[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 142 (Tuesday, July 24, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43286-43287]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-17961]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30-Day-12-0040]


Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

    The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) 
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 (404) 639-7570 or send an email to [email protected]. Send 
written comments to CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management and Budget, 
Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202) 395-5806. Written comments 
should be received within 30 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

    NCEH/ATSDR Exposure Investigations (EIs) [OMB NO: 0923-0040, 
Expiration Date 11/30/2012]-Revision-The National Center for 
Environmental Health (NCEH), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and 
Disease Registry (ATSDR), and the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    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. 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 20 questions per investigation. Some of this information 
is investigation-specific; not all of these data are collected for 
every investigation. ATSDR is seeking a revision of our approval for 
use of a set of 61 general information questions.
    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 also seeking a 
revision to our approval for the use of sets of topical questions. Of 
these, we use approximately 12-20 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).
    Typically, the number of participants in an individual EI ranges 
from 10 to 100. Questionnaires are generally needed in less than half 
of the EIs (approximately 7 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

[[Page 43287]]

characteristics; lifestyle (e.g., smoking); medicines and/or health 
conditions, and foods. There are no costs to respondents other than 
their time.
    ATSDR is requesting approval to conduct this information collection 
for three years. The estimated annualized burden hours are 350.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                     Number of    Average burden
          Type of respondent                    Form name            Number of     responses per   per response
                                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)
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Exposure Investigation Participants...  Chemical Exposure                    700               1           30/60
                                         Questions.
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Kimberly S. Lane,
Deputy Director, Office of Science Integrity, Office of the Associate 
Director for Science, Office of the Director, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2012-17961 Filed 7-23-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P