[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 79 (Monday, April 25, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22902-22903]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-9922]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30 Day-11-0020]


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) 639-5960 or send an e-mail 
to [email protected]. Send written comments to CDC Desk Officer, Office of 
Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202) 395-
5806. Written comments should be received within 30 days of this 
notice.

Proposed Project

    Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program (CWHSP)--OMB 0920-0020- 
Reinstatement With Change--National Institute for Occupational Safety 
and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    This submission will incorporate the National Coal Workers' X-Ray 
Surveillance Program 42 CFR 37 (0920-0020) and National Coal Workers' 
Autopsy Study 42 CFR part 37.204 (0920-0021) into one complete package 
which will be called the Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program 
(CWHSP). Upon OMB approval, 0920-0021 will be discontinued. CWHSP is a 
congressionally-mandated medical examination program for monitoring the 
health of underground coal miners, established under the Federal Coal 
Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, as amended in 1977 and 2006, PL-91-
173 (the Act). The Act provides the regulatory authority for the 
administration of the CWHSP. This Program, which includes both a health 
surveillance and an autopsy component, has been useful in providing 
tools for protecting the health of miners (whose participation is 
entirely voluntary), and also in documenting trends and patterns in the 
prevalence of coal workers' pneumoconiosis (`black lung' disease) among 
miners employed in U.S. coal mines. During the early 1970s, one out of 
every three miners examined through the CWHSP who had worked at least 
25 years underground had evidence of pneumoconiosis on their chest x-
ray. An analysis among over 25,000 miners who participated in the x-ray 
Programs from 1996 to 2002 indicated that the proportion of affected 
individuals had decreased to about one in 20. However, recent 
surveillance analyses and research studies have confirmed that the 
prevalence of `black lung' disease is increasing, there is regional 
clustering of rapidly progressive pneumoconiosis cases, and coal miners 
have a higher risk of disease if they perform certain jobs, work in 
smaller mines, or are from certain geographic areas. Importantly, young 
coal miners are developing the disabling and lethal forms of `black 
lung'.
    Demographic and logistical information is gathered from coal mine 
operators and participating x-ray facilities. Participating miners also 
provide health and work histories, and participating physicians report 
radiographic findings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of 
Respiratory Disease Studies, 1095 Willowdale Road, Morgantown, WV 
26505, also called the Appalachian Laboratory for Occupational Safety 
and Health (ALOSH), is charged with administration of this Program.
    From October 1, 1999 through September 30, 2002, the Mine Safety 
and Health Administration (MSHA), in consultation with NIOSH, conducted 
a pilot health surveillance program for both underground and surface 
miners (The Miners' Choice Program). The Miners' Choice Program has 
been continued as an extension of the CWHSP (currently called the 
Enhanced Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program--ECWHSP). This 
extension of the CWHSP currently operates utilizing a mobile 
examination unit which travels to mining regions to provide locally 
accessible and more comprehensive health surveillance, including chest 
radiography, spirometry, and blood pressure screening.
    Under the Act, the provision of periodic chest x-ray examinations 
is specifically mandated, and the x-rays are to be supplemented by such 
other tests as the Secretary deems necessary. In addition to 
radiographically-apparent pneumoconiosis, miners are at risk for the 
development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Chest 
radiographs alone cannot provide a measure of airflow obstruction and 
therefore often miss important lung disease. For this reason, 
spirometry, a simple breathing test, is an additional component that is 
particularly useful for the health assessment of miners. Periodic 
medical history and spirometry tests have been recommended by NIOSH for 
both surface and underground coal miners since 1995, to facilitate 
preventive actions, increase miners' participation in programs for 
early detection of disease, and improve the derivation of 
representative estimates of the burden, distribution, and determinants 
of occupational lung disease in relation to coal mining in the U.S. 
Finally, unrecognized hypertension has previously been observed among 
many miners, and the ECWHSP offers blood pressure screening as a safe, 
simple, and inexpensive test, which can help target initiation of 
proven health conserving medications.
    The National Coal Workers' Autopsy Study (NCWAS) provides 
standardized lung specimens for ongoing scientific research as well as 
information to the next-of-kin regarding the presence and extent of 
coal workers' pneumoconiosis (black lung) in the lungs of the deceased 
miner. 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 miner,

[[Page 22903]]

including occupational history and smoking history. The data collected 
are used by scientists for research purposes in defining the diagnostic 
criteria for pneumoconiosis and in correlating pathologic changes with 
exposures and x-ray findings.
    There are no costs of the NCWAS to respondents other than their 
time. The total estimated burden hours are 4,470.

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                                                                                                  Average burden
         Type of respondent                   Form name              Number of     Responses per   per  response
                                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Physicians B Readers...............  Roentgenographic                     10,000               1            3/60
                                      Interpretation Form--CDC/
                                      NIOSH (M) 2.8.
                                     Interpreting Physician                  300               1           10/60
                                      Certification Document--
                                      CDC/NIOSH (M) 2.12.
Miners.............................  Miner Identification                  5,000               1           20/60
                                      Document--CDC/NIOSH (M)
                                      2.9.
                                     No form--X-ray.............           5,000               1           15/60
                                     No form--Spirometry........           2,500               1           20/60
Coal Mine Operators................  Coal Mine Operator's Plan--             200               1           30/60
                                      CDC/NIOSH (M) 2.10.
Supervisor at X-ray Facilities.....  Facility Certification                  100               1           30/60
                                      Document--CDC/NIOSH (M)
                                      2.11.
Pathologist........................  No form--Invoice...........              50               1            5/60
                                     No form--Final Diagnosis                 50               1            5/60
                                      Report.
Next-of-Kin........................  Consent, Release, and                    50               1           15/60
                                      History Form--CDC/NIOSH
                                      (M) 2.6.
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Daniel Holcomb,
Reports Clearance Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2011-9922 Filed 4-22-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P