68374 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 226 / Wednesday, November 24, 2004 / Notices 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on respondents, including through the 

use of automated collection techniques 

or other forms of information 

technology. Written comments should 

be received within 60 days of this 

notice. 

Proposed Project 

Health Hazard Evaluation/Technical 

Assistance and Emerging Problems 

(OMB No. 0920–0260)—Revision—

National Institute for Occupational 

Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Each year, in accordance with its 

mandates under the Occupational Safety 

and Health Act of 1970 and the Federal 

Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, the 

National Institute for Occupational 

Safety and Health (NIOSH) responds to 

approximately 450 requests for health 

hazard evaluations to identify potential 

chemical, biological or physical hazards 

at the workplace. To comprehensively 

evaluate hazards in response to a 

request for a health hazard evaluation, 

NIOSH frequently conducts an on-site 

evaluation. The main purpose of an onsite evaluation is to help employers and 

employees identify and eliminate 

occupational health hazards. The 

interview and questionnaires are 

specific to each workplace and its 

suspected diseases(s) and hazards. The 

questionnaires are composed of items 

that were developed from standard 

medical and epidemiologic techniques. 

A printed NIOSH form is available in 

English and in Spanish for requesting 

these health hazard evaluations. The 

form is also available on the Internet 

and differs from the printed version 

only in format and in the fact that it uses 

an Internet address to which recipients 

can submit the form to NIOSH. Both the 

printed and Internet versions of the 

form provide the mechanism for 

employees, employers, and other 

authorized representatives to supply the 

information required by the regulations 

which govern the NIOSH health hazard 

evaluation program (42 CFR 85.3–1). In 

general, if employees are submitting the 

form it must contain the signatures of 

three or more current employees. 

However, regulations allow a single 

signature if the requestor is one of three 

or fewer employees in the process, 

operation, or job of concern. The form 

for requesting a health hazard 

evaluation is currently approved by 

OMB under the information collection 

0920–0102, ‘‘Contents of a Request for a 

Health Hazard Evaluation.’’ CDC would 

like to merge the form approved under 

0920–0102 into 0920–0260, ‘‘Health 

Hazard Evaluation/Technical Assistance 

and Emerging Problems.’’ This would 

consolidate two data collection systems 

into one. 

The information provided on the 

Request for a Health Hazard Evaluation 

form is used by NIOSH to determine 

whether there is reasonable cause to 

justify conducting an investigation. 

Without the information requested on 

this form, NIOSH would be unable to 

perform its legislated function of 

conducting health hazard evaluations in 

workplaces. There is no cost to 

respondents to obtain this form or to 

request a health hazard evaluation, 

except their time in completing the 

form. The additional burden for the 

Request for Health Hazard Evaluation 

form is 90 hours per year.

ANNUALIZED BURDEN TABLE

Respondents No. of respondents 

No. of responses per 

respondent 

Avg. burden 

per response

(in hrs.) 

Total burden 

hours 

Employees and representatives ...................................................................... 290 1 12/60 58 

Employers ........................................................................................................ 160 1 12/60 32 

Total .......................................................................................................... 450 ........................ ........................ 90 

Dated: November 12, 2004. 

B. Kathy Skipper, 

Acting Director, Management Analysis and 

Services Office, Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention.

[FR Doc. 04–26021 Filed 11–23–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[60Day–05AF] 

Proposed Data Collections Submitted 

for Public Comment and 

Recommendations 

In compliance with the requirement 

of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for 

opportunity for public comment on 

proposed data collection projects, the 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic 

summaries of proposed projects. To 

request more information on the 

proposed projects or to obtain a copy of 

the data collection plans and 

instruments, call 404–498–1210 or send 

comments to Sandi Gambescia, CDC 

Assistant Reports Clearance Officer, 

1600 Clifton Road, MS-E11, Atlanta, GA 

30333 or send an e-mail to 

omb@cdc.gov. 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information; (c) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on respondents, including through the 

use of automated collection techniques 

or other forms of information 

technology. Written comments should 

be received within 60 days of this 

notice. 

Proposed Project 

How Miners Modify Their Behavior In 

Response To Personal Dust Monitor 

Information—New—National Institute 

for Occupational Safety and Health 

(NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention (CDC). 

The Federal Mine Safety and Health 

Act of 1977, section 501, enables CDC/

NIOSH to carry out research relevant to 

the health and safety of workers in the 

mining industry. The objective of this 

project is to document how coal miners 

can use real-time information from their 

personal dust monitors (PDM) to reduce 

their exposure to respirable dust. The 

specific aims are to (1) identify several 

specific examples of how miners use 

PDM information to discover which 

parts of their jobs and/or which aspects 

of their work environment may be 

causing them to be overexposed to

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 226 / Wednesday, November 24, 2004 / Notices 68375

respirable dust, and (2) identify the 

types of changes that miners could make 

in order to try to reduce their exposure. 

Although the most recent data on the 

prevalence of Coal Workers’

Pneumoconiosis (CWP) in the United 

States indicates that it is declining, 

substantial numbers of CWP cases 

continue to be diagnosed. In recent 

years, CWP has contributed to the 

deaths of approximately 1,000 people in 

the U.S. each year. 

A personal dust monitor (PDM) has 

recently been developed through a 

collaboration involving NIOSH, the 

Bituminous Coal Operators’

Association, the United Mine Workers 

of America, the National Mining 

Association, and Rupprecht & 

Patashnick Co., Inc. This new device 

represents a major advance in the tools 

available for assessing coal miners’

exposure to respirable dust levels. It 

will soon be field tested with coal 

miners throughout the U.S. As with the 

introduction of any new technology, it 

is very important to systematically 

document how workers react to it and 

make use of it. If miners know how to 

properly use the information PDMs are 

capable of providing, they should be 

able to make adjustments to their work 

place or work procedures that will 

reduce their exposure to respirable coal 

dust. 

Various parties have speculated about 

the processes by which miners will use 

the information to reduce their exposure 

to respirable dust. There appears to be 

great potential. However, no one knows 

precisely how miners performing a wide 

variety of tasks and jobs are actually 

going to use this new information to 

reduce their exposure to dust. It is 

assumed that, once PDMs are 

introduced, miners will eventually find 

new ways to reduce their exposure to 

dust. Once these discoveries are made, 

they need to be documented and shared 

throughout the industry. The diffusion 

of this innovation will occur much more 

rapidly and efficiently if this proposed 

study takes place. Effective strategies for 

using PDM information will be well 

documented and quickly shared 

throughout the coal industry. The 

alternative is to wait for the miners at 

each of the 439 actively producing coal 

mines in the U.S. to go through their 

own trial and error process of 

discovering how PDMs can and cannot 

be used to reduce dust exposure. The 

proposed study will help to 

significantly reduce the incidence of 

lung disease among coal miners, leading 

to improvements in their longevity and 

quality of life. The information for this 

study will be collected by conducting 

one-on-one structured interviews with 

approximately 20 miners at each of 5 

mines located throughout the major coal 

producing regions of the U.S. This 

survey will last 2 years. There will be 

no cost to respondents except their time 

to participate.

Respondents Number of respondents 

Number of responses

per respondent 

Average burden per response

(in hours) 

Total burden

(in hours) 

Coal Miners ...................................................................................................... 100 1 30/60 50 

Total .......................................................................................................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 50 

Dated: November 17, 2004. 

B. Kathy Skipper, 

Acting Director, Management Analysis and 

Services Office, Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention.

[FR Doc. 04–26022 Filed 11–23–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[60Day–05–0212] 

Proposed Data Collections Submitted 

for Public Comment and 

Recommendations 

In compliance with the requirement 

of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for 

opportunity for public comment on 

proposed data collection projects, the 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic 

summaries of proposed projects. To 

request more information on the 

proposed projects or to obtain a copy of 

the data collection plans and 

instruments, call 404–498–1210 or send 

comments to Sandi Gambescia, CDC 

Assistant Reports Clearance Officer, 

1600 Clifton Road, MS–E11, Atlanta, GA 

30333 or send an e-mail to 

omb@cdc.gov.

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information; (c) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on respondents, including through the 

use of automated collection techniques 

or other forms of information 

technology. Written comments should 

be received within 60 days of this 

notice. 

Proposed Project 

National Hospital Discharge Survey 

(OMB No. 0920–0212)—Extension—

National Center for Health Statistics 

(NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC). 

The National Hospital Discharge 

Survey (NHDS) has been conducted 

continuously by CDC, National Center 

for Health Statistics since 1965. It is the 

principal source of data on inpatient 

utilization of short-stay, non-Federal 

hospitals and is the only annual source 

of nationally representative estimates on 

the characteristics of discharges, the 

lengths of stay, diagnoses, surgical and 

non-surgical procedures, and the 

patterns of use of care in hospitals in 

various regions of the country. It is the 

benchmark against which special 

programmatic data sources are 

compared. Data collected through the 

NHDS are essential for evaluating the 

health status of the population, 

planning of programs and policy to 

elevate the health status of the Nation, 

studying morbidity trends, and research 

activities in the health field. NHDS data 

have been used extensively in the 

development and monitoring of goals 

for the Year 2000 and 2010 Health 

Objectives. In addition, NHDS data 

provide annual updates for numerous 

tables in the Congressionally-mandated 

NCHS report, Health, United States. 

Data for the NHDS are collected 

annually on approximately 300,000 

discharges from a nationally 

representative sample of 

noninstitutional hospitals exclusive of 

Federal, military and Veterans’

Administration hospitals. The data 

items collected are the basic core of