67528 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 250 / Monday, December 31, 2001 / Notices

II. 14 NOTICES OF COMMENCEMENT FROM: 11/09/01 TO 11/30/01—Continued

Case No. Received Date Commencement/

Import Date Chemical

P–01–0693 11/14/01 11/01/01 (G) Polyester resin

P–01–0696 11/19/01 10/26/01 (G) Blocked aromatic isocyanate

P–01–0747 11/26/01 10/24/01 (G) Silicone polymer

P–98–0098 11/13/01 02/05/98 (G) Blocked urethane prepolymer

List of Subjects

Environmental protection, Chemicals,

Premanufacturer notices.

Dated: December 18, 2001.

Deborah A. Williams,

Acting Director, Information Management

Division, Office of Pollution Prevention and

Toxics.

[FR Doc. 01–32107 Filed 12–28–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–S

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Second Public Conference: Factors

That Affect Prices of Refined

Petroleum Products

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice announcing public

conference and requesting analytical

and empirical papers and public

comment.

SUMMARY: The Federal Trade

Commission (‘‘FTC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’)

will hold a second public conference on

May 6–9, 2002, to examine issues

concerning prices of refined petroleum

products in the United States. The

Commission held its first conference on

August 2, 2001, where it heard from

numerous interested parties about

issues in this area that merit further

examination. The further conference

announced in this notice will enable the

Commission to study in greater depth

issues identified in the first public

conference. The Commission also seeks

analytical and empirical papers and

public comment to inform this

examination. The Commission invites

experts from market participants, trade

associations, consumer groups,

academia, and other organizations to

submit analysis and empirical research

on the topics discussed in this notice.

For any submitted empirical analysis or

quantitative research, papers should

include, if possible, the underlying data

and reference or include any software

programs used to generate results.

DATES: The public conference will be

held on May 6–9, 2002. Sessions will be

open to the public, without fee, and

advance registration is not required.

Seats in the conference room will be

available on a first-come, first-served

basis; limited overflow seating will be

available to view the conference via

closed-circuit television. Speakers will

be by invitation only. Due to the

expected high level of interest in this

inquiry, speakers will be limited to brief

presentations, with extensive questions

and discussion with Commissioners and

staff to follow. Further information

regarding the agenda for the public

conference will be posted on the FTC

website.

Interested parties must submit

analytical and empirical papers and

comments by April 19, 2002.

ADDRESSES: The public conference will

be held in Room 432 of the Federal

Trade Commission Headquarters

Building, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue,

NW., Washington, DC 20580. All

interested parties are invited to attend.

Any interested party may submit an

analytical or empirical paper or

comment relevant to the Commission’s

inquiry on or before April 19, 2002. To

facilitate efficient review, each paper or

comment should, if possible, be filed in

electronic form (as a WordPerfect,

Word, or ASCII text file), by attaching it

to an e-mail message sent to the

following e-mail box:

refinedpetroleumproducts@ftc.gov. The

email message to which the paper or

comment is attached should include the

caption ‘‘Presentation on Factors that

Affect Prices of Refined Petroleum

Products;’’ the name of the presenter;

and the name and version of the word

processing program used to create the

comment. Papers or comments which

are instead filed in paper form should

include the same caption and the name

of the presenter, and should be

addressed to Donald S. Clark, Office of

the Secretary, Federal Trade

Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue,

NW., Washington, DC 20580.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

James Mongoven, Office of Policy and

Evaluation, Bureau of Competition,

Federal Trade Commission, 600

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Room 390,

Washington, DC 20580; (202) 326–2879

(telephone); jmongoven@ftc.gov. (email).

A detailed agenda and additional

information relating to the public

conference will be posted on the

Commission’s website, http://

www.ftc.gov/bc/gasconf/index.htm, in

advance of the conference.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Both

crude oil and refined petroleum

products prices have been volatile in

recent years. The level and volatility of

prices of refined petroleum products

have resulted in increased public

concern. In addition, the oil industry

has experienced a number of significant

changes in the 1990s, including

substantial restructuring through

mergers and joint ventures, changes in

business practices, increased

dependency on foreign crude sources,

and new governmental regulations.

The Commission has extensive law

enforcement authority with respect to

the oil and refined petroleum products

industries. Within the past year, the

Commission has concluded two

investigations into gasoline prices on

the West Coast and in a number of

Midwestern states. The Commission has

also conducted antitrust investigations

of a number of recent oil industry

mergers, and, where appropriate, has

issued orders requiring substantial

divestitures to preserve competition.

Because of the importance to the

American economy of issues raised in

these investigations, the Commission

has broadened its focus beyond law

enforcement to study in more detail the

central factors that can affect the level

and volatility of refined petroleum

products prices in the United States.

The purpose of the two public

conferences on this topic is to increase

the transparency of competitive and

other factors affecting the prices of

refined petroleum products industries.

Increased transparency will better

inform consumers and policy-makers in

the executive and legislative branches

about factors affecting the level and

volatility of prices for refined petroleum

products. The Commission’s efforts in

this area will complement those of other

government agencies, such as the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency

(‘‘EPA’’), which recently released a

report and a white paper studying the

relationship of boutique fuel

requirements to gasoline prices.

The Commission’s public conference

on August 2, 2001 served as a valuable

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 250 / Monday, December 31, 2001 / Notices 67529

1The Commission has chosen the 1985 date so it

can update data received/obtained in conjunction

with earlier Commission reports in this industry.

first step. During the initial conference,

participants identified the issues that

they found to be the most significant

and that merit further study by the FTC.

A transcript of and presentations to the

initial conference are available on the

Commission’s website, http://

www.ftc.gov/bc/gasconf/index.htm. This

information has assisted the

Commission in structuring the second

public conference to focus in a

comprehensive manner on the most

relevant and important issues.

The Commission anticipates that the

information gathered through these

public conferences, analytical and

empirical papers and comments

received, and additional research, will

lead to insights of importance to public

policy concerning the level and

volatility of prices of refined petroleum

products. The Commission expects to

summarize and discuss these insights in

a public report.

Specific Questions To Be Addressed

Listed below is a series of questions

about which the Commission seeks

public comment. The list is not

exhaustive, and it is not necessary to

respond to each question.

Supply and Transportation of Crude Oil

1. How has the crude oil supply

market changed since 1985?1 How has

the demand for crude oil changed since

1985? What is the level of proven

reserves? Has the growth of proven

reserves kept pace with increased

demand? What has been the trend in

domestic production? What are the

pricing trends for domestic oil sources?

To what extent do changes in domestic

crude production contribute to changes

in levels and volatility of refined

product prices?

2. How has OPEC managed its

supply? How do domestic oil companies

and state-owned companies in OPEC

countries interact? To what extent have

the output policies of OPEC affected

refined product prices in recent years?

Has there been increased dependence

on foreign sources of crude oil since

1985? To what extent, if any, has

increased dependence on foreign crude

sources by U.S. refineries contributed to

increased levels and volatility of refined

product prices? Have regulatory or other

factors affected the costs or ability to

import crude oil?

3. What is the relationship between

crude oil prices (cost of feedstock) and

prices for refined products at the

wholesale and retail levels? Does this

relationship vary by region of particular

refineries? What happens to refined

petroleum product prices when crude

oil prices/inventories increase or

decrease? How do inventories of crude

oil affect the prices of refined petroleum

products?

4. What is the empirical evidence

since 1985 on the trends in the

inflation-adjusted levels and volatility

of crude oil prices?

5. What have been the trends in the

costs and risks of developing new crude

sources, either domestically or abroad?

To what extent have changes in the

costs and risks affected refined product

prices? Has there been an increase in the

absolute or relative difficulty of

obtaining financing to support the

development of new crude sources? Has

there been a change in the relative risk/

cost relationship of developing new

crude sources? How has this affected the

ability to obtain financing?

6. Have different types of crudes

become more or less substitutable by

U.S. refineries over time, and if so, has

this affected refined product prices?

Have crude oil markets become more or

less regionalized over time, and have

any such changes had an impact on

refined product prices?

7. Are recent proposed/final

environmental regulations (e.g., TIER II

gasoline, low sulfur diesel) likely to

affect the types of crude used by refiners

and reduce refiner flexibility on the

types of crude processed? If so, are

existing refineries able to achieve

compliance with these regulations? If

not, what kind of capital investment

will be needed to achieve compliance?

8. In any stage of crude oil supply,

either domestically or abroad, is there

any exercise of significant market power

(other than the OPEC cartel) currently

being observed? To what extent has any

such exercise of significant market

power affected refined product prices?

9. What is the effect of the Jones Act

on transportation of crude oil? Does the

Jones Act affect the price of crude oil to

refiners? If so, what is the effect?

10. Have infrastructure investments in

crude pipelines or marine transport of

crude by either barge or ship kept pace

with growth in demand? If not, why

not? Are there policies that can be

implemented that will create or

reinforce incentives for efficient

investment in pipeline or marine

transport infrastructure to maintain

adequate capacity, including reserve

capacity in the event of a supply

disruption?

11. What is the empirical evidence

since 1985 on the trends of the inflationadjusted levels and volatility in the

prices of pipeline or marine transport of

crude oil? Are these trends similar or

dissimilar in various parts of the nation?

12. To what extent have changes in

the cost or prices of pipeline or marine

transport services of crude oil affected

the prices of refined petroleum products

at the wholesale or retail level?

13. Do we observe the exercise of

significant market power in either the

pipeline or marine transport of crude oil

in any geographic area? To what extent

has the exercise of significant market

power affected the prices of refined

products?

Refining

1. What factors have had the greatest

effect on refining production costs and

the price of refined petroleum products

since 1985? Which such factors have

been most responsible for any increase

in the level or volatility of refined

product prices?

2. How has the structure of the

refining industry changed since 1985?

Why did these changes occur? How

have these changes affected capacity,

utilization, production costs, prices for

refined petroleum products, and overall

competition in the industry? How has

the role and quantity of imported

refined petroleum products changed

during this time? What has contributed

to any such change?

3. What is the empirical evidence on

the trends of the inflation-adjusted

levels and volatility of refined product

prices (for example, spot prices) at the

bulk supply level? Are these trends

similar or dissimilar in various parts of

the nation? Are the trends similar for

different refined products (e.g. diesel,

gasoline, heating oil, jet fuel)?

4. Have infrastructure investments

kept pace with growth in demand? If

not, why not? Are there policies that can

be implemented that will create or

reinforce incentives for refiners to make

efficient investments in infrastructure to

maintain adequate capacity, including

reserve capacity in the event of a supply

disruption? Would such incentives vary

as a function of size, capitalization, or

debt level? How has the age of the

industry infrastructure contributed to

the need for and cost of the capital

improvements?

5. In light of EPA’s report and white

paper, how have changes in

environmental regulations affected

refinery production in ways that have

potential impacts on the prices of

refined products? What has been the

actual and historical effect of such

regulations? Have changes in fuel

specifications, both past and

prospective, affected the

competitiveness, fungibility, cost, and

67530 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 250 / Monday, December 31, 2001 / Notices

price stability of the gasoline and

distillate fuel pools?

6. What capital investments have been

needed to produce refined petroleum

products (e.g., reformulated gasoline) in

compliance with federal and state

environmental and other regulations

implemented since 1985? Have any

refineries shut down because they found

the needed capital improvements would

be uneconomical? What capital

investments will be needed to comply

with federal and state regulations

scheduled to take effect in the future?

7. How have environmental

regulations affected refinery capacity for

motor gasoline and other refined

products? What effect have these

regulations had on refinery utilization

and the product slate, including the

types and quantities of motor gasoline

produced? How have these regulations

affected production schedules, lead

time, and the ability to respond to

supply disruptions (e.g., alter product

slates)?

8. What new motor gasoline

transportation and storage issues have

arisen due to new environmental

regulations since 1985?

9. What effect has the increase in the

number of different grades of motor

gasoline (with varying emissions

specifications and oxygenates) had on

product markets and geographic markets

for refined petroleum products? Are

there specific grades of gasoline that are

produced by just a few refiners? How

has this affected the industry’s ability to

respond to supply disruptions? How

rapidly do refined product prices

typically react to changes in supply?

Are there implications that one can

draw from the response speed regarding

the nature of competition in the market?

What are the consequences and

associated costs of producing an offspecification motor gasoline?

10. Are current environmental

regulations, or those that are scheduled

to take effect in the future, affecting

refinery ownership? That is, are

companies that own refineries making

decisions to divest because of the

regulations and the cost to comply? Is

there a pattern of such sales and are the

purchasers comparable to the sellers in

terms of ability to raise capital to

comply with environmental

requirements and to expand capacity?

11. What factors explain the closure of

several smaller refineries in the United

States over the past decade? Why have

some major oil firms sold refining

capacity? Has the closure of smaller

refineries changed the regional

composition of refining capacity? If so,

has this created infrastructure

bottlenecks and affected price volatility?

12. Is there any exercise of significant

market power currently being observed

in particular aspects or geographic areas

of the domestic refining industry? If so,

to what extent has such exercise of

significant market power affected prices

of refined products?

13. Why is refinery capacity

utilization at such high rates and are

these rates likely to continue for a

number of years into the future? What

are the primary causes?

14. To what extent have refiners

instituted just-in-time inventory of

crude oil and/or refined products? What

are the likely price effects of any

changesin inventory behavior?

Pipelines and Marine Bulk Transport

1. How has the structure of the refined

products pipeline industry changed

since 1985? Why did these changes

occur? How have these changes affected

capacity, utilization, costs, and tariffs?

What new geographic markets are being

served?

2. Have infrastructure investments in

product pipelines or marine bulk

transport of refined product kept pace

with growth in demand? If not, why

not? Are there policies that can be

implemented that will create or

reinforce incentives for efficient

investment in pipeline or marine

transport infrastructure to maintain

adequate capacity, including reserve

capacity in the event of a supply

disruption?

3. What is the empirical evidence

since 1985 on the trends of the inflationadjusted levels and volatility in the

prices of pipeline or marine transport of

refined petroleum product? Are these

trends similar or dissimilar in various

parts of the nation?

4. To what extent have changes in the

cost or prices of pipeline or marine

transport services affected the prices of

refined petroleum products at the

wholesale or retail level?

5. Is there any exercise of significant

market power currently being observed

in particular aspects of the domestic

pipeline or marine transport industry? If

so, to what extent has such distortion

affected the prices of refined products at

the wholesale or retail level?

6. What capital investments has the

industry made in response to the 1990

Clean Air Act amendments for motor

gasoline? What changes have been made

to the infrastructure, including the

pipelines and terminal/storage units?

Why were these changes made and at

what cost?

7. What are the impacts of the

proliferation of different types of

gasoline required by the EPA and the

states on pipelines and bulk transport?

Has competition been impacted in

certain areas or regions and, if so, how?

How have environmental regulations for

motor gasoline during the last several

years affected pipeline nomination

procedures, lead time, batch

configuration, batch sizes, and the

number of products that must be

shipped on a segregated basis? What

effect have these changes had on the

number, frequency, and length of

shipment cycles? What effect have these

changes had on a shipper’s ability to

substitute different products (e.g.,

conventional gasoline for diesel fuel) or

different grades of the same product

(e.g., 7.8 RVP conventional gasoline for

9.0 RVP conventional gasoline) for its

nomination cycle? How (and why) do

these effects differ for proprietary versus

common carrier pipelines?

8. Has the pipeline industry

experienced other problems or

difficulties in connection with the 1990

Clean Air Act amendments for motor

gasoline? How were these resolved and

at what cost?

9. What regulations, other than

environmental, have affected pipelines

over the last decade?

10. Do any answers with respect to

pipelines change depending on whether

the pipeline is proprietary or a common

carrier?

Distribution and Marketing

1. To what extent, and if so, why do

variations in each of the following

dimensions explain differences in

wholesale or retail prices of gasoline or

other refined petroleum products among

different geographic markets?

a. market concentration;

b. share of market held by

independent/unbranded marketers;

c. ownership/contractual

arrangements (e.g., refiner-owned andoperated stations versus lessee-dealers

or jobber-controlled outlets);

d. penetration of non-traditional

gasoline retail outlets (e.g., gasoline

sales at fast-food outlets and

hypermarkets or ‘‘super jobbers’’);

e. consumer demographics;

f. perceptions of brand quality or

other factors, such as ease of credit card

use, amenities or the sales of products

or services other than fuel at gasoline

stations;

g. proximity to refining centers and

sources of bulk supply;

h. labor, real estate or other local

costs;

i. regulatory requirements, including

local zoning ordinances, state or local

laws affecting retail sales of gasoline, or

environmental regulations affecting

grades of gasoline offered.

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 250 / Monday, December 31, 2001 / Notices 67531

2. What is the empirical evidence

since 1985 on the trends of the inflationadjusted levels and volatility in

wholesale and retail prices for refined

petroleum product? Are these trends

similar or dissimilar in various parts of

the nation? Are the trends similar for

different refined products (e.g. diesel,

gasoline, heating oil, jet fuel)?

3. Have infrastructure investments in

terminals, wholesaling and retailing

kept pace with growth in demand? If

not, why not? Are there policies that can

be implemented that create or reinforce

the incentive for efficient investment in

terminals, wholesaling and retailing

infrastructure to maintain adequate

capacity, including reserve capacity in

the event of a supply shock?

4. To what extent have changes in the

costs of providing terminaling,

wholesaling, or retailing services

affected the prices of refined petroleum

products at the wholesale or retail level?

5. Have EPA regulations had any

impact on refiners’ inventory practicesfor example, EPA fuel changeover

policies? If so, have there been effects

on retail prices?

6. To what degree do regulations-for

example, environmental or zoning-affect

the costs of providing wholesaling,

terminaling or retailing services? What

are the costs and difficulties of

complying with regulations?

7. Have major distributors changed

their geographic coverage significantly

over the past two decades? Is there a

trend toward greater or lesser

regionalization of brands and, if so,

what are the competitive implications of

the trend?

8. Is there any exercise of significant

market power currently being observed

at either the terminal, wholesale or

retail level in any geographic market?

Are there significant impediments to

terminal access and, if so, why? To what

extent has the exercise of significant

market power affected the prices of

refined products at the wholesale or

retail level?

9. Has the volatility and local

dispersion (i.e. station-to-station or

neighborhood-to-neighborhood) of

gasoline prices increased in recent

years, and if so, what are the causes,

competitive and consumer implications

of such increased volatility? Have

premiums attributed to brands changed

over time?

10. What are the competitive

implications of the increasing scope,

timeliness, and detail of micro data on

retail prices and demand sensitivities

(elasticities) that are available to

gasoline wholesalers or retailers?

11. What is the competitive

significance of refiners preventing

jobbers to whom they sell from

competing with the refiners to supply

branded gasoline to independent dealers

in localized geographic areas, a practice

sometimes known as redlining? What is

the competitive significance of refiners

setting uniform wholesale prices for

branded gasoline to company-operated

and leased stations and independent

open dealer stations in localized

geographic areas, (a practice sometimes

known as zone-pricing)? How, if at all,

do these practices enhance efficiency?

What is their effect, if any, on

competition?

12. Do gasoline retailers engage in

price discrimination? If so, how, and

what is the overall effect of this

practice? Do retailer margins vary

among products (e.g., premium versus

regular gasoline) or class of service (fullserve versus self-serve)? If so, why does

this occur? To what extent (if any) does

the ability of retailers or wholesalers to

engage in price discrimination affect

overall prices?

13. Have changes in retail formats

produced important implications for the

level or volatility of retail gasoline

prices? For example, have the trends

towards fewer, but larger service

stations or the entry by non-traditional

outlets such as those associated with

mass merchandisers or grocery or

convenience stores affected the degree

of competition in retail gasoline

markets? Have these format changes

significantly affected the extent to

which upstream price changes at the

refinery level are translated into retail

prices? Have these format trends and

possible effects on retail prices been

more pronounced in some geographic

areas than others, and if so, what

accounts for these differences? Has the

increasing importance of convenience

store and other non-fuel items typically

sold by gasoline retailers affected

pricing or other marketing decisions

relating to gasoline sales? Have the

changes in format and product mix at

retail affected consumer loyalty to

individual gasoline brands to any

significant degree?

14. To what extent do wholesalers’

inventory management practices affect

gasoline price changes, especially in a

volatile market? To what extent are

inventory management practices

themselves a reaction to market

volatility?

15. What is the effect of each of the

following categories of gasoline

marketing regulation, and to what extent

does each explain observed differences

in gasoline prices among different

markets?

a. retail divorcement;

b. self-service bans;

c. minimum markup requirements;

d. location/zoning restrictions;

e. Petroleum Marketing Practices Act;

and

f. environmental requirements.

Vertical Integration, Demand Side, Joint

Arrangements and Other

1. What is the degree of vertical

integration across the various functional

levels of the industry? For example,

how extensively are refiners of crude

integrated into the production or

transport of crude, or how extensive is

the integration of wholesaling and

retailing of gasoline? What are

quantitative measures of the degree of

vertical integration in this industry?

2. Has the degree of vertical

integration in the industry changed

since 1985? If so, which functional

levels are more likely or less likely to be

combined under common ownership?

Has the degree of vertical integration

varied in different parts of the country

or for different refined products?

3. To what extent does a desire to

minimize costs explain integration or

changes in the degree of integration? To

what extent does vertical integration

have an anticompetitive motivation,

implementing, for example, strategies to

foreclose competitors or to raise rivals’

costs?

4. How can the effects of vertical

integration upon unintegrated

competitors be clearly distinguished

from the effects upon ultimate

consumers?

5. To what extent have changes in the

degree of vertical integration since 1985

affected the level or volatility of refined

product prices, particularly prices paid

by ultimate consumers? In what ways

do vertically-integrated firms have

different incentives in responding to

changes in input cost or demand, and to

what extent do these different

incentives manifest themselves to

produce observable effects on gasoline

prices?

6. Can the direction of causation

between price and vertical integration

be clearly distinguished? For example, if

greater vertical integration is correlated

with higher prices, is vertical

integration one response to tight input

supply and higher prices or,

alternatively, are higher prices a result

of integration?

7. To what extent can price spikes or

price discontinuities be predicted? What

are their costs to consumers? Are buffer

stocks or maximum price movement

rules needed? What are appropriate

policy responses?

8. What factors characterize gasoline

demand and demand elasticity? In what

ways, if any, do gasoline demand and

67532 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 250 / Monday, December 31, 2001 / Notices

demand elasticity vary among markets?

How do short-run and long-run gasoline

demand differ?

9. What is the role of joint ventures,

or other cooperative arrangements such

as product exchanges, at different

functional levels? Has their use been

associated with any significant market

distortions at any functional level?

By direction of the Commission.

Donald S. Clark,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–32052 Filed 12–28–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6750–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Meeting of the President’s Council on

Bioethics

AGENCY: Department of Health and

Human Services.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: The President’s Council on

Bioethics will hold its first meeting, to

discuss its agenda and future activities.

DATES: Meetings will be held on

Thursday, January 17, 2002, from 9 a.m.

to 6 p.m., and Friday, January 18, 2002,

from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will take place

in Washington, DC. The exact location

will be announced at a later date and

will posted at http://aspe.hhs.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Deborah McMahon, President’s Council

on Bioethics, Sixth Floor, 1801

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20036, 202–296–4694.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

agenda of the meeting will include

discussion of the future activities of the

President’s Council on Bioethics, a

presidential advisory committee

established by executive order to,

among other things, conduct

fundamental inquiry into the moral and

human meaning of developments in

biomedical science and technology. The

meeting will include a period for

comments from the public and any

required administrative discussions and

executive sessions.

Dated: December 21, 2001.

Dean Clancy,

Executive Director, President’s Council on

Bioethics.

[FR Doc. 01–32111 Filed 12–28–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4151–05–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention

[60Day–02–20]

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 the CDC Reports

Clearance Officer on (404) 639–7090.

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. Send comments to Seleda

Perryman, CDCAssistant Reports

Clearance Officer, 1600 Clifton Road,

MS-D24, Atlanta, GA 30333. Written

comments should be received within 60

days of this notice.

Proposed Project

Evaluation of the ACT (Adults and

Children Together) Against Violence

Community Training Program—New—

National Center for Injury Prevention

and Control (NCIPC), Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The goal of the ACT Against Violence

Community Training Program is to

make early violence prevention a central

and ongoing part of a community’s

violence prevention efforts. The

program involves a training curriculum

developed by child development and

violence prevention experts. The

curriculum is designed to help

communities: (1) Disseminate

information and skills on violence

prevention to adults who raise, care for,

and teach young children; (2) identify

and select early violence prevention

programs, materials, and resources; (3)

work in collaborative efforts established

among community-based organizations;

and (4) develop early childhood

violence prevention action plans.

The purpose of the evaluation is to

assess pilot implementations of the ACT

Community Training Program in three

communities: Monterey, CA; Randolph,

NJ; and Kansas City, MO. The objectives

of the evaluation are to (1) assess

whether the Community Training

Program is being successfully

disseminated and implemented; (2)

examine factors that affect successful

dissemination, adoption, and

implementation of the training program;

(3) compare findings across the three

sites; and (4) assess the involvement of

the public health sector in each of the

three sites.

Data collected for the evaluation will

provide much-needed information on

the dissemination and implementation

of one of the successful strategies

summarized in the Best Practices of

Youth Violence Prevention. The results

of the evaluation will assist the Division

of Violence Prevention and the National

Center for Injury Prevention and Control

in carrying out CDC’s mission of

protecting the health of the United

States public by providing leadership in

preventing and controlling injuries

through research, surveillance,

implementation of programs, and

communication. The evaluation will

include semi-structured interviews with

local and national program stakeholders

(Forms 1 and 2), focus groups with a

subset of ACT trainees (‘‘facilitators’’)

during a site visit (Form 3), and a halfhour telephone survey with the universe

of ACT trainees at 6 months with e-mail

follow-ups at 2 months and 12 months

(Form 4). In addition, we will follow-up

with a small subset of ‘‘adult

community members’’ reached by ACT

trainees with a half-hour telephone

survey (Form 5). Presented below is the

estimated respondent burden for the

telephone surveys, semi-structured

interviews, and focus groups,

respectively. There are no costs to

respondents.