[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 38 (Wednesday, February 26, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8876-8877]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-4559]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce has submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for emergency clearance the following 
proposal for collection of information under the provisions of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).
    Agency: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
    Title: Survey of Companies Having Employees Present at WTC 
Buildings 1, 2, and 7 as Part of the NIST WTC Investigation.
    Form Number(s): None.
    OMB Approval Number: None.
    Type of Request: Emergency.
    Burden Hours: 862.
    Number of Respondents: 606.
    Average Hours per Response: 2 hours per response for companies; 15 
minutes per response for family members.
    Needs and Uses: NIST will be conducting the Investigation as 
requested under the WTC Report issued by Congress on February 8, 2002. 
The objectives of the NIST World Trade Center Investigation are to: (1) 
Determine technically, why and how buildings WTC 1, 2, and 7 collapsed 
following the initial impact of the aircraft; (2) Determine why the 
injuries and fatalities were so high or low depending on location, 
including all technical aspects of fire protection, response, 
evacuation, and occupant behavior and emergency response; (3) Determine 
the procedures and practices that were used in the design, 
construction, operation, and maintenance of the World Trade Center 
Buildings; and (4) Identify, as specifically as possible, building and 
fire codes, standards, and practices that warrant revision and are 
still in use. The proposed information collection will

[[Page 8877]]

consist of a written request to company representatives asking for a 
list of contact information for employees present in World Trade Center 
Building 1, 2, or 7 on the morning of September 11, 2001 at the time of 
the first aircraft impact. Additionally, a web site will be set up in 
order to collect names and contact information of family members of 
victims of the collapse of WTC 1 and 2 who spoke to decedents after the 
building was struck by the first airplane. This information will be 
used to form a database of occupant contact information. The occupants 
may be contacted at a later date pursuant to a separate OMB request to 
voluntarily participate in interviews and/or focus groups to be 
conducted by the NIST Investigation. These interviews and focus groups 
will develop or refute investigatory hypotheses, support modeling 
results, and record events inside the buildings which cannot otherwise 
be determined. This information must be conducted in a timely manner in 
order to facilitate dissemination to other aspects of the 
Investigation, including structural analysis, emergency personnel 
response, thermal environment and interior tenability, and egress and 
human behavior analysis.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations, 
individuals or households.
    Frequency: One-time.
    Respondent Obligation: Voluntary.
    OMB Desk Officer: Jacqueline Zeiher, (202) 395-4638.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Diana Hynek, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0266, Department of Commerce, Room 6625, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 
[email protected]).
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent by March 31, 2003, to Jacqueline Zeiher, OMB 
Desk Officer, Room 10202, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 
20503.

    Dated: February 21, 2003.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-4559 Filed 2-25-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P