[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 7 (Thursday, January 10, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1889-1890]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-270]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-08-0008]


Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

    In compliance with the requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on 
proposed data collection projects, the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects. 
To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a 
copy of the data collection plans and instruments, call 404-639-5960 
and send comments to Maryam I. Daneshvar, CDC Acting Reports Clearance 
Officer, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D74, Atlanta, GA 30333 or send an e-mail 
to [email protected]. 
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways 
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology. Written comments should be received 
within 60 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

    Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES)--
Extension--(0923-0008), Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 
Registry (ATSDR), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is 
mandated

[[Page 1890]]

pursuant to the 1980 Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation 
and Liability Act (CERCLA) and its 1986 Amendments, The Superfund 
Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), to prevent or mitigate 
adverse human health effects and diminished quality of life resulting 
from the exposure to hazardous substances into the environment. The 
primary purpose of this activity, which ATSDR has supported since 1992, 
is to develop, implement, and maintain a state-based surveillance 
system for hazardous substances emergency events which can be used to 
(1) describe the distribution of the hazardous substances releases; (2) 
describe the public health consequences (morbidity, mortality, and 
evacuations) associated with the events; (3) develop strategies to 
reduce future public health consequences. The study population will 
consist of all hazardous substance non permitted acute releases within 
the 14 states (Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, 
New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, 
and Wisconsin) participating in the surveillance system.
    Until this system was developed and implemented, there was no 
national public health-based surveillance system to coordinate the 
collation, analysis, and distribution of hazardous substances emergency 
release data to public health practitioners. It was necessary to 
establish this national surveillance system which describes the public 
health impact of hazardous substances emergencies on the health of the 
population of the United States. The data collection form will be 
completed by the state health department Hazardous Substances Emergency 
Events Surveillance (HSEES) coordinator using a variety of sources 
including written and oral reports from environmental protection 
agencies, police, firefighters, emergency response personnel; or 
researched by the HSEES coordinator using material safety data sheets, 
and chemical handbooks. There is a reduction in the annual burden hours 
per response because of the reduction in number of states from 15 to 14 
and because of a change in the case definition of an HSEES event in 
2005, which excludes stack emissions of oxides of nitrogen 
(NOX), oxides of sulfur (SOx), and carbon monoxide (CO) when 
they are not mixed with another hazardous substance.
    The HSEES public use data set is available on the ATSDR HSEES Web 
site. Interested parties complete a brief description of who will be 
using the data and for what purpose in order to download the data. This 
allows ATSDR to widely distribute the data and track its usefulness.
    There is no cost to the respondents other than their time.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                      Average
                                                     Number of       Number of      burden per     Total burden
                   Respondents                      respondents    responses per   response  (in    (in hours)
                                                                    respondent        hours)
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Participating State Health Department HSEES                   14             536           45/60           5,628
 Coordinators...................................
Persons interested in HSEES data through Web                 500               1            6/60              50
 site...........................................
    Total.......................................             514  ..............  ..............           5,678
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    Dated: January 4, 2008.
Marilyn S. Radke,
Reports Clearance Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
 [FR Doc. E8-270 Filed 1-9-08; 8:45 am]
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