[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 60 (Tuesday, March 30, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15169-15170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-7782]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Indian Health Service


Request for Public Comment: 60-Day Proposed Collection: Indian 
Health Service, Scholarship and Loan Repayment Program

SUMMARY: In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, to provide a 60-day advance opportunity for 
public comment on proposed information collection projects, the Indian 
Health Service (IHS) is publishing for comment a summary of proposed 
information collection to be submitted to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review.

Proposed Collections

    Title: 09-17-0014, ``Indian Health Service, Scholarship and Loan 
Repayment Program'' Type of Information Collection Request: Revision of 
a currently approved collection. Form Number: None. Need and Use of 
Information Collection: The IHS Loan Repayment Program (LRP) identifies 
health professionals with pre-existing financial obligations for 
education expenses that meet program criteria and who are qualified and 
willing to serve at, often remote, IHS health care facilities. Under 
the program, eligible health professionals sign a contract under which 
the IHS agrees to repay part or all of their indebtedness for 
professional training education. In exchange, the health professionals 
agree to serve for a specified period of time in IHS health care 
facilities. Eligible health professionals must submit an application to 
participate in the program. The application requests personal, 
demographic and educational training information, including information 
on the educational loans of the individual for which repayment is being 
requested (i.e., date, amount, account number, purpose of each loan, 
interest rate, the current balance, etc.). The data collected is needed 
and used to evaluate applicant eligibility; rank and prioritize 
applicants by speciality; assign applicants to IHS health care 
facilities; determine payment amounts and schedules for paying the 
lending institutions; and to provide data and statistics for program 
management review and analysis. Affected Public: Individuals and 
households. Type of Respondents: Individuals. Table 1 below provides 
the following: types of data collection instruments, estimated number 
of respondents, number of responses per respondent, annual number of 
responses, average burden hour per response, and total annual burden 
hour.

                                        Table 1.--Estimated Burden Hours
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                                        Estimated
     Data collection instrument         number of     Responses per    Average burden hour per     Total annual
                                       respondents     respondent             response *            burden hrs
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Section I..........................             350               1  0.25 (15 mins).
Section II.........................             350               1  0.50 (30 mins).
Section III........................             350               4  0.25 (15 mins).
Contract...........................             350               1  0.334 (20 mins).
Affidavit..........................             350               1  0.167 (10 mins).
Lender Certificate.................            1400               1  0.25 (15 mins).
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* For ease of understanding, burden hours are also provided in actual minutes.


[[Page 15170]]

    There are no Capital Costs, Operating Costs and/or Maintenance 
Costs to report.
    Request for Comments: Your written comments and/or suggestions are 
invited on one or more of the following points: (a) Whether the 
information collection activity is necessary to carry out the treatment 
outcome evaluation; (b) whether the agency processes the information 
collected in a useful and timely fashion; (c) the accuracy of public 
burden estimate (the estimated amount of time needed for individual 
respondents to provide the requested information); (d) whether the 
methodology and assumptions used to determine the estimate are logical; 
(e) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information being collected; and (f) ways to minimize the public burden 
through the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other 
technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.

SEND COMMENTS AND REQUESTS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Send your written 
comments, requests for more information on the proposed collection or 
requests to obtain a copy of the data collection instrument(s) and 
instructions to: Mr. Lance Hodahkwen, Sr., M.P.H., IHS Reports 
Clearance Officer, 12300 Twinbrook Parkway, Suite 450, Rockville, MD 
20852-1601, call non-toll free (301) 443-5938, send via fax to (301) 
443-21316, or send your e-mail requests, comments, and return address 
to: I[email protected].

COMMENT DUE DATE: Your comments regarding this information collection 
are best assured of having their full effect if received on or before 
June 1, 1999.

    Dated: March 18, 1999.
Michael H. Trujillo,
Assistant Surgeon General Director.
[FR Doc. 99-7782 Filed 3-29-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-16-M