01-24019. Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a list of information collection requests under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call the CDC Reports Clearance Officer at [phone]. Send written comments to CDC, Desk Officer, Human Resources and Housing Branch, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503. Written comments should be received within 30 days of this notice.

Proposed Project: Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance—Extension—OMB No. 0923-0008 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). ATSDR is mandated pursuant to the 1980 Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and its 1986 Amendments, The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), to prevent or mitigate adverse human health effects and diminished quality of life resulting from the exposure to hazardous substances into the environment. The primary purpose of this activity, which ATSDR has supported since 1992, is to develop, implement, and maintain a state-based surveillance system for hazardous substances emergency events which can be used to (1) describe the distribution of the hazardous substances releases; (2) describe the public health consequences (morbidity, mortality, and evacuations) associated with the events; (3) identify risk factors associated with the public health consequences; and (4) develop strategies to reduce future public health consequences. The study population will consist of all hazardous substance non-permitted acute releases within the 16 states (Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin) participating in the surveillance system.

Until this system was developed and implemented, there was no national public health-based surveillance system to coordinate the collation, analysis, and distribution of hazardous substances emergency release data to public health practitioners. It was necessary to establish this national surveillance system which describes the public health impact of hazardous substances emergencies on the health of the population of the United States. The data collection form will be completed by the state health department Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) coordinator using a variety of sources including written and oral reports from environmental protection agencies, police, firefighters, emergency response personnel; or researched by the HSEES coordinator using census data, material safety data sheets, and chemical handbooks. The total estimated annualized burden is 7,356 hours.

Respondents	Number of respondents	Number of responses/respondents	Avg. burden/response (in hrs.)
State Health Deparatments	16	613	45/60

Dated: September 17, 2001.

Nancy E. Cheal,

Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.