[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 46 (Wednesday, March 8, 2000)] [Notices] [Pages 12230-12231] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 00-5625] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [FRL-6547-8] Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Health Effects of Particulate Matter and Co- Pollutant Exposures Near the El Paso/Juarez Border Crossings AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: Health Effects of Particulate Matter and Co-pollutant Exposures Near the El Paso/Juarez Border Crossings; EPA ICR Number: 1940.01. 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 April 7, 2000. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For a copy of the ICR 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. 1940.01. For technical information about the collection contact Dr. Melissa Gonzales, (919) 966-7549, FAX: (919) 966-7584, E-mail: [email protected], or by mailing a request to Dr. Melissa Gonzales, US EPA (MD 58-A), Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Health Effects of Particulate Matter and Co-pollutant Exposures Near the El Paso/Juarez Border Crossings (EPA ICR No. 1940.01). This is a new collection. Abstract: The proposed study will be conducted by the Epidemiology and Biomarkers Branch, Human Studies Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, US EPA. The purpose of this study is to examine the respiratory health effects in school children due to motor vehicle- related air pollutants. Further knowledge regarding the respiratory health effects of airborne particulate matter is required to reduce scientific uncertainties in the development of an Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7403(d)). The El Paso, Texas metropolitan area was selected for study because of high traffic volume and meteorological conditions. Heavily traveled interstate freeways run through the city, and over 18 million vehicles annually cross the international border between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Wintertime temperature inversions routinely trap vehicle emissions close to the ground leading to violations of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The parents of all children enrolled in the third and fourth grades of the El Paso Independent School District will receive an eight-page respiratory health questionnaire in both English and Spanish along with a written request for permission for their children to participate in a lung function examination at their school. Study participation is entirely voluntary. The questionnaire conforms to the American Thoracic Society standards and consists of questions specific to the child such as general demographic information, childhood respiratory illness, history of asthma, and current respiratory health conditions. There also are questions regarding household characteristics and family history of smoking, asthma, and respiratory illnesses. Each parent will be asked to complete the questionnaire, seal the completed form in the envelope provided, and send the envelope back to the teacher with the child. In the subsequent school year, ambient air pollutants will be measured [[Page 12231]] at twenty-two elementary schools in El Paso selected to represent areas close to and far away from the city center, and the border crossings as well as those areas in between. At these schools, those children who received parental permission on a returned questionnaire will attempt to perform a lung function examination. The examination, conducted according to American Thoracic Society guidelines, consists of blowing three to eight times into a tube connected to a spirometer and is no more stressful than blowing out a candle. A new, sterile, disposable mouthpiece will be used for each child. A field technician will record each child's height and weight, and coach the child to perform the breathing test. The examinations will be conducted in the child's elementary school during normal school hours with a school nurse on site. The information collected in this study will be used by scientists within EPA's Office of Research and Development. The data will be used to: (i) provide a better understanding of the association between exposures to particulate matter and co-pollutants and respiratory illness in children; (ii) assess the classification of children's exposure using data from the study questionnaire, direct air pollutant measurements and exposure models for refining exposure estimation methods in air pollution health studies; (iii) identify key exposure factors for school age children to air pollutants; (iv) assess the prevalences of pulmonary illness, including reduced lung function, in school children living in a metropolitan area along the US-Mexico border. The information will appear in the form of EPA reports, journal articles, and will also be made publicly available. 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 December 13, 1999 (64 FR 69528); no comments were received. Burden Statement: The annual public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 0.40 hours for each questionnaire response and 0.35 hours for each lung function examination. There are no direct respondent costs for this data collection. There is no annual recordkeeping burden for this ICR. 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: School officials, parents and children in the El Paso Independent School District. Estimated Number of Respondents: 13,400. Frequency of Response: Once. Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 5,145 hours. Estimated Total Annualized Cost Burden (non-labor costs): $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. 1940.01 in any correspondence. Ms. Sandy Farmer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Environmental Information, Collection Strategies Division (2822), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, 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: March 2, 2000. Oscar Morales, Director, Collection Strategies Division. [FR Doc. 00-5625 Filed 3-7-00; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560-50-P