[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 167 (Tuesday, August 28, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45315-45316]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-21629]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60 Day-01-57]


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 Anne O'Connor, CDC 
Assistant Reports Clearance Officer, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D24, 
Atlanta, GA 30333. Written comments should be received within 60 days 
of this notice.
    Proposed Project: Implementation of Automated Management 
Information System (MIS) for Tobacco Control Programs--New--National 
Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC). Tobacco use is the 
single most preventable cause of death and disease in the United 
States. Most people begin using tobacco in early adolescence. Annually, 
tobacco use causes more than 430,000 deaths in the nation and costs 
approximately $50-70 billion in medical expenses alone. The Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) 
provides funding to health departments of states and territories to 
develop, implement and evaluate comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs 
(TCPs) based on CDC guidelines provided in Best Practices for 
Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs-August 1999 (Atlanta, GA, HHS). 
TCPs are population-based, public health programs that design, 
implement and evaluate public health prevention and control strategies 
to reduce disease, disability and death related to tobacco use and to 
reach those communities most impacted by the burden of tobacco use 
(e.g., racial/ethnic populations, rural dwellers, and the economically 
disadvantaged). Support for these programs is a cornerstone of the OSH 
strategy for reducing the burden of tobacco use throughout the nation. 
The Office on Smoking and Health is authorized under sections 301 and 
317(k) of the Public Health Service Act [42 U.S.C. section 241 and 
247b(k)].
    Funding recipients are required to submit progress reports that are 
used by OSH managers and Project Officers (Pos) twice yearly to CDC to 
identify training

[[Page 45316]]

and technical assistance needs; monitor compliance with cooperative 
agreement requirements; evaluate the progress made in achieving 
national and program-specific goals; and respond to inquiries regarding 
program activities and effectiveness. Funding recipients currently have 
a wide latitude in the content of the information they report with some 
recipients providing extensive and detailed programmatic information 
and other recipients providing minimal detail regarding TCP operations. 
Historically, information has been collected and submitted via hard-
copy paper document. The manual reporting system significantly impacts 
the OSH staff's ability to accomplish its responsibilities resulting 
from providing TCP funds, particularly with respect to compiling, 
summarizing and reporting aggregate TCP program information.
    The proposed change in data collection methodology is being driven 
by OSH development of an automated management information system (MIS) 
to maintain individual TCP information and to normalize the information 
reported by these programs. The proposed data collection will utilize a 
more formal, systematic method of collecting information that has 
historically been requested from individual TCPs and will standardize 
the content of this information. This will facilitate OSH staff's 
ability to fulfill its obligations under the cooperative agreements; to 
monitor, evaluate and compare individual programs; and to assess and 
report aggregate information regarding the overall effectiveness of OSH 
National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP). It will also support OSH 
broader mission of reducing the burden of tobacco use by enabling OSH 
staff to more effectively identify the strengths and weaknesses of 
individual TCPs; to identify the strength of national movement toward 
reaching the goals specified in Healthy People 2010; and to disseminate 
information related to successful public health interventions 
implemented by these organizations to prevent and control the burden of 
tobacco use. The OSH anticipates that the state burden of providing 
hard-copy reports will be reduced with the introduction of the web-
based progress reporting system. It is assumed that states will 
experience a learning curve in using this application, and the reported 
burden will be reduced once they have familiarized themselves with this 
system. The total costs to respondents are estimated at $12,219.60.

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                                                                                  Average burden
                                                     Nunber of       Number of          per        Total burden
                   Respondents                      respondents    responses per  respondent (in    (in hours)
                                                                    respondent        hours)
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States and Washington, DC.......................              51               2               6             612
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals......................................              51               2               6             612
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    Dated: August 20, 2001.
Nancy Cheal,
Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 01-21629 Filed 8-27-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P