[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 65 (Friday, April 4, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16506-16507]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-8256]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[ORD-2003-0001; FRL-7477-2]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission of EPA ICR 
No. 2109.01 to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request

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 the following Information 
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: Seven County Study of Air 
Quality and Birth Defects: Computer-Assisted Telephone Questionnaire 
for Subset of Study Population (EPA ICR No. 2109.01) The ICR, which is 
abstracted below, describes the nature of the information collection 
and its estimated burden and cost.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before May 5, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Follow the detailed instructions in the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Pauline Mendola, U.S. EPA/NHEERL, 
Human Studies Division, MD 58 A, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; 
telephone number: (919) 966-6953; fax (919) 966-7584; e-mail address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB 
for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 
1320.12. On December 23, 2002 (67 FR 78227) EPA sought comments on this 
ICR pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). EPA received no comments.
    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
No. ORD-2003-0001 which is available for public viewing at the Office 
of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket in the EPA Docket Center 
(EPA/DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, 
DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The 
telephone number for the Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the 
telephone number for the Office of Environmental Information Docket is 
(202) 566-1753. An electronic version of the public docket is available 
through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/edocket. Use 
EDOCKET to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of 
the contents of the public docket, and to access those documents in the 
public docket that are available electronically. Once in the system, 
select ``search,'' then key in the docket ID number identified above.
    Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA and OMB 
within 30 days of this notice, and according to the following detailed 
instructions: (1) Submit your comments to EPA online using EDOCKET (our 
preferred method), by e-mail to [email protected], or by mail to: EPA 
Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 28221T, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) Mail your 
comments to OMB at: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 
725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.
    EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted 
electronically or in paper, will be made available for public viewing 
in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment 
contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other information whose public 
disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a comment 
containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference to that 
material in the version of the comment that is placed in EDOCKET. The 
entire printed comment, including the copyrighted material, will be 
available in the public docket. Although identified as an item in the 
official docket, information claimed as CBI, or whose disclosure is 
otherwise restricted by statute, is not included in the official public 
docket, and will not

[[Page 16507]]

be available for public viewing in EDOCKET. For further information 
about the electronic docket, see EPA's Federal Register notice 
describing the electronic docket at 67 FR 38102 (May 31, 2002), or go 
to http://www.epa.gov/edocket.
    Title: Seven County Study of Air Quality and Birth Defects: 
Computer-Assisted Telephone Questionnaire for Subset of Study 
Population (EPA ICR Number 2109.01). This is a request for a new 
collection. Under the OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to 
conduct or sponsor the collection of information while this submission 
is pending at OMB.
    Abstract: The questionnaire contains a maximum of 28 questions 
categorized into 6 sections: Residential History, Work History, Time 
Spent Outside the Home (Weekdays), Time Spent Outside the Home 
(Weekends), Multivitamin Use, and Tobacco Use. Study participants are 
the mothers of babies born with and without birth defects in 1999 in 
seven Texas counties and will be randomly selected from a larger case-
control study of air pollution and birth defects in the state. 
Potential participants will be first contacted by mail to provide basic 
information about the questionnaire. Within two weeks of receipt of the 
letter, they will be telephoned and invited to complete the 
questionnaire over the telephone. Participation in the telephone 
interview is completely voluntary. The study investigators will use 
this data to help estimate the association between air pollution 
exposure and the risk of selected birth defects. The questionnaire 
seeks to gather information on individual-level behaviors that have 
never been collected in studies published in this area of research. If 
it proves useful, it will indicate a need for such supplemental data 
collection in future studies. Confidentiality of the participants will 
be maintained by keeping all electronic forms and datasets on password 
protected computers, and any CDs or floppy disks in locked filing 
cabinets of the study investigators. No participant will be 
identifiable through any publications including EPA reports, 
dissertation manuscripts and journal articles.
    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, and are 
identified on the form and/or instrument, if applicable.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 10 
minutes per response. 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: Individuals or households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1000.
    Frequency of Response: Once.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 167.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $2,458.24.

    Dated: March 27, 2003.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 03-8256 Filed 4-3-03; 8:45 am]
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