[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 42 (Thursday, March 5, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9618-9619]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-4644]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2008-N-0553]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Office 
of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request; Survey To Evaluate 
the Effectiveness of Mississippi Delta Fish Advisories

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that a 
proposed collection of information has been submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Fax written comments on the collection of information by April 
6, 2009.

ADDRESSES: To ensure that comments on the information collection are 
received, OMB recommends that written comments be faxed to the Office 
of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attn: FDA Desk Officer, 
FAX: 202-395-6974, or e-mailed to [email protected]. All 
comments should be identified with the OMB control number 0910-NEW and 
title ``Survey to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Mississippi Delta Fish 
Advisories.'' Also include the FDA docket number found in brackets in 
the heading of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Jonna Capezzuto, Office of 
Information Management (HFA-710), Food and Drug Administration, 5600 
Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, 301-796-3794.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In compliance with 44 U.S.C. 3507, FDA has 
submitted the following proposed collection of information to OMB for 
review and clearance.

Survey to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Mississippi Delta Fish 
Advisories--(OMB Control Number 0910-NEW)

    The proposed survey will gather information about fishing and fish 
consumption habits in the Mississippi Delta region, as well as the 
respondents' awareness and understanding of the Regional Delta Advisory 
(RDA) issued by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. 
Under section 903(b)(2) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 
U.S.C. 393(b)(2)), FDA is authorized to conduct research relating to 
foods and to conduct educational and public information programs 
relating to the safety of the nation's food supply. In June 2005, the 
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Office of Water and FDA's 
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition finalized a Memorandum of 
Understanding (MOU) to enhance collaboration between FDA and EPA 
regarding environmental contaminants in fish and shellfish and the 
safety of fish and shellfish for U.S. consumers. The MOU is available 
at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/files/moufdaepa.pdf.
    The proposed study is phase two of a two phase study designed to 
determine whether existing fish consumption recommendations issued by 
the State of Mississippi are adequately protecting sport and 
subsistence consumers of fish harvested from Delta waters. The final 
report of phase one, entitled ``Recommended Study Design for a Survey 
to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Mississippi Delta Fish Advisories,'' 
is available at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/technical/ms-delta.html. Based on the report cited in this paragraph, FDA is 
conducting the proposed survey on behalf of EPA to evaluate the 
effectiveness of the Mississippi Delta Fish Advisories. The proposed 
survey will collect information on the extent to which Delta sport and 
subsistence fishermen and their families are aware of the RDA and its 
recommendations and the extent to which the respondents have changed 
their fish consumption behaviors as a result of the advisory. The 
survey will also document specific behavior changes resulting from the 
RDA, such as increases or decreases in the amount of locally harvested 
fish consumed, changes in methods of fish preparation, and consumption 
or avoidance of specific species of fish.
    Results of the survey will provide EPA information about fishing 
and fish consumption habits in the Mississippi Delta region, as well as 
the respondents' awareness and understanding of the RDA.
    The respondents will be selected from four counties in the 
Mississippi Delta region. Counties were selected to include a mix of 
rural and non-rural areas and areas with major water resources affected 
by the advisory. The selected counties are Coahoma, Holmes, Leflore, 
and Washington. Only the part of Holmes County that is within the 
advisory area will be included in the survey.
    The total sample will include 400 on-the-banks interviews and 600 
household interviews of sport and subsistence fishers who harvest 
noncommercial fish

[[Page 9619]]

from the Mississippi Delta advisory area, and individuals in the 
Mississippi Delta area who consume wild-caught fish from the advisory 
area. FDA estimates that the survey will take approximately 18 minutes 
to complete, for a total burden of 300 hours (1,000 x 0.3 = 300).
    FDA will conduct 6 cognitive interviews and 20 pretests prior to 
fielding the survey, for a total additional burden of 16 hours.
    In the Federal Register of October 24, 2008 (73 FR 63487), FDA 
published a 60-day notice requesting public comment on the information 
collection provisions. No comments were received.
    FDA estimates the burden of this collection of information as 
follows:

                                 Table 1.--Estimated Annual Reporting Burden \1\
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                       No. of         Annual frequency      Total annual        Hours per
    Activity        respondents         per response         responses           response         Total hours
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Cognitive                        6                    1                  6                  1                  6
 Interviews
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Pretest                         20                    1                 20                 .5                 10
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Survey                       1,000                    1              1,000                .30                300
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Total            .................  ...................  .................  .................                316
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\1\ There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection of
  information.

    FDA's burden estimate is based on the agency's prior experience 
with surveys similar to the proposed survey.

    Dated: February 24, 2009.
Jeffrey Shuren,
Associate Commissioner for Policy and Planning.
[FR Doc. E9-4644 Filed 3-4-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-01-S