[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4493-4494]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-1975]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60 Day-03-39]


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) 498-1210.
    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: The National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP) 
Chronicle Progress Reporting System--New--National Center for Chronic 
Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background

    Implementation of National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP) 
Chronicle: Progress Reporting System 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. Tobacco use causes 
more than 430,000 deaths annually in the nation and costs approximately 
$50-70 billion in medical expenses alone. The Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention's (CDC) 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's strategy for reducing the burden of tobacco use throughout the 
nation. CDC, 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)].
    As outlined in 45 CFR Subtitle A, section 92.40, funding recipients 
are required to submit twice yearly progress reports to CDC. These 
reports are used by both the Procurement and Grants Office (PGO) to 
monitor program compliance, and by OSH managers and Project Officers 
(POs) to identify training 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 others providing minimal detail 
regarding TCP operations. Historically, information has been collected 
and transmitted via hard-copy paper document. The manual reporting 
system significantly impacts the OSH's staff ability to accomplish its 
responsibilities resulting from providing TCP funds, particularly with 
respect to compiling, summarizing and reporting aggregate TCP program 
information.
    In responding to the federal government's E-Government initiative, 
the proposed change in progress report collection methodology is driven 
by OSH's development of an electronic progress reporting system to 
collect state TCP information. The proposed reporting system 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's National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP). It will 
also support OSH's 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

[[Page 4494]]

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 only cost to respondents is the time 
required to complete the web-based progress reports.

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                                                                     Number of    Average burden
                   Respondents                       Number of     responses per  per respondent   Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)      (in hours)
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States and DC...................................              51               2               6             612
    Totals......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............             612
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    Dated: January 21, 2003.
Thomas Bartenfeld,
Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 03-1975 Filed 1-28-03; 8:45 am]
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