Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

AGENCY:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION:

Notice with comment period.

SUMMARY:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part of its continuing efforts to reduce public burden and maximize the utility of government information, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed information collection plan entitled “Health Risks from Using Private Wells for Drinking Water.” The purpose of this new generic clearance information collection request (ICR) is to assess the health risks associated with exposure to contaminants in drinking water from private wells across varied geographic areas of the United States in partnership with the requesting agency (state, territorial, local, or tribal health department).

DATES:

Written comments must be received on or before May 10, 2016.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2016-0027 by any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Regulation.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Leroy A. Richardson, Information Collection Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE., MS-D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329.

Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name and Docket Number. All relevant comments received will be posted without change to Regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to Regulations.gov.

Please note:

All public comment should be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking portal (Regulations.gov) or by U.S. mail to the address listed above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request more information on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the information collection plan and instruments, contact the Information Collection Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE., MS-D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; phone: 404-639-7570; Email: omb@cdc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. In addition, the PRA also requires Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each new proposed collection, each proposed extension of existing collection of information, and each reinstatement of previously approved information collection before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, we are publishing this notice of a proposed data collection as described below.

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; (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; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of information, to search data sources, to complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the information.

Proposed Project

Health Risks from Using Private Wells for Drinking Water—New—National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 ensures that most Americans are provided access to water that meets established public health standards. However, for over 38 million Americans who rely on private wells or other drinking water not protected by the Safe Drinking Water Act (herein referred to as private wells), that is not the case. There is no comprehensive knowledge about the locations of private wells, the populations served by these sources, potential contaminants that might be present in private well water in specific areas of the country, or the potential health risks associated with drinking water from these sources.

The purpose of this new generic clearance information collection request (Generic ICR) is to assess the health risks associated with exposure to contaminants in drinking water from private wells across varied geographic areas of the United States in partnership with the requesting agency (state, territorial, local, or tribal health department). The information obtained from these investigations will be used to describe health risks from exposure to contaminants in drinking water from private wells within a defined time period and geographic distribution. This information will be used to inform public health protection activities conducted by the requesting agencies.

The respondents are defined as adults at least 18 years old, who use private wells for drinking water, who are willing to receive and return a tap water sampling kit and urine specimen kit or to provide a blood specimen, and who are willing to answer survey questions. They will be recruited from geographic areas of interest as defined by the requesting agency.

Based on our historical activities, we estimate that CDC will conduct up to 10 investigations per year. Each investigation will involve, on average, 200 respondents who are adults at least 18 years old and use a private well for tap water.

The total time burden is 2,084 hours. There will be no cost to the respondents other than their time.