.3 
hours per respondent. 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 information; search data sources; complete and review 
the collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the 
information.
    Respondents/Affected Entities: Parents, day care or pre-school 
operators, children.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 312.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 657 hours.
    Estimated Total Annualized Cost Burden (non-labor costs): $0.
    Send comments on the Agency's need for this information, the 
accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods 
for minimizing respondent burden, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques to the following addresses. Please 
refer to EPA ICR No. 1892.02 in any correspondence.

Ms. Sandy Farmer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of 
Environmental Information, Collection Strategies Division (2822), 401 M 
Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460; and
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and 
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW, 
Washington, DC 20503.

    Dated: December 10, 1999.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 99-32519 Filed 12-14-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P