Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 9 / Tuesday, January 16, 2007 / Notices 1723 

into by the EPA and T.J.’s Enterprises, 

Inc. (‘‘the Settling Party’’). 

In response to the release or 

threatened release of hazardous 

substances including lead at or from the 

Site, EPA undertook response actions at 

the Site pursuant to Section 104 of 

CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9604. In April 1998, 

response actions were initiated by EPA 

to address the release of lead to surface 

and subsurface soils at the Site. 

Excavation of lead-contaminated soils 

began in December 1998, resulting in 

the excavation, on-Site treatment and 

off-Site disposal of approximately 2,650 

tons of lead-contaminated material. The 

soils were excavated to below 1000 

parts per million, a level suitable only 

for limited uses of the property. EPA’s 

response action has been completed and 

all costs incurred. 

Pursuant to Section 107(a) of 

CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9607(a), the Settling 

Party is responsible for response costs 

incurred at or in connection with the 

Site. The Regional Administrator of 

EPA, Region VII, or his designee, has 

determined that the total past and 

projected response costs of the United 

States at or in connection with the Site 

will not exceed $500,000, excluding 

interest. 

This Agreement requires the Settling 

Party to pay to the EPA Hazardous 

Substance Superfund the principal sum 

of $45,000 in reimbursement of Past 

Response Costs, and will resolve the 

Settling Party’s alleged civil liability for 

these costs. The proposed Agreement 

also includes a covenant not to sue the 

Settling Party pursuant to Section 107(a) 

of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9607(a). 

Dated: December 21, 2006. 

John B. Askew, 

Regional Administrator, Environmental 

Protection Agency, Region VII. 

[FR Doc. E7–412 Filed 1–12–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–8268–7] 

Proposed Reissuance of General 

NPDES Permit (GP) for Alaskan Small 

Suction Dredging (Permit Number 

AKG–37–5000) 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency, (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of proposed reissuance of 

a general permit. 

SUMMARY: On June 4, 2007, a general 

permit regulating the activities of small 

suction dredge mining for gold placer 

mining operations in the State of Alaska 

expires. EPA proposes to reissue this 

general permit with minor changes. EPA 

is proposing to make this permit 

effective as the previous general permit 

expires. 

DATES: Interested persons may submit 

comments on the proposed reissuance 

of the general permit to EPA, Region 10 

at the address below. Comments must 

be received by March 2, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Comments on the proposed 

General Permit should be sent to 

Director, Office of Water and 

Watersheds; USEPA Region 10; 1200 

Sixth Avenue, OWW–130; Seattle, 

Washington 98101. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Copies of the Fact Sheet and draft 

General Permit are available upon 

request. The Fact Sheet and draft 

General Permit may be found on the 

Region 10 Web site at http:// 

www.epa.gov/r10earth/ 

waterpermits.htm (click on draft 

permits, then Alaska). 

Requests for copies may be made to 

Audrey Washington at (206) 553–0523 

or to Cindi Godsey at (907) 271–6561 or 

electronically mailed to: 

washington.audrey@epa.gov or 

godsey.cindi@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Order 12866 

The Office of Management and Budget 

has exempted this action from the 

review requirements of Executive Order 

12866 pursuant to Section 6 of that 

order. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

After review of the facts presented in 

the notice printed above, I hereby certify 

pursuant to the provision of 5 U.S.C. 

605(b) that this reissuance of this 

general permit will not have a 

significant impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. Moreover, the 

permit reduces a significant 

administrative burden on regulated 

sources. 

Dated: January 5, 2007. 

Michael F. Gearheard, 

Director, Office of Water & Watersheds, 

Region 10, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency. 

[FR Doc. E7–410 Filed 1–12–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research 

and Quality, Department of Health and 

Human Services. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

intention of the Agency for Healthcare 

Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request 

that the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) allow the proposed 

information collection project: 

‘‘Improving Quality of Care in Long 

Term Care.’’ In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(2)(A)), AHRQ invites the public 

to comment on this proposed 

information collection. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by February 15, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be submitted to: Doris Lefkowitz, 

Reports Clearance Officer, AHRQ, 540 

Gaither Road, Room #5036, Rockville, 

MD 20850. 

Copies of the proposed collection 

plans, data collection instruments, and 

specific details on the estimated burden 

can be obtained from AHRQ’s Reports 

Clearance Officer. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ, Reports 

Clearance Officer, (301) 427–1477. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed Project 

Improving Quality of Care in Long Term 

Care 

The proposed project will design, 

implement, and evaluate an 

intervention program to prevent 

injurious falls in assisted living 

facilities. The project involves four 

major activities: (1) Adapting a 

multifaceted, evidence-based falls 

prevention program to a protocol 

tailored to the assisted living 

environment; (2) implementing the pilot 

protocol and collecting clinical and 

process data pre- and post-intervention; 

(3) evaluating the results of the 

intervention; and (4) widely 

disseminating the protocol (revised as 

needed based on the evaluation), 

training materials, and research 

findings. 

The project design is a multicomponent falls intervention program 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
1724 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 9 / Tuesday, January 16, 2007 / Notices 

that will include medication review, 

resident assessment, environmental 

modification, and exercise. Its goal will 

be to reduce risk factors for falls, as well 

as fall and fracture rates, among 

residents of assisted living facilities. 

The project will adapt existing 

evidence-based falls prevention 

interventions to the assisted living 

setting, and collect data to track the 

progress and impact of the intervention 

program. Data collection for the falls 

intervention project will be approved by 

the University of North Carolina—

Chapel Hill and Research Triangle 

Institute (RTI) International Institutional 

Review Boards. It will be conducted in 

accordance with the Health Insurance 

Portability and Accountability Act 

(HIPAA) Privacy rule and with the 

Protection of Human Research Subjects 

regulations, 45 CFR part 46. In addition, 

the identifiable data collected in this 

study about provider organizations and 

individuals will only be used for the 

above-stated purposes and will be kept 

confidential. 

Methods of Collection 

The evaluation will use several 

methods to examine the efficacy of the 

intervention, including record review, 

in-person surveys, and in-depth 

interviews. Data for this process 

evaluation of the implementation of the 

intervention will be collected at 6 and 

12 months at the facility-level (e.g., fall 

and fracture rates, intervention 

adoption) and the resident-level (e.g., 

risk factors for falls, adherence to 

intervention regimens). 

The quantitative data will be collected 

using a series of questionnaires to 

collect information about the facility, its 

staff, and the participating residents. 

The information about residents’

cognitive, medical, and functional 

status, and risk for falls will be collected 

using resident medication records and 

charts, performance based physical 

assessments, and standard measures of 

activities of daily living and cognition. 

The in-depth interviews of residents 

and staff will use both open-ended 

questions and items with categorical 

response options to facilitate analysis. 

Items will include the degree to which 

the facility has changed its practice; the 

degree to which residents accept and 

adhere to the intervention; facilitators 

for and obstacles to implementation; 

report of staff and resident satisfaction; 

reactions and experiences related to the 

use of volunteers; and lessons learned. 

These data will be gathered through 60- 

minute interviews with facility staff 

including administrators and clinical 

personnel, and 30 to 40 minute 

interviews with residents. The research 

staff will interview up to four staff at 

each intervention site and up to four 

residents at each site. 

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden 

The table below indicates the 

estimated time and cost burden to the 

respondents for obtaining all of the data 

needed to meet the study’s objectives. 

There will be no cost burden to the 

respondent other than the cost burden 

associated with their time to provide the 

required data. There will be no 

additional costs for capital equipment, 

software, computer services, etc. 

Time required to analyze the data and 

prepare it for reporting and publication 

is not included in these estimates. 

TABLE 1.—ESTIMATED RESPONDENT BURDEN

Type of respondent Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

(baseline, 6 

months and 12 

months) 

Estimated 

time per 

respondent 

Estimated total 

burden 

(hours) 

Average hourly 

rate 

Estimated cost 

burden to the 

respondent 

Direct Caregiver Staff ........................... 20 30 0.10 hours (6 

minutes).

60 $9 .00 $540 

Facility Staff .......................................... 260 1 .067 hours (4 

minutes).

17 .3 9 .00 155 .70 

Facility Administrator ............................ 4 3 0.25 hours 

(15 minutes).

3 25 75 

Facility Residents ................................. 200 3 0.583 hours 

(35 minutes).

350 0 0 

Total .............................................. ........................ ........................ ..................... 430 .......................... 770 .70 

Estimated Annual Costs to the Federal 

Government 

The total estimated one-time cost of 

this intervention implementation and 

related data collection to the federal 

government is $199,600. This funding 

will be used to support the cost of 

implementing the intervention, salary 

and fringe benefits for the research team 

to conduct the survey interview and indepth interviews, costs for members of 

the research team to travel to each site, 

and the incentives paid to facilities for 

participation in the intervention. The 

project proposes to work with assisted 

living facilities with which the research 

team already has established 

relationships and familiarity and will 

attempt to minimize burden to the 

assisted living facility staff by being 

flexible to schedules and requirements 

of care practices within the facilities. 

Request for Comments 

In accordance with the above-cited 

Paperwork Reduction Act legislation, 

comments on AHRQ’s information 

collection are requested with regard to 

any of the following: (a) Whether the 

proposed collection of information is 

necessary for the proper performance of 

AHRQ health care research and health 

care information dissemination 

functions, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of AHRQ’s estimate of 

burden (including hours and ocsts) of 

the proposed collection(s) 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 upon the 

respondents, including the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and 

included in the Agency’s subsequent 

request for OMB approval of the 

proposed information collection. All 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 9 / Tuesday, January 16, 2007 / Notices 1725 

comments will become a matter of 

public record. 

Dated: January 4, 2007. 

Carolyn M. Clancy, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 07–108 Filed 1–12–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4160–90–M 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research 

and Quality, Department of Health and 

Human Services. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

intention of the Agency for Healthcare 

Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request 

that the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) allow the proposed 

information collection project: 

‘‘Evaluation of the Implementation and 

Impact of Pay-for-Quality Programs.’’ In 

accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104–

13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), AHRQ 

invites the public to comment on this 

proposed information collection. 

This proposed information collection 

was previously published in the Federal 

Register on October 24, 2006 and 

allowed 60 days for public comment. No 

public comments were received. The 

purpose of this notice is to allow an 

additional 30 days for public comment. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by February 15, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be submitted to: Doris Lefkowitz, 

Reports Clearance Officer, AHRQ, 540 

Gaither Road, Room #5036, Rockville, 

MD 20850. Copies of the proposed 

collection plans, data collection 

instruments, and specific details on the 

estimated burden can be obtained from 

AHRQ’s Reports Clearance Officer. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ, Reports 

Clearance Officer, (301) 427–1477. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed Project 

‘‘Evaluation of the Implementation and 

Impact of Pay-for-Quality (P4Q) 

Programs’’

The P4Q Evaluation is a multi-method 

research project designed to evaluate the 

implementation and impact of P4Q 

programs on physicians across three 

programs operating in health care safety 

net settings. The P4Q programs 

participating in the evaluation are 

offering their healthcare providers 

financial incentives to achieve 

predefined quality targets. Data 

collected as part of this evaluation will 

have direct operational relevance to 

payers and providers regarding the 

value and challenges of P4Q programs 

in safety net settings. The P4Q 

evaluation is designed to assess whether 

P4Q programs in such settings improve 

quality on the measures that are the 

focus of the programs and also whether 

the programs lead to unintended 

consequences. The P4Q evaluation will 

also seek to identify design and 

implementation practices that are likely 

to increase as well as decrease the risks 

of negative outcomes resulting from the 

implementation of P4Q programs in 

safety net settings. 

Data collection under the P4Q 

evaluation will be approved by the 

Boston University’s Medical Campus 

Institutional Review Board. It will be 

conducted in accordance with the 

Health Insurance Protection and 

Portability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule 

and with the Protection of Human 

Subjects regulations, 45 CFR part 46. In 

addition, the identifiable data collected 

in this study about provider 

organizations and individuals will only 

be used for the above-stated purposes 

and will be protected in accordance 

with the AHRQ confidentiality statute, 

section 934(c) of the Public Health 

Service Act (42 U.S.C. 299c–3(c)). 

Methods of Collection 

The evaluation will use several 

methods to examine P4Q programs in 

safety net settings, including a survey 

and key informant interviews. Survey 

data will be obtained from physicians 

participating in P4Q programs using a 

confidential mailed questionnaire. The 

key informant interviews will consist of 

35-minute semi-structured interviews 

with physician organization executives, 

practice leaders, physicians, and other 

senior managers in each study setting 

regarding program design, 

implementation, and impact. The 

research project investigators will 

interview up to six informants at each 

site. 

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden 

The table below indicates the total 

time burden required to obtain all the 

data required to meet the study’s 

objectives. It does not include time 

required to analyze the data and prepare 

it for reporting and publication. 

Type of respondent Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Estimated time 

per respondent 

Estimated total 

burden 

(hours) 

Estimated annual respondent cost 

burden 

Physicians ....................................... 216 1 0.25 hours (15 

minutes).

54 $5,322.12 to cover costs of responding to survey. 

Practice executives and other senior managers.24 1 0.58 hours (35 

minutes).

14 $841.35 to cover costs of participating in in-person interviews. 

Total ......................................... ........................ ........................ ........................... 68 $6,163.47. 

Estimated Costs to the Federal 

Government 

The total cost to the government for 

this activity is estimated to be $193,941. 

This funding will be used to support 

survey administration costs, salary and 

fringe benefits for the research team 

relating to the design and 

administration of the survey and 

informant interviews, and costs for two 

members of the research team to travel 

to each site for the informant interviews. 

The project will attempt to minimize 

burden to physician survey respondents 

by distributing surveys at medical staff 

meetings. 

Request for Comments 

In accordance with the above-cited 

Paperwork Reduction Act legislation, 

comments on AHRQ’s information 

collection are requested with regard to 

any of the following: (a) Whether the 

proposed collection of information is 

necessary for the proper performance of 

AHRQ health care research and health 

care information dissemination 

functions, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of AHRQ’s estimate of 

burden (including hours and costs) of 

the proposed collection(s) of 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES