[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 127 (Monday, July 6, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31962-31963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-15850]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30-Day-09-0040]


Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a 
list of information collection requests under review by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call 
the CDC Reports Clearance Officer at (404) 639-5960 or send an e-mail 
to [email protected]. Send written comments to CDC Desk Officer, Office of 
Management and Budget, Washington, DC or by fax to (202) 395-6974. 
Written comments should be received within 30 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

    NCEH/ATSDR Exposure Investigations (EI) [OMB NO: 0923-0040]--
Revision--The National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH), Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic 
Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

Background and Brief Description

    This is a brief summary of a joint clearance between the NCEH and 
ATSDR, (hereafter ATSDR will represent both ATSDR and NCEH). ATSDR is 
mandated 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 in the environment. 
EIs are an approach developed by ATSDR that employs targeted biologic 
(e.g., urine, blood, hair samples) and environmental (e.g., air, water, 
soil, or food) sampling to determine whether people are or have been 
exposed to unusual levels of pollutants at specific locations (e.g., 
where people live, spend leisure time, or anywhere they might come into 
contact with contaminants under investigation). After a chemical 
release or suspected release into the environment, ATSDR's EIs are used 
by public health professionals, environmental risk managers, and other 
decision makers to determine if current conditions warrant intervention 
strategies to minimize or eliminate human exposure. EIs are usually 
requested by officials of a state health agency, county health 
departments, the Environmental Protection Agency, the general public, 
and ATSDR staff.
    ATSDR has been conducting EIs since 1995 throughout the United 
States and seeks revision approved of the currently approval ICR. All 
of ATSDR's biomedical assessments and some of the environmental 
investigations involve participants. Participation is completely 
voluntary. To assist in interpreting the sampling results, a survey 
questionnaire appropriate to the specific contaminant is administered 
to participants. ATSDR collects contact information (e.g., name, 
address, phone number) to provide the participant with their individual 
results. Name and address information are broken into nine separate 
questions (data fields) for computer entry. General information, which 
includes height, weight, age, race, gender, etc., is also collected 
primarily on biomedical investigations to assist with results 
interpretation. General information can account for approximately 28 
questions per investigation, out of a set of 57 general information 
questions. Some of this information is investigation-specific; not all 
of this data is collected for every investigation.
    ATSDR also collects information on other possible confounding 
sources of chemical(s) exposure such as medicines taken, foods eaten, 
hobbies, jobs, etc. In addition, ATSDR asks questions on recreational 
or occupational activities that could increase a participant's exposure 
potential. That information represents an individual's exposure 
history. To cover those broad categories, ATSDR is seeking approval for 
the use of sets of topical questions. Of these, we use approximately 
12-15 questions about the pertinent environmental exposures per 
investigation. This number can vary depending on the number of 
chemicals being investigated, the route of exposure (e.g., breathing, 
eating, touching), and number of other sources of the chemical(s) 
(e.g., products used, jobs).
    Data management procedures have not changed since the previous 
approved information collection and the instrument does not have 
extensive revisions. Only minor non-substantive changes were made to 
the Library of Chemical Exposure Questions by dividing one question 
into two; to clarify, specify and better generate the information 
needed.
    Typically, the number of participants in an individual EI ranges 
from 10 to less than 50. Questionnaires are generally needed in less 
than half of the EIs (approximately 10-15 per year).
    The subject matter for the complete set of topical questions 
includes the following:
    (1) Media specific which includes: air (indoor/outdoor); water 
(water source and plumbing); soil, and food (gardening, fish, game, 
domestic animals (e.g., chickens).
    (2) Other sources such as: occupations; hobbies; household chemical 
uses and house construction characteristics; lifestyle (e.g., smoking); 
medicines and/or health conditions, and foods.
    There are no costs to respondents other than their time. The total 
estimated annual burden hours are 375.

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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Exposure Investigation Participants.............             750               1           30/60             375
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[[Page 31963]]

    Dated: June 26, 2009.
Maryam I. Daneshvar,
Acting Reports Clearance Officer, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. E9-15850 Filed 7-2-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P