[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 213 (Friday, November 4, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67163-67165]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-22035]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OA-2005-0004, FRL-7993-8]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Focus Groups as Used by EPA for Economics Projects, 
EPA ICR Number 2205.01

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

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 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 January 3, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OA-2005-
0004, to EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail 
[email protected], or by mail to: Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 
Docket Center (EPA/DC), Office of Environmental Information, Mail Code 
2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nathalie Simon, Office of Policy, 
Economics and Innovation, Mail Code 1809T, Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone 
number: 202-566-2347; fax 202-566-2363; e-mail address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has established a public docket for this 
ICR under Docket ID number OA-2005-0004, 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 
Avenue, 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

[[Page 67164]]

Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the Office 
of Environmental Information (OEI) 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, confidential business 
information (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: Focus Groups as used by EPA for Economics Projects.
    Abstract: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking 
approval for a generic information collection request (ICR) for the 
conduct of focus groups and protocol interview (hereafter jointly 
referred to as focus groups) related to economics projects. Over the 
next three years, the Agency anticipates embarking on a number of 
survey development efforts associated with a variety of economics 
projects including those related to valuation of ecosystems, children's 
health risks, improvements to coastal waters, and invasive species to 
name a few. Focus groups are an important part of any survey 
development process, allowing for researchers to directly gauge what 
specific issues are important to the public and providing a means for 
explicitly testing draft survey materials. Through these focus groups, 
the Agency will be able to gain a more in-depth understanding of the 
public's attitudes, beliefs, motivations and feelings regarding 
specific issues and will provide valuable information regarding the 
quality of draft survey instruments.
    The information collected in the focus groups will be used to 
develop and improve economics-related surveys. To the extent that these 
surveys are ultimately successfully administered, they will serve to 
expand the Agencies understanding of benefits and costs of a variety of 
actions and could provide the means to quantitatively assess the 
effects of others. Participation in the focus groups will be voluntary 
and the identity of the participants will be kept confidential.
    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 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 only burden imposed by the focus group 
interviews on respondents will be the time required to participate in 
the focus groups and answer the associated questions. The Agency 
estimates that for economics projects anticipated over the next three 
years, 1758 participants will be needed to participate in 188 focus 
groups. In most cases, the anticipated length of the focus groups is 
2.0 hours per participant, with the average length per focus group 
equal to 2.4 hours. Based on an average hourly rate of $25.87 \a\ 
(including employer costs of all employee benefits), the Agency expects 
that the average per-respondent cost for the focus groups will be 
$62.09 and the corresponding one-time total cost to all respondents 
will be $109,151 (see table below). Since this information collection 
is voluntary and does not involve any special equipment, respondents 
will not incur any capital or operation and maintenance (O&M) costs.
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    \a\ Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and 
costs as a percent of total compensation: Civilian workers, total 
compensation, March 2005 (http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t02.htm).

                                    Table.--Estimated Burden to Participants
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                                                                                    Number of
                                                                    Number of     participants    Average length
                Office                     Topics to include      focus groups      per focus     of focus group
                                                                                      group
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(1)                                    (2).....................             (3)             (4)            (5)
Office of Policy Economics and         Valuation of                          48               9              2
 Innovation.                            Improvements to Coastal
                                        Water; Valuation of
                                        Children's Health Risk,
                                        Ecological Valuation,
                                        etc.
Office of Research and Development...  Valuation of                          70               9              2.1
                                        environmental
                                        improvements; ecosystem
                                        services, etc.

[[Page 67165]]

 
Office of Air and Radiation..........
Office of Radiation and Indoor Air...  Environmental management               6              20              4
                                        of asthma; Indoor air
                                        quality management in
                                        schools and large
                                        buildings, etc.
Office of Transportation and Air       Encouraging fuel                       4               9              2
 Quality.                               efficiency through
                                        labeling (Smartway
                                        brand), etc.
Office of Water......................  Invasive species                      60               9              3
                                        prevention; Great
                                        Lakes, etc.
                                                                ------------------------------------------------
    Total............................  ........................             188           *1758            **2.4 
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*Total needed for all focus groups [sum[col (3)*(4)]].
**Average time for all focus groups [cols. (3)*(5)/188].

    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.

    Dated: September 26, 2005.
Al McGartland,
Office Director, National Center for Environmental Economics, Office of 
Policy, Economics and Innovation.
[FR Doc. 05-22035 Filed 11-3-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P