[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 234 (Tuesday, December 7, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70680-70682]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-26816]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[ORD-2004-0019; FRL-7845-5]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Detroit Children's Health Study: Health Effects of 
Environmental Exposures Among Children Living in the Detroit, Michigan 
Area, EPA ICR Number 2167.01

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 notice announces that EPA is planning to submit a 
proposed Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB). This is a request for a new collection. 
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 7, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number ORD-2004-
0019, to EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail to 
[email protected], or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental 
Protection Agency, Office of Environmental Information Docket, Mail 
Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Auby, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Office of Information Collection, Office of Environmental 
Information, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Mail Code 28221T, Washington, 
DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 566-1672; fax number: (202) 566-1753; 
e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has established a public docket for this 
ICR under Docket ID number ORD-2004-0019, which is available for public 
viewing at the Office of Research and Development 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

[[Page 70681]]

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 Research and Development 
Docket is (202) 566-1752. An electronic version of the public docket is 
available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/edocket. 
Use EDOCKET to obtain a copy of the draft collection of information, 
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 within 
60 days of this notice. 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 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.
    Affected entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are 
school officials, parents and children in the Detroit and Dearborn 
Public Schools.
    Title: Detroit Children's Health Study: Health Effects of 
Environmental Exposures among Children Living in the Detroit, Michigan 
Area.
    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 in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9. 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, U.S. EPA. The purpose 
of this study is to examine the respiratory health effects in school-
age children of mobile and point 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. The Detroit Children's Health Study will contribute 
to our understanding of whether long-term, early-life exposures to 
mobile source emissions, particularly diesel exhaust particles, play a 
key role in the initiation of allergic asthma in schoolchildren.
    A similar NHEERL research project, the El Paso Children's Health 
Study, was conducted among nearly 9,000 schoolchildren with a 
collaboration on exposure assessment with scientists from EPA's 
National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL). The border cities of 
Detroit, Michigan and El Paso, Texas share common characteristics such 
as major diesel truck routes and vehicle idling at international 
borders, but the two areas have great climatic differences. The ORD 
Multi-Year Plan for Particulate Matter includes the Detroit Children's 
Health Study as an integral component of ORD's research on the adverse 
health effects of long-term air pollutant exposures in susceptible 
populations.
    The parents of children enrolled in fourth and fifth grades of 
selected Detroit and Dearborn Public Schools will receive a twenty-page 
respiratory health questionnaire 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. One parent from each family 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-five elementary 
schools in the Detroit metropolitan area. These twenty-five schools 
were selected to represent areas close to and far away from Detroit 
roadways 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 and an 
exhaled nitric oxide (NO) exam. The pulmonary function exam consists of 
blowing three to eight times into a tube connected to a spirometer. 
During the pulmonary function examination, a field technician will 
record each child's height and weight, and coach the child to perform 
the breathing tests. A new, sterile, disposable mouthpiece will be used 
for each child in each test. 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 exhaled nitric oxide exam consists of exhaling into a 
bag made of clear polyvinyl film, fitting the child's nostrils with a 
stopper attached to an NO sampling line, and measuring the NO emitted 
through the nostrils and from the mouth. Neither exam is any more 
stressful than blowing out the candles on a birthday cake.
    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: The public reporting and recordkeeping burden for 
this collection of information is

[[Page 70682]]

estimated to average 33 minutes per response or to range from 0.4-1.5 
hours per respondent annually. This survey will not be repeated. 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. 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.
    To comment on the Agency's need for this information, the accuracy 
of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods for 
minimizing respondent burden, including the use of automated collection 
techniques, EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under 
Docket ID No. ORD-2004-0019, which is available for public viewing at 
the Office of Research and Development 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 Research and Development Docket is 
(202) 566-2426. 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. 
Also, you can send comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, NW, 
Washington, DC 20503, Attention: Desk Office for EPA. Please include 
the EPA Docket ID No. ORD-2004-0019 and OMB control number (20XX-XXXX) 
[insert the appropriate OMB ] in any correspondence.

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                                                                             Estimated
            Type of respondent                 Respondent activities         number of     Burden hours      Frequency     Total burden    Total burden
                                                                            respondents                                        hours           cost
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Adult....................................  Complete Questionnaire.......          15,000            0.40               1            6000       a $88,320
Child....................................  Perform Pulmonary Function              3,500            0.50               1            1750         b 9,013
                                            Exam.
Child....................................  Perform Exhaled NO Exam......           2,000            0.25               1             500           2,575
ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½
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a $14.72/hour.
b $5.15/hour (minimum wage).

    There are no direct respondent costs for this data collection.
    No Annual Record Keeping Burden: 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.

    Dated: November 30, 2004.
John Creason,
Acting Director, Human Studies Division.
[FR Doc. 04-26816 Filed 12-6-04; 8:45 am]
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