[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 137 (Wednesday, July 16, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40876-40877]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-16174]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[60Day-08-08BH]
Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and
Recommendations
In compliance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on
proposed data collection projects, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects.
To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a
copy of the data collection plans and instruments, call 404-639-5960
and send comments to Maryam I. Daneshvar, CDC Reports Clearance
Officer, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D74, Atlanta, GA 30333 or send an e-mail
to [email protected].
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents,
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other
forms of information technology. Written comments should be received
within 60 days of this notice.
Proposed Project
Health survey of former Marines, dependents, and employees
potentially exposed to contaminated drinking water at USMC Camp
Lejeune--New--Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR),
Coordinating Center for Environmental Health and Injury Prevention
(CCEHIP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Background and Brief Description
On January 28, 2008, President Bush signed H.R. 4986: National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 which requires ATSDR to
develop a health survey of individuals possibly exposed to contaminated
drinking water at Camp Lejeune. The survey will collect personal health
information that may provide a basis for further reliable scientific
studies of potentially adverse
[[Page 40877]]
health impacts of exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. The
Act requires the survey to be developed within 120 days of enactment
and to be conducted within one year of enactment.
Additionally, in 2005, a panel of independent scientists convened
by ATSDR to explore opportunities for conducting additional health
studies at Camp Lejeune recommended that the agency:
Identify cohorts of individuals with potential exposure,
including adults who lived on base; adults who resided off base, but
worked on base; children who lived on base; and those who may have been
exposed while in utero; and
Conduct a feasibility assessment to address the issues
involved in planning future studies of mortality, cancer incidence, and
other health outcomes of interest at the base.
In response, ATSDR prepared a report on the feasibility of
conducting future epidemiological studies at the base. ATSDR determined
that available databases could be used to identify adults who lived at
the base or civilians who worked at the base during the period when
drinking water was contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
In addition to questions on cancers, the health survey will include
questions on non-fatal diseases that can be confirmed by medical
records and are known or suspected of being associated with solvent
exposures.
This project proposes to examine the relationship between medically
confirmed cancers and trichloroethylene--(TCE) or perchloroethylene--
(PCE) contaminated drinking water by mathematically modeling the
exposure to contaminated drinking water while living or working at Camp
Lejeune.
The relationship between the following non-fatal diseases that can
be confirmed by medical records and TCE- or PCE-contaminated drinking
water will also be examined: Parkinson's disease, kidney failure and
other severe kidney diseases, severe liver diseases, lupus, aplastic
anemia, TCE-related skin disorders, and scleroderma. In addition, the
health survey will include questions on miscarriages occurring to women
who were pregnant while residing or working on base.
The health survey will request information about the type of cancer
or non-fatal, non-cancer disease, date of diagnosis, hospital of
diagnosis, and doctor who diagnosed the disease to facilitate the
acquisition of medical record confirmation. Because medical records are
usually unavailable for miscarriages, the survey will not request
information to facilitate medical record confirmation of this adverse
outcome. For cancers, state of diagnosis will also be obtained to
facilitate acquisition of cancer registry data. Self-reported cancers
and other diseases will be confirmed by medical records or cancer
registrations. To facilitate medical record confirmation, the
participant will be asked to provide a copy of the medical record to
ATSDR or to sign a medical records release form allowing ATSDR to gain
access to the medical record. The survey will also collect information
on residential history on base, occupational history, and information
on several risk factors (e.g., socio-economic status, demographics,
smoking, alcohol consumption, etc). A space will also be provided so
that the respondent can report other disease conditions. The collected
information will be used to assign exposure status and to assess
potential confounding.
To improve the credibility of the study, it is necessary to include
an external, unexposed comparison group, similar in all respects to the
Marines and civilian workers at Camp Lejeune except for exposure to
VOC-contaminated drinking water.
There are no costs to the respondents other than their time.
Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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No. of Average burden
Respondents No. of responses per per response Total burden
respondents respondent (in hours) (in hours)
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Former active duty marines and navy personnel-- 136,500 1 45/60 102,375
Camp Lejeune...................................
Former civilian workers--Camp Lejeune........... 5,200 1 45/60 3,900
Former dependents (now all adults)--Camp Lejeune 14,300 1 45/60 10,725
Former active duty marines and navy personnel-- 32,500 1 45/60 24,375
Camp Pendleton (comparison group)..............
Former civilian workers--Camp Pendleton 6,500 1 45/60 4,875
(comparison group).............................
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Total....................................... .............. .............. .............. 146,250
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Dated: July 1, 2008.
Maryam I. Daneshvar,
Reports Clearance Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. E8-16174 Filed 7-15-08; 8:45 am]
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