[Federal Register: July 21, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 139)]
[Notices]
[Page 42058-42060]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21jy05-78]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OAR-2005-0078, FRL-7941-4]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; National Survey on Environmental Management of Asthma,
EPA ICR Number 1996.03, OMB Control Number 2060-0490
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
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 an Information Collection
Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review and approval. This is a request to renew an existing
approved collection. This ICR is scheduled to expire on August 31,
2005. Under OMB regulations, the Agency may continue to conduct or
sponsor the collection of information while the submission is pending
at OMB. This ICR describes the nature of the information collection and
its estimated burden and cost.
DATES: Additional comments may be submitted on or before August 22,
2005.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, referencing docket ID number OAR-2005-
0078, to (1) EPA online using EDOCKET (our preferred method), by e-mail
to a-and-r-docket@epa.gov, or by mail to: EPA Docket Center,
Environmental Protection Agency, Air and Radiation Docket (6102T), 1200
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, and (2) OMB at: Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget
(OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW.,
Washington DC 20503.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Susan Conrath, Indoor Environments
Division, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460;
telephone number: (202) 343-9389; fax number: (202) 343-2393; e-mail
address: conrath.susan@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has submitted the following ICR to OMB
for review and approval according to the procedures prescribed in 5 CFR
1320.12. On February 28th, 2005, (70 FR 9639), EPA sought comments on
this ICR pursuant to 5CFR 1320.8(d). EPA has addressed the comments
received.
EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID
No. OAR-2005-0078, which is available for public viewing at the Air and
Radiation 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 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 Air
and Radiation Docket is (202) 566-1742, fax: (202) 566-1741. 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
[[Page 42059]]
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
30 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: National Survey on Environmental Management of Asthma.
Abstract: Executive Order 13045, issued in 1997, directed each
federal agency to identify, assess, and address environmental health
and safety risks for children. This executive order also created the
Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks in Children,
co-chaired by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In April
1998, this Task Force identified four priority areas, one of which was
childhood asthma. In response, EPA launched efforts to better
understand the role that environmental factors, including airborne
allergens and irritants, play in the onset of asthma and the triggering
of asthma symptoms. Indoor allergens include those from house dust
mites, cockroaches, mold, and animal dander. In addition, exposure to
environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) has also been shown to be a major
determinant of asthma symptoms.
EPA is working to integrate the management of environmental factors
with the medical treatment of asthma, particularly among children and
low-income populations. To evaluate the effectiveness of its current
outreach efforts, EPA proposes to collect data from individual U.S.
households through a telephone survey. This survey will be used to gain
information regarding the number of individuals with asthma who have
taken steps to improve the quality of their indoor environment as part
of their approach to managing the disease, as well as any barriers they
may have encountered while attempting to do so. EPA will compare the
data gained from this survey to a similar survey completed in 2003.
These data will help the Agency determine if it has reached its 2005
goal, established by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993
(GPRA), and is on track for the 2012 goal. Specifically, EPA's goal is
that 2.5 million people with asthma, including one million children and
200,000 low-income adults, will have taken steps to reduce their
exposure to indoor environmental asthma triggers by 2005. EPA's 2012
goal is that 6.5 million people with asthma, including 2.9 million
children, will have taken steps to reduce their exposure to indoor
environmental triggers.
EPA intends to conduct the survey once during the period for which
this ICR is in effect. EPA will conduct the survey in two phases. The
first phase is intended to identify households where either an adult
asthmatic or child with asthma resides. Individuals who participate in
the first phase of EPA's survey will be chosen at random from U.S.
households with publicly listed telephone numbers. EPA expects that 15
percent of individuals who participate in its screening survey will
have asthma or live in a household with someone who does. After
responding to several screening questions, adult asthmatics and parents
of children with asthma will be invited to participate in a longer,
more in-depth telephone survey. EPA intends to over-sample in
communities known to have a high percentage of low-income households to
ensure that the Agency is able to evaluate the effectiveness of its
outreach efforts to this target population. The National Survey on
Environmental Management of Asthma is voluntary. EPA does not expect to
receive confidential information from the individuals who voluntarily
participate in the survey. However, if a respondent does consider the
information submitted to be of a proprietary nature, EPA will assure
its confidentiality based on the provisions of 40 CFR part 2, subpart
B, ``Confidentiality of Business Information.''
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 Federal Register
document required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on this
collection of information was published on 02/28/05 (70 FR 9639-9640);
three comments were received.
Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average
between 3.5 minutes and 13.5 minutes per response, depending on whether
or not the survey respondent has asthma or lives with someone who has
asthma. This is a total estimated burden of 3,458 hours for completion
of this survey. 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.
Respondents/Affected entities: Individuals throughout the United
States with publicly listed residential telephone numbers.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 45,278.
Frequency of Response: Once.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 1,152 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Cost: $0.
Changes in the Estimates: There is an increase of 426 hours in the
total estimated burden currently identified in the OMB Inventory of
Approved ICR Burden. The increase in burden for this renewal ICR
changed due to revisions in the survey instrument. In addition, by
using data collected during the 2003 survey, estimated burden per
respondent changed for this ICR renewal. Both of these changes increase
the total estimated burden for this ICR renewal.
[[Page 42060]]
Dated: July 12, 2005.
Oscar Morales,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 05-14402 Filed 7-20-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P