[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 150 (Monday, August 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52162-52163]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16760]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-23-23HD; Docket No. CDC-2023-0067]


Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice with comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 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 information 
collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This 
notice invites comment on a proposed information collection project 
titled Exposures, Health Effects, and Controls of Chemicals from 
Thermal Spray Coating. The purpose of the proposed data collection is 
to conduct a survey of thermal spray coating facilities to better 
understand work practices and controls related to metals, particles, 
and gases generated during thermal spray coating and to identify areas 
for potential intervention.

DATES: CDC must receive written comments on or before October 6, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2023-
0067 by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.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 H21-8, Atlanta, Georgia 30329.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and Docket Number. CDC will post, without change, all relevant comments 
to www.regulations.gov.
    Please note: Submit all comments through the Federal eRulemaking 
portal (www.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 H21-8, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; Telephone: 404-639-7570; 
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;
    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; and
    5. Assess information collection costs.

Proposed Project

    Exposures, health effects, and controls of chemicals from thermal 
spray coating--New--National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    Thermal spray coating (TSC) is a surface treatment process that 
enables

[[Page 52163]]

different types of feedstock material to be deposited on to various 
substrates--metals, metal alloys, ceramics, and plastics. The process 
involves spraying a liquid or molten metal coating product under 
pressure onto a surface where it solidifies and forms a solid coating. 
The coating material can be pure metals, metal alloys, carbides, 
oxides, ceramics, and ceramic metals in wire or powder form that will 
not decompose when melted. Although TSC technology has been around for 
decades, recently it has been refined and optimized to impart new 
properties and functionalities to the coatings, applied through 
numerous processes such as flame-, cold-, plasma-, and electric arc-
spraying, arising from the different combinations of sources of thermal 
and kinetic energy, form and composition of the feedstock material and 
other system configurations. TSC processes are relatively simple to 
use, economical, and have been applied to almost all industrial sectors 
such as automotive, aerospace, machine shops, electronics, medical, 
shipyards, and printing. Important uses include coatings for wear 
prevention, repair, restoration, thermal insulation/conduction, 
corrosion/oxidation resistance, seals, and decoration.
    TSC is a fast-growing and emerging industry, but generates 
exposures that are known to be hazardous in other settings. However, 
effects of TSC processes, quantitative exposures, and subsequent health 
effects remain mostly unknown because of paucity of epidemiologic and 
exposure studies. Limited data on exposures of workers engaged in TSC 
and associated operations and personal communications with industrial 
hygienists in this industry suggests exposures can greatly exceed the 
current occupational exposure limits, but the prevalence of respiratory 
abnormalities including occupational asthma and chronic obstructive 
pulmonary disease in this population remains unknown. In addition, many 
workplaces conduct TSC work manually or semi-automatically, and some 
TSC tasks may not be easily amenable to installation of ventilation 
controls (e.g., during spray-coating of parts with wide surface area).
    The purpose of the proposed data collection is to conduct a survey 
of thermal spray coating facilities to: (1) better understand work 
practices and controls related to metals, particles, and gases 
generated during thermal spray coating; (2) identify areas for 
potential intervention; and (3) identify thermal spray coating 
facilities willing to participate in future NIOSH exposure and health 
research.
    The burden hours are estimated based on limited pilot testing 
conducted internally using the survey instrument and previous pilot 
testing done using a similar survey instrument. In these pilot tests, 
the amount of time for instruction review, collection of mock 
information, and the survey completion was between 10-30 minutes. The 
median time of 20 minutes was used to estimate annual burden hours. 
Currently, the total number of thermal spray coating businesses in the 
United States is unknown. In 2004, the Air Resources Board (ARB) in 
California Environmental Protection Agency conducted the Thermal 
Spraying Facility Survey of facilities performing thermal spray coating 
throughout California and reported 97 companies that potentially used 
TSC. Based on the California ARB report, we estimated approximately 
5,000 thermal spray coating businesses nationwide. CDC requests OMB 
approval for an estimated 1,667 annual burden hours. There are no costs 
to respondents other than their time to participate.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                     Number of    Average burden
      Type of respondents           Form name        Number of     responses per   per response    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)      (in hours)
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Thermal spray coating facility  Survey..........           5,000               1           20/60           1,667
 managers/owners.
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............           1,667
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Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Public Health 
Ethics and Regulations, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2023-16760 Filed 8-4-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P