[Federal Register: September 11, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 176)]
[Notices]               
[Page 47211-47212]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11se01-80]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7053-7]

 
Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; National Survey on Environmental Management of 
Asthma

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 the following Information 
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: Title: National Survey on 
Environmental Management of Asthma. The ICR describes the nature of the 
information collection and its expected burden and cost; where 
appropriate, it includes the actual data-collection instrument.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 11, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Send comments, referencing EPA ICR No. 1996.01 to the 
following addresses: Sandy Farmer, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Collection Strategies Division (Mail Code 2822), 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; and to the 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: For a copy of the ICR, contact Susan 
Auby at EPA by phone at (202) 260-4901, by E-Mail at 
Auby.susan@epamail.epa.gov or download off the internet at http://
www.epa.gov/icr and refer to EPA ICR No. 1996.01. For technical 
questions about the ICR, contact Dr. Susan Conrath at EPA by phone at 
(202) 564-9389.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: National Survey on Environmental Management of Asthma, EPA 
ICR 1996.01.
    Abstract: 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

[[Page 47212]]

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 the Agency's established Government Performance and 
Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) 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 will conduct this survey in two phases. In the first phase, EPA 
will contact 52,591 people who will participate in a screening survey. 
These individuals will be chosen randomly from U.S. households with a 
publicly listed telephone number. EPA expects that 10 percent, or 5,259 
individuals, will either 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. In this second 
phase, EPA expects to obtain completed survey responses from 3,308 
individuals. This sample size will allow the Agency to draw 
statistically valid conclusions regarding the number of people with 
asthma who are taking action to reduce their exposure to environmental 
triggers.
    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 voluntarily participating 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 are listed in 40 CFR Part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter 15. The 
Federal Register document required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting 
comments on this collection of information was published on 04/17/
01(FLR-6962-2); No comments were received.

Burden Statement

    The annual public reporting and record-keeping burden for this 
collection of information is estimated to range from between 1.5 
minutes and 16 minutes per response, depending on whether or not the 
survey respondent has asthma or lives with someone who has asthma. 
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: All individuals throughout the 
United States with publicly listed residential telephone numbers.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 52,591.
    Frequency of Response: Once.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 726 hours.
    Estimated Total Annualized Capital and O&M Cost Burden: $0.
    Send comments on the Agency's need for this information, the 
accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods 
for minimizing respondent burden, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques, to the addresses listed above. Please 
refer to EPA ICR No. 1996.01 in any correspondence.

    Dated: August 30, 2001.
Oscar Morales,
 Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. 01-22747 Filed 9-10-01; 8:45 am]
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