These focus groups will provide one important tool for obtaining information on people's views on discernability and acceptability of differing levels of visibility impairment. Photographic representations will be prepared for each focus group city that illustrate visibility at differing levels of pollution, and will be used along with the focus group discussion questions to elicit comment on people's views on discernability and acceptability of different levels of visibility. A contractor, Abt Associates Inc., will develop and implement the focus group discussions, including coordination of focus group facilitation. We plan to recruit subjects from six or seven U.S. metropolitan areas. Approximately nine to twelve subjects will be recruited for each focus group session.
Participation is voluntary.
Respondents will have to expend time, effort, and possibly travel expense to participate in the study. 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 total national burden estimate for all parts of the questionnaire process is 672 hours. We stress again that participation by subjects in the survey is voluntary and that subjects will be compensated for their time and effort.