[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 198 (Thursday, October 14, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55709-55710]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-26860]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-6457-4]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB
Review; Comment Request; Agricultural Health Study: Pesticide Exposure
Study
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: Agricultural Health Study--
Pesticide Exposure Study, EPA ICR Number 1906.01. 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 November 15, 1999.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sandy Farmer at EPA by phone at (202) 260-2740, by email at
[email protected], or download a copy of the ICR off the Internet at
http://www.epa.gov/icr and refer to EPA ICR No. 1906.01.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Agricultural Health Study--Pesticide Exposure Study, EPA ICR
[[Page 55710]]
Number 1906.01. This is a new collection.
Abstract: The National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the EPA have
agreed through a Memorandum of Understanding to perform a prospective
epidemiological study of the risk of cancer and other diseases
associated with usage and exposure to pesticides of some 90,000
registered pesticide applicators and their spouses in the states of
Iowa and North Carolina. The Agricultural Health Study (AHS) will
evaluate whether those applicators with the greatest usage history and
potential exposures to pesticides are at a greater risk of cancer or
other diseases than those applicators with lowest usage history and
reduced potential exposures to pesticides. Information collection
requests prepared by NCI for survey data collection in the AHS
epidemiological study have received OMB approval (current OMB #0925-
0406, expires 11/30/01).
The U.S. EPA will support the AHS by performing an exposure
measurement study for private pesticide applicators in the cohort. The
exposure measurement study is the subject of the information collection
request cited in this document. Exposure data are needed for assessing
and refining methods for classifying applicator exposures using study
questionnaire information, to measure the magnitude of applicator
pesticide exposures, and to identify key exposure factors. Observations
of applicator work practices will be compared to self-reported
information from questionnaires to assess reporting reliability of
current practices. In addition, EPA will measure spouse and child
urinary pesticide biomarkers to help understand whether and to what
extent agricultural application of pesticides leads to exposures for
members of the applicator's family.
Study respondents will be registered private pesticide applicators
in the AHS prospective epidemiological cohort, their spouses, and up to
two children selected from each home. A total of 160 applicators will
be selected into the study. Approximately 24 of the applicators will be
asked to participate in the exposure study in each of two years.
Participation will be entirely voluntary. An applicator that agrees to
participate in the exposure study will be retained even if their spouse
and/or child decline to participate.
Applicator exposures will be monitored around one pesticide
application of a targeted pesticide. A sample of the pesticide
formulation will be collected. Dermal exposure will be estimated by
collection of dermal patch and hand-wipe samples. Urine samples will be
collected before and following the application event to measure
pesticide or metabolite concentrations and to allow estimation of the
absorbed dose. A sample of house dust will be collected from the
applicator's home. Spouses and one child in the age range of 3-18 years
old will be asked to provide urine samples before and after the
monitored application.
Pesticide handling, mixing, loading, and application (HMLA)
activities will be observed. A modified version of the NCI AHS Private
Pesticide Applicator Followup Questionnaire (OMB #0925-0406) will be
administered to the applicator immediately after the observed HMLA
activity. A Biomarker Questionnaire will be administered to the
applicator at the end of the monitoring period to collect data for
interpreting the measurements and to provide additional information
about applicator and farm family exposure to pesticides. The full AHS
Private Pesticide Applicator Follow-up Questionnaire will be
administered to the applicator several months after the observed
application event.
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 6/15/1999
(64 FR 32042); no comments were received.
Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 4.1
hours for pesticide applicators, 0.8 hours for spouses and children
providing urine samples, and 0.25 hours for children only responding to
a questionnaire. 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: registered private pesticide
applicators; parents/households.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 152.
Frequency of Response: One occasion (except for 24 participants
repeated in second year).
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 349 hours.
Estimated Total Annualized Cost Burden (non-labor costs only): $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 following addresses. Please
refer to EPA ICR No. 1906.01 in any correspondence.
Ms. Sandy Farmer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of
Policy, Regulatory Information Division (2137), 401 M Street, SW,
Washington, DC 20460;
and
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20503.
Dated: October 7, 1999.
Richard T. Westlund,
Acting Director, Regulatory Information Division.
[FR Doc. 99-26860 Filed 10-13-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P