Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review
| Published date | 10 June 2019 |
| Citation | 84 FR 26874 |
| Record Number | 2019-12136 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Centers For Disease Control And Prevention,Health And Human Services Department |
Federal Register, Volume 84 Issue 111 (Monday, June 10, 2019)
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 111 (Monday, June 10, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26874-26876]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-12136]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[30Day-19-0980]
Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has submitted the information
collection request titled National Environmental Assessment Reporting
System (NEARS) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review
and approval. CDC previously published a ``Proposed Data Collection
Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations'' notice on March 6,
2019 to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. CDC did
not receive comments related to the previous notice. This notice serves
to allow an additional 30 days for public and affected agency comments.
CDC will accept all comments for this proposed information
collection project. The Office of Management and Budget is particularly
interested in comments that:
(a) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
(b) Evaluate the accuracy of the agencies estimate of the burden of
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
(c) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected;
(d) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including, through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of responses; and
(e) Assess information collection costs.
[[Page 26875]]
To request additional information on the proposed project or to
obtain a copy of the information collection plan and instruments, call
(404) 639-7570 or send an email to [email protected]. Direct written comments
and/or suggestions regarding the items contained in this notice to the
Attention: CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th
Street NW, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202) 395-5806. Provide
written comments within 30 days of notice publication.
Proposed Project
National Environmental Assessment Reporting System (NEARS) (OMB
Control No. 0920-0980, Expiration Date: 08/31/2019)--Revision--National
Center for Environmental Health (NCEH), Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
Background and Brief Description
CDC is requesting OMB approval for the National Environmental
Assessment Reporting System (NEARS) to collect data from foodborne
illness outbreak environmental assessments routinely conducted by
local, state, territorial, or tribal food safety programs during
outbreak investigations. Prior to the development of NEARS,
environmental assessment data were not collected at the national level.
The data reported through this surveillance system provides timely
information on the causes of outbreaks, including environmental factors
associated with outbreaks, and are essential to environmental public
health regulators' efforts to respond more effectively to outbreaks and
prevent future, similar outbreaks. This surveillance system was
specifically designed to link to CDC's National Outbreak Reporting
System (NORS), a disease (e.g., enteric diseases transmitted by food)
outbreak surveillance system. NEARS was developed by the Environmental
Health Specialists Network (EHS-Net), a collaborative network of CDC,
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA), and nine state food safety programs (California,
Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, New York, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island,
and Tennessee). The network consists of environmental health
specialists (EHSs), epidemiologists, and laboratorians. EHS-Net
developed a standardized protocol for identifying, reporting, and
analyzing data relevant to foodborne illness outbreak environmental
assessments.
While conducting environmental assessments during outbreak
investigations is routine for food safety program officials, reporting
information from the environmental assessments to CDC is not routine.
Local, state, federal, territorial, and tribal food safety programs are
the primary respondents for this data collection. One official from
each participating program will report environmental assessment data on
outbreaks. These programs are typically located in public health or
agriculture agencies. In the U.S., there are approximately 3,000 such
agencies. Currently, 31 state and local health departments are
registered to report data on outbreaks to NEARS. Based on our
experience over the past five years, we expect up to 10 additional
local and state public health departments to register to report
outbreak data to NEARS over the next three years. It is not possible to
determine exactly how many outbreaks will occur in the future, nor
where they will occur. Based on past trends, it is likely that up to
300 foodborne illness outbreaks may be reported annually to NEARS from
up to 41 entities for the duration of the next PRA clearance. Only
programs in the jurisdictions in which these outbreaks occur would
report to NEARS. Thus, not every program of the approximate 3,000
programs will respond every year. Assuming each outbreak occurs in a
different jurisdiction, there will be one respondent per outbreak.
The activities associated with NEARS that require a burden estimate
consist of training, observing, data recording, and data reporting
events. The first activity is the training for the food safety program
personnel participating in NEARS. These staff will be encouraged to
attend a Skype Meeting (i.e., webinar) training session conducted by
CDC staff. Training burden is based on the maximum expected
participation from the reporting entities which could be up to 10
additional local and state health departments. We estimate the burden
of this training to be a maximum of two hours. Respondents will only be
required to take this training one time. Assuming a maximum
participation of up to 10 programs and about five staff being trained
at each participating program, the total estimated burden associated
with this training is 100 hours.
Food safety program personnel participating in NEARS will also be
encouraged to complete CDC's Environmental Assessment Training Series
(EATS). This eCourse provides training to staff on how to use a systems
approach in foodborne illness outbreak environmental assessments. We
estimate the burden of this training to be a maximum of 10 hours.
Respondents will only have to take this training one time. Assuming a
maximum participation of up to 10 programs and approximately five staff
being trained at each program, the estimated burden associated with
this training is 500 hours.
Data reporting activities for NEARS will be done once for each
establishment involved in the outbreak. Information collection
activities for NEARS consist of the following: NEARS data reporting and
NEARS manager interview. For each outbreak, the respondent (one
official from each participating program) will spend around 30 minutes
recording environmental assessment data on pen and paper. Assuming a
maximum of 300 outbreaks, the estimated annual burden is 150 hours for
recording observations.
The manager interview will be conducted at each establishment
associated with an outbreak and data is initially recorded using pen
and paper. The respondents for this activity are the retail food
managers of the outbreak establishments. Most outbreaks are associated
with only one establishment; however, some are associated with multiple
establishments. We estimate that a maximum of four manager interviews
will be conducted per outbreak. Each interview and data reporting will
take about 20 minutes. Assuming a maximum of 300 outbreaks, the
estimated annual burden is 400 hours. Web-based data entry for both
data recording and the manager interview will be combined. Data entry
into the NEARS system is expected to take approximately 40 minutes for
the combined activities, for a total of 200 burden hours. The total
estimated annual burden for this information collection is 1,350 hours.
[[Page 26876]]
Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Number of Average burden
Type of respondents Form name Number of responses per per response
respondents respondent (in hours)
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Food safety program personnel...... NEARS Food Safety Program 50 1 2
Training. 50 1 10
NEARS e-Learning
(screenshots).
NEARS Data Recording (paper 300 1 30/60
form).
NEARS Data reporting and 300 1 40/60
manager's interview (web
entry).
Retail food personnel.............. NEARS Manager Interview.... 1,200 1 20/60
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Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific
Integrity, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2019-12136 Filed 6-7-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P
