[Federal Register: September 21, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 182)]
[Notices]
[Page 56424-56425]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21se04-42]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OA-2004-0006, FRL-7816-7]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Exploring Public and Private Preferences for
Children's Health Risk Reduction, EPA ICR Number 2160.01
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.), this document announces that EPA is planning to submit a
proposed Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB). This is a request for a new collection.
Before submitting the ICR to OMB for review and approval, EPA is
soliciting comments on specific aspects of the proposed information
collection as described below.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before November 22, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OA-2004-
0006, to EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail to
oei.docket@epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA Docket Center, Environmental
Protection Agency, Office of Environmental Information, Mail Code
2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nathalie Simon, Office of Policy,
Economics and Innovation, Mail Code 1809T, Environmental Protection
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone
number: (202) 566-2347; fax number: (202) 566-2363; e-mail address:
simon.nathalie@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has established a public docket for this
ICR under Docket ID number OA-2004-0006, which is available for public
viewing at the Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket in the
EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution
Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is
open
[[Page 56425]]
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal
holidays. The telephone number for the Reading Room is (202) 566-1744,
and the telephone number for the Office of Environmental Information
(OEI) Docket is (202) 566-1752. An electronic version of the public
docket is available through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/edocket.
Use EDOCKET to obtain a copy of the draft
collection of information, submit or view public comments, access the
index listing of the contents of the public docket, and to access those
documents in the public docket that are available electronically. Once
in the system, select ``search,'' then key in the docket ID number
identified above.
Any comments related to this ICR should be submitted to EPA within
60 days of this notice. EPA's policy is that public comments, whether
submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available for public
viewing in EDOCKET as EPA receives them and without change, unless the
comment contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other information whose
public disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a
comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference
to that material in the version of the comment that is placed in
EDOCKET. The entire printed comment, including the copyrighted
material, will be available in the public docket. Although identified
as an item in the official docket, information claimed as CBI, or whose
disclosure is otherwise restricted by statute, is not included in the
official public docket, and will not be available for public viewing in
EDOCKET. For further information about the electronic docket, see EPA's
Federal Register notice describing the electronic docket at 67 FR 38102
(May 31, 2002), or go to http://www.epa.gov./edocket.
Title: Exploring Public and Private Preferences for Children's
Health Risk Reduction.
Abstract: Regulations promulgated by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency generally have as their primary purpose the safeguard
of human health. Economic analyses of the regulations' costs and
benefits are often required as part of the rule-making process.
Executive Order 12866 for instance requires a benefit-cost analysis of
every rule expected to have a significant impact of $100 million or
more.
Although most benefit cost analyses to date have been conducted
using scientific and economic valuation estimates derived for adult
populations, there is increased interest in conducting analyses by
specific age group or life stage. Executive Order 13045, for instance,
requires all agencies to specifically consider the effects of
regulations on children. Advances in the scientific community have
recently resulted in age-specific assessments of risk and exposure to
various environmental contaminants. Similar advances are now sought in
the economics field.
Currently, little is known about how the public values reductions
in risk to health for children. Only a handful of valuation estimates
exist in the literature that are specific to populations under the age
of 18 as noted in USEPA's Children's Health Valuation Handbook (2002).
Nor is it evident how other risk characteristics (e.g. the type of
risk, the uncertainty associated with the health outcome, and the
populations affected) affect an individual's willingness to pay for
programs to reduce these risks.
To begin addressing these gaps, the National Center for
Environmental Economics, in collaboration with the Office of Children's
Health Protection, is in the process of designing a survey instrument
to elicit willingness to pay values for cancer risk reductions to
children and adults. Several versions of the survey instrument are
planned so as to adequately address differences in values for these two
populations as well as to assess differences in public and private
scenarios.
The purpose of the proposed ICR is to gain approval for the conduct
of a series of cognitive (or one-on-one) interviews as part of the
survey development process. Cognitive interviews are a crucial
component in the survey development process as they allow survey
developers to identify problematic approaches, terminology, and
graphics in the survey instrument. A total of 72 interviews are
anticipated.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's
regulations in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9.
The EPA would like to solicit comments to:
(i) 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;
(ii) 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;
(iii) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information
to be collected; and
(iv) 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
submission of responses.
Burden Statement: The only burden imposed by the interviews on
respondents will be the time required to complete the survey and answer
interview questions. The survey developers estimate that this will
require an average of 1.5 hours per respondent. With a total of 72
respondents this requires a total of 108 hours. Based on an average
hourly rate of $24.95 \1\ (including employer costs of all employee
benefits), the survey developers expect that the average per-respondent
cost for the pilot survey will be $37.43 and the corresponding one-time
total cost to all respondents will be $4042.00. Since this information
collection is voluntary and does not involve any special equipment,
respondents will not incur any capital or operation and maintenance
(O&M) costs.
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\1\ Employer costs per hour worked for employee compensation and
costs as a percent of total compensation: Civilian workers, total
compensation, March 2004 (http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t02.htm
).
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Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources
expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or
provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time
needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize
technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and
verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and
disclosing and providing information; adjust the existing ways to
comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements;
train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information;
search data sources; complete and review the collection of information;
and transmit or otherwise disclose the information.
Dated: August 27, 2004.
Al McGartland,
Office Director, National Center for Environmental Economics, Office of
Policy, Economics and Innovation.
[FR Doc. 04-21186 Filed 9-20-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P