[Federal Register: March 5, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 42)]
[Notices]
[Page 9618-9619]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05mr09-52]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Food and Drug Administration
[Docket No. FDA-2008-N-0553]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Office
of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request; Survey To Evaluate
the Effectiveness of Mississippi Delta Fish Advisories
AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that a
proposed collection of information has been submitted to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
DATES: Fax written comments on the collection of information by April
6, 2009.
ADDRESSES: To ensure that comments on the information collection are
received, OMB recommends that written comments be faxed to the Office
of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attn: FDA Desk Officer,
FAX: 202-395-6974, or e-mailed to oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. All
comments should be identified with the OMB control number 0910-NEW and
title ``Survey to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Mississippi Delta Fish
Advisories.'' Also include the FDA docket number found in brackets in
the heading of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jonna Capezzuto, Office of
Information Management (HFA-710), Food and Drug Administration, 5600
Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, 301-796-3794.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In compliance with 44 U.S.C. 3507, FDA has
submitted the following proposed collection of information to OMB for
review and clearance.
Survey to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Mississippi Delta Fish
Advisories--(OMB Control Number 0910-NEW)
The proposed survey will gather information about fishing and fish
consumption habits in the Mississippi Delta region, as well as the
respondents' awareness and understanding of the Regional Delta Advisory
(RDA) issued by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
Under section 903(b)(2) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21
U.S.C. 393(b)(2)), FDA is authorized to conduct research relating to
foods and to conduct educational and public information programs
relating to the safety of the nation's food supply. In June 2005, the
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Office of Water and FDA's
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition finalized a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) to enhance collaboration between FDA and EPA
regarding environmental contaminants in fish and shellfish and the
safety of fish and shellfish for U.S. consumers. The MOU is available
at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/files/moufdaepa.pdf.
The proposed study is phase two of a two phase study designed to
determine whether existing fish consumption recommendations issued by
the State of Mississippi are adequately protecting sport and
subsistence consumers of fish harvested from Delta waters. The final
report of phase one, entitled ``Recommended Study Design for a Survey
to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Mississippi Delta Fish Advisories,''
is available at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/technical/ms-
delta.html. Based on the report cited in this paragraph, FDA is
conducting the proposed survey on behalf of EPA to evaluate the
effectiveness of the Mississippi Delta Fish Advisories. The proposed
survey will collect information on the extent to which Delta sport and
subsistence fishermen and their families are aware of the RDA and its
recommendations and the extent to which the respondents have changed
their fish consumption behaviors as a result of the advisory. The
survey will also document specific behavior changes resulting from the
RDA, such as increases or decreases in the amount of locally harvested
fish consumed, changes in methods of fish preparation, and consumption
or avoidance of specific species of fish.
Results of the survey will provide EPA information about fishing
and fish consumption habits in the Mississippi Delta region, as well as
the respondents' awareness and understanding of the RDA.
The respondents will be selected from four counties in the
Mississippi Delta region. Counties were selected to include a mix of
rural and non-rural areas and areas with major water resources affected
by the advisory. The selected counties are Coahoma, Holmes, Leflore,
and Washington. Only the part of Holmes County that is within the
advisory area will be included in the survey.
The total sample will include 400 on-the-banks interviews and 600
household interviews of sport and subsistence fishers who harvest
noncommercial fish
[[Page 9619]]
from the Mississippi Delta advisory area, and individuals in the
Mississippi Delta area who consume wild-caught fish from the advisory
area. FDA estimates that the survey will take approximately 18 minutes
to complete, for a total burden of 300 hours (1,000 x 0.3 = 300).
FDA will conduct 6 cognitive interviews and 20 pretests prior to
fielding the survey, for a total additional burden of 16 hours.
In the Federal Register of October 24, 2008 (73 FR 63487), FDA
published a 60-day notice requesting public comment on the information
collection provisions. No comments were received.
FDA estimates the burden of this collection of information as
follows:
Table 1.--Estimated Annual Reporting Burden \1\
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No. of Annual frequency Total annual Hours per
Activity respondents per response responses response Total hours
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Cognitive 6 1 6 1 6
Interviews
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Pretest 20 1 20 .5 10
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Survey 1,000 1 1,000 .30 300
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Total ................. ................... ................. ................. 316
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\1\ There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection of
information.
FDA's burden estimate is based on the agency's prior experience
with surveys similar to the proposed survey.
Dated: February 24, 2009.
Jeffrey Shuren,
Associate Commissioner for Policy and Planning.
[FR Doc. E9-4644 Filed 3-4-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-01-S