[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 139 (Thursday, July 21, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42058-42060]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-14402]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OAR-2005-0078, FRL-7941-4]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; National Survey on Environmental Management of Asthma, 
EPA ICR Number 1996.03, OMB Control Number 2060-0490

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 an Information Collection 
Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing 
approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on August 31, 
2005. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or 
sponsor the collection of information while the submission is pending 
at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and 
its estimated burden and cost.

DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before August 22, 
2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OAR-2005-
0078, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail 
to [email protected], or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, 
Environmental Protection Agency, Air and Radiation Docket (6102T), 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Susan Conrath, Indoor Environments 
Division, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone number: (202) 343-9389; fax number: (202) 343-2393; 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 February 28th, 2005, (70 FR 9639), EPA sought comments on 
this ICR pursuant to 5CFR 1320.8(d). EPA has addressed the comments 
received.
    EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID 
No. OAR-2005-0078, which is available for public viewing at the Air and 
Radiation 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 Air 
and Radiation Docket is (202) 566-1742, fax: (202) 566-1741. 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

[[Page 42059]]

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 
30 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.
    Title: National Survey on Environmental Management of Asthma.
    Abstract: Executive Order 13045, issued in 1997, directed each 
federal agency to identify, assess, and address environmental health 
and safety risks for children. This executive order also created the 
Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks in Children, 
co-chaired by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In April 
1998, this Task Force identified four priority areas, one of which was 
childhood asthma. In response, EPA launched efforts to better 
understand the role that environmental factors, including airborne 
allergens and irritants, play in the onset of asthma and the triggering 
of asthma symptoms. Indoor allergens include those from house dust 
mites, cockroaches, mold, and animal dander. In addition, exposure to 
environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) has also been shown to be a major 
determinant of asthma symptoms.
    EPA is working to integrate the management of environmental factors 
with the medical treatment of asthma, particularly among children and 
low-income populations. To evaluate the effectiveness of its current 
outreach efforts, EPA proposes to collect data from individual U.S. 
households through a telephone survey. This survey will be used to gain 
information regarding the number of individuals with asthma who have 
taken steps to improve the quality of their indoor environment as part 
of their approach to managing the disease, as well as any barriers they 
may have encountered while attempting to do so. EPA will compare the 
data gained from this survey to a similar survey completed in 2003. 
These data will help the Agency determine if it has reached its 2005 
goal, established by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 
(GPRA), and is on track for the 2012 goal. Specifically, EPA's goal is 
that 2.5 million people with asthma, including one million children and 
200,000 low-income adults, will have taken steps to reduce their 
exposure to indoor environmental asthma triggers by 2005. EPA's 2012 
goal is that 6.5 million people with asthma, including 2.9 million 
children, will have taken steps to reduce their exposure to indoor 
environmental triggers.
    EPA intends to conduct the survey once during the period for which 
this ICR is in effect. EPA will conduct the survey in two phases. The 
first phase is intended to identify households where either an adult 
asthmatic or child with asthma resides. Individuals who participate in 
the first phase of EPA's survey will be chosen at random from U.S. 
households with publicly listed telephone numbers. EPA expects that 15 
percent of individuals who participate in its screening survey will 
have asthma or live in a household with someone who does. After 
responding to several screening questions, adult asthmatics and parents 
of children with asthma will be invited to participate in a longer, 
more in-depth telephone survey. EPA intends to over-sample in 
communities known to have a high percentage of low-income households to 
ensure that the Agency is able to evaluate the effectiveness of its 
outreach efforts to this target population. The National Survey on 
Environmental Management of Asthma is voluntary. EPA does not expect to 
receive confidential information from the individuals who voluntarily 
participate in the survey. However, if a respondent does consider the 
information submitted to be of a proprietary nature, EPA will assure 
its confidentiality based on the provisions of 40 CFR part 2, subpart 
B, ``Confidentiality of Business 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. The OMB control numbers for EPA's 
regulations in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9. The Federal Register 
document required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on this 
collection of information was published on 02/28/05 (70 FR 9639-9640); 
three comments were received.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 
between 3.5 minutes and 13.5 minutes per response, depending on whether 
or not the survey respondent has asthma or lives with someone who has 
asthma. This is a total estimated burden of 3,458 hours for completion 
of this survey. 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 throughout the United 
States with publicly listed residential telephone numbers.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 45,278.
    Frequency of Response: Once.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 1,152 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $0.
    Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 426 hours in the 
total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of 
Approved ICR Burden. The increase in burden for this renewal ICR 
changed due to revisions in the survey instrument. In addition, by 
using data collected during the 2003 survey, estimated burden per 
respondent changed for this ICR renewal. Both of these changes increase 
the total estimated burden for this ICR renewal.


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    Dated: July 12, 2005.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 05-14402 Filed 7-20-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P