[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 28 (Friday, February 12, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9340-9342]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-02949]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

[60Day-21-0062; Docket No. ATSDR-2021-0002]


Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

AGENCY: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice with comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), 
as part of its continuing effort to reduce public burden and maximize 
the utility of government information, invites the general public and 
other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a proposed and/or 
continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on ``Supplemental 
Measurements for Exploratory Research Regarding Exposure During 
Activities Conducted on Synthetic Turf Fields with Tire Crumb Rubber 
Infill.'' The purpose of the proposed study is to evaluate and 
characterize human exposure potential to polyaromatic hydrocarbons 
during play on synthetic turf fields with tire crumb rubber infill.

DATES: ATSDR must receive written comments on or before April 13, 2021.

[[Page 9341]]


ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. ATSDR-
2021-0002 by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information Collection Review 
Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road 
NE, MS-D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and Docket Number. ATSDR will post, without change, all relevant 
comments to Regulations.gov.
    Please note: Submit all comments through the Federal eRulemaking 
portal (regulations.gov) or by U.S. mail to the address listed above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on the 
proposed project or to obtain a copy of the information collection plan 
and instruments, contact Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information Collection 
Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton 
Road NE, MS-D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; phone: 404-639-7118; Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal agencies must obtain approval from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of 
information they conduct or sponsor. In addition, the PRA also requires 
Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register 
concerning each proposed collection of information, including each new 
proposed collection, each proposed extension of existing collection of 
information, and each reinstatement of previously approved information 
collection before submitting the collection to the OMB for approval. To 
comply with this requirement, we are publishing this notice of a 
proposed data collection as described below.
    The OMB is particularly interested in comments that will help:
    1. 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;
    2. 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;
    3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    4. 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 
submissions of responses.
    5. Assess information collection costs.

Proposed Project

    Supplemental Measurements for Exploratory Research Regarding 
Exposure During Activities Conducted on Synthetic Turf Fields with Tire 
Crumb Rubber Infill (OMB Control No. 0923-0062, Exp. 10/31/2021)--
Extension--Office of Community Health and Hazard Assessment (OCHHA), 
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

Background and Brief Description

    ATSDR is requesting a two-year extension for the research study, 
titled ``Supplemental Measurements for Exploratory Research Regarding 
Exposure During Activities Conducted on Synthetic Turf Fields with Tire 
Crumb Rubber Infill.'' (OMB Control No. 0923-0062, Expiration date 10/
31/2021). ATSDR is seeking Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) clearance to 
extend the data collection period due to delays encountered with the 
2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
    Currently in the United States, there are more than 12,000 
synthetic turf fields in use. While the Synthetic Turf Council has set 
guidelines for the content of crumb rubber used as infill in synthetic 
turf fields, manufacturing processes result in differences among types 
of crumb rubber. Additionally, the chemical composition may vary highly 
between different processes and source materials and may vary even 
within granules from the same origin.
    The Research protocol, Collections Related to Synthetic Turf Fields 
with Crumb Rubber Infill, has been conducted previously under two 
information collection requests (ICRs): Activity 1 under OMB Control 
No. 0923-0054 (Expiration Date 01/31/2017) and Activities 2 and 3 under 
OMB Control No. 0923-0058 (Expiration Date 08/13/2018), which were 
limited to collections from August to October, 2017. Activities 2 and 3 
aim to evaluate and characterize the human exposure potential to 
constituents in crumb rubber infill among a convenience sample of 60 
field users (Activity 2) and to collect biological specimens (blood and 
urine) from 45 participants (Activity 3). Due to the limited enrollment 
and collection period, the target Activity 2 and Activity 3 samples 
sizes were not met in 2017.
    The current request seeks to conduct supplemental measurements to 
expand the exploratory analysis conducted under OMB Control No. 0923-
0058. The current request allows for further investigation of patterns 
observed in the preliminary data from the 2017 pilot-scale exposure 
measurements of individuals playing on synthetic turf fields with crumb 
rubber infill and collecting data from a small number of individuals 
who are playing on grass fields.
    In December 2020, ATSDR submitted a change request to OMB to 
incorporate COVID-19 prevention and protection measures. The COVID-19 
prevention and protection measures will be implemented before data 
collection begins this spring. The current study is a larger-scale 
supplemental assessment of exposure potential for individuals who use/
play on synthetic turf fields with tire crumb rubber infill.
    The study includes persons who use synthetic turf with crumb rubber 
infill (e.g., facility users) and who routinely perform activities that 
would result in a high level of contact to crumb rubber. The study also 
includes persons who use natural grass fields. This allows for 
evaluation of potential high-end exposures to constituents in synthetic 
turf among this group of users and for comparison to individuals who do 
not play on synthetic turf fields with tire crumb rubber infill. The 
respondents are administered a detailed questionnaire on activity 
patterns on synthetic turf with crumb rubber infill. This instrument 
allows ATSDR to characterize exposure scenarios, including the nature 
and duration of potential exposures. Additionally, we are collecting 
urine samples pre- and post-activity. The urine samples will be 
analyzed for polyaromatic hydrocarbons and then archived for future 
analysis.
    There are no changes to the instruments, the total burden hours, or 
the total number of respondents. The research study aims to screen a 
total of 220 participants for eligibility. The sample size for 
synthetic turf field users is 150, and 50 for the natural grass field 
users. The total burden hours for the research study is 184 hours among 
all of the 220 respondents. There is no cost to the respondents other 
than their time in the study.

[[Page 9342]]



                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                     Number of      Avg. burden
      Type of respondents           Form name        Number of     responses per   per response    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent       (in hrs.)       (in hr.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adult/Adolescent Facility       Eligibility                  110               1            5/60               9
 Users.                          Screening                   100               1           30/60              50
                                 Script.
                                Adult and
                                 Adolescent
                                 Questionnaire.
                                Exposure                     100               1           20/60              33
                                 Measurement
                                 Form.
Parents/Guardians of Youth/     Eligibility                  110               1            5/60               9
 Child Facility Users.           Screening                   100               1           30/60              50
                                 Script.
                                Youth and Child
                                 Questionnaire.
Youth/Child Facility Users....  Exposure                     100               1           20/60              33
                                 Measurement
                                 Form.
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............             184
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Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific 
Integrity, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2021-02949 Filed 2-11-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P