[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 156 (Wednesday, August 13, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 48335]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-20611]


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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 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: Telephone Interviews with Occupants of World Trade Center 1, 
2, and 7.
    Form Number(s): None.
    OMB Approval Number: None.
    Type of Review: Emergency submission.
    Burden Hours: 750.
    Number of Respondents: 1,000.
    Average Hours Per Response: 45 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: NIST is conducting the Federal Investigation of the 
World Trade Center disaster subsequent to the House Committee on 
Science (Sherwood Boehlert, R-NY, Chairman) hearing on May 1, 2002, on 
The Investigation of the World Trade Center Collapse: Findings, 
Recommendations and Next Steps and the House Committee on Science 
(Sherwood Boehlert, R-NY, Chairman) hearing on March 6, 2002, on 
Learning from 9/11--Understanding the Collapse of the World Trade 
Center. The NIST Investigation is presently conducted under the 
authority of the National Construction Safety Team Act (NCST), Public 
Law 107-231, signed into law by the President on October 1, 2002. The 
objectives of the NIST World Trade Center Investigation are to: (1) 
Determine technically, why and how the 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 first-hand accounts are critical to develop or refute 
investigatory hypotheses, support modeling results, and record events 
inside the buildings which cannot otherwise be determined. Factors 
which may affect the decision to initiate evacuation, including 
emergency communications, previous evacuation experience (1993 
bombing), and training, will be examined. Further, this study will 
estimate the initial population of the World Trade Center 1, 2, and 7 
on the morning of September 11, 2001. Ultimately, the data from this 
study will inform the development and revision of building codes, 
standards, and practices for the evacuation of high-rise buildings. 
This information collection 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: Individuals or households.
    Frequency: One-time.
    Respondent's 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 September 15, 2003 to Jacqueline Zeiher, 
OMB Desk Officer, Room 10202, New Executive Office Building, 
Washington, DC 20503.

    Dated: August 8, 2003.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-20611 Filed 8-12-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3150-13-P