[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 64 (Thursday, April 3, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 16285]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-8044]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30 DAY-33-03]


Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a 
list of information collection requests under review by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call 
the CDC Reports Clearance Officer at (404) 498-1210. Send written 
comments to CDC, Desk Officer, Human Resources and Housing Branch, New 
Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503. Written 
comments should be received within 30 days of this notice.
    Proposed Project: National Coal Workers' Autopsy Study (NCWAS) 
Consent Release and History Form 0920-0021--Extension--National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention.

Background

    Under the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1977, Pub. L. 
91-173 (amended the Federal Coal Mine and Safety Act of 1969), the 
Public Health Service has developed a nationwide autopsy program 
(NCWAS) for underground coal miners. The NCWAS is a service program to 
aid surviving relatives in establishing eligibility for black lung 
compensation. The Consent Release and History Form is primarily used to 
obtain written authorization from the next-of-kin to perform an autopsy 
on the deceased miner. Because a basic reason for the post-mortem 
examination is research (both epidemiological and clinical), a minimum 
of essential information is collected regarding the deceased miners, 
including occupational history and smoking history. The data collected 
will be used by the staff at NIOSH for research purposes in defining 
the diagnostic criteria for coal workers' pneumoconiosis (black lung) 
and pathologic changes that will be correlated with x-ray findings.
    It is estimated that only 5 minutes is required for the pathologist 
to put a statement on the invoice affirming that no other compensation 
is received for the autopsy. From past experience, it is estimated that 
15 minutes is required for the next-of-kin to complete the Consent 
Release and History Form. Since an autopsy report is routinely 
completed by a pathologist, the only additional burden is the specific 
request of abstraction of the terminal illness and final diagnosis 
relating to pneumoconiosis. Therefore, only 5 minutes of additional 
burden is estimated for the autopsy report. The annual burden for this 
data collection is 21 hours, a decrease of 41 hours.

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                                                                                   Number of     Average burden/
                         Respondents                              Number of        responses/     response  (in
                                                                 respondents       respondent         hrs.)
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Pathologist Invoice..........................................              50                1             5/60
Pathologist Report...........................................              50                1             5/60
Next-of-Kin..................................................              50                1            15/60
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    Dated: March 27, 2003.
Thomas Bartenfeld,
Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 03-8044 Filed 4-2-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P