[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 80 (Thursday, April 25, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24422-24423]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-09756]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30Day-13-0853]


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 
(404) 639-7570 or send an email 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

    Asthma Information Reporting System (AIRS) (0920-0853, Expiration 
06/30/2013)--Extension--Air Pollution and Respiratory Health Branch 
(APRHB), National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH), Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    Under the authority of the Public Health Service Act, CDC is 
seeking a three-year extension of OMB approval for the Asthma 
Information Reporting System (AIRS) information collection. In 1999, 
the CDC initiated its National Asthma Control Program, a population-
based public health approach to address the burden of asthma. The 
program supports the goals and objectives of ``Healthy People 2020'' 
for asthma and is based on the public health principles of 
surveillance, partnerships, and interventions. Through AIRS, the 
information collection request has and will continue to provide NCEH 
with routine information about the activities and performance of the 
state and territorial grantees funded under the National Asthma Control 
Program http://www.cdc.gov/asthma/nacp.htm.
    The primary purpose of the National Asthma Control Program is to 
develop program capacity to address asthma from a public health 
perspective to bring about: (1) A focus on asthma-related activity 
within states; (2) an increased understanding of asthma-related data 
and its application to program planning and evaluation through the 
development and maintenance of an ongoing asthma surveillance system; 
(3) an increased recognition, within the public health structure of 
states, of the potential to use a public health approach to reduce the 
burden of asthma; (4) linkages of state health agencies to other 
agencies and organizations addressing asthma in the population; and (5) 
implementation of interventions to achieve positive health impacts, 
such as reducing the number of deaths, hospitalizations, emergency 
department visits, school or work days missed, and limitations on 
activity due to asthma.
    Prior to the implementation of AIRS, data were collected on a semi-
annual basis from state asthma control programs as part of regular 
reporting of cooperative agreement activities. States reported 
information such as progress-to-date on accomplishing intended 
objectives, programmatic changes, changes to staffing or management, 
and budgetary information.
    As implemented since 2010, the AIRS management information system 
is comprised of multiple components that enable the electronic 
reporting of three types of data/information from state asthma control 
programs: (1) Information that is currently collected as part of 
regular programmatic reporting, (2) Aggregate level reports of 
surveillance data on long-term program outcomes, and (3) Specific data 
indicative of progress made on partnerships, surveillance, 
interventions, and evaluation.
    Regular reporting of this information remains a requirement of the 
current cooperative agreement mechanism utilized to fund state asthma 
control programs. States are asked to submit interim and year-end 
progress report information into AIRS, thus this type of

[[Page 24423]]

programmatic information on activities and objectives will continue to 
be collected twice per year.
    The National Asthma Control Program at CDC has access to and 
analyzes national-level asthma surveillance data (http://www.cdc.gov/asthma/asthmadata.htm). With the exception of data from the Behavioral 
Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), state level analyses cannot be 
performed. Therefore, as part of AIRS, state asthma control programs 
submit aggregate surveillance data to allow calculation of asthma 
surveillance indicators across all funded states (where data are 
available) in a standardized manner. Data requests through this system 
regularly include: Hospital discharges (with asthma as first listed 
diagnosis), and emergency department visits (with asthma as first 
listed diagnosis). Under AIRS, participating states annually submit 
this information to the AIRS system in conjunction with an end-of-year 
report describing state activities that meet project objectives 
described above.
    National and state asthma surveillance data provide information 
useful to examine progress on long-term outcomes of state asthma 
programs. To identify appropriate indicators of program implementation 
and short-term outcomes for AIRS, CDC previously convened and 
facilitated workgroups comprised of state asthma control program 
representatives to generated specific questions to collect data on key 
features of state asthma control programs: Partnerships, surveillance, 
interventions, and evaluation.
    With technical assistance provided by NCEH staff, AIRS has provided 
states with uniform data reporting methods and linkages to other 
states' asthma programs and data. Thus, AIRS has saved state resources 
and staff time when they embark on asthma activities similar to those 
being done elsewhere. Also, the AIRS system has been similarly helpful 
in linking states together on occasions when a given state seeks to 
report their results at national meetings or publish their findings and 
program results in scholarly journals. For example, with CDC staff, 
three state programs co-presented on a panel regarding evaluations of 
their asthma partnerships at the November, 2012 American Evaluation 
Association's Evaluation 2012 conference.
    In addition, CDC staff have regularly made requests from AIRS to 
obtain standardized summaries of state programs regarding such 
activities as the number of states meeting staffing requirements, 
number and timeliness of state strategic evaluation plans, topics for 
individual evaluation selected by states, types and targets of 
interventions, and use of asthma surveillance data in state programs.
    Furthermore, access to standardized AIRS surveillance and 
programmatic data allows CDC to provide timely and accurate responses 
to the public and Congress regarding the NCEH asthma program (e.g., how 
many states have asthma interventions targeting schools, how many 
children are treated in emergency departments, etc.).
    There will be no cost for respondents, other than their time, to 
participate in AIRS. Based on the program's evaluation of past 
performance, it was noted that the hours for the interim report should 
be increased from 2 to 4 hours and those of the end of year be 
decreased from 6 to 4 hours; however, total burden hours remain at 8 
hours per year per respondent. The total estimated annual burden hours 
are 288.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Number of    Average burden
        Type of respondents                   Form name              Number of     responses per   per response
                                                                    respondents     respondent       (in hrs.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State Health Departments...........  Interim report on                        36               1               4
                                      activities and objectives.
State Health Departments...........  End of year report on                    36               1               4
                                      activities, objectives and
                                      aggregate surveillance.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Ron A. Otten,
Director, Office of Scientific Integrity, Office of the Associate 
Director for Science, Office of the Director, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2013-09756 Filed 4-24-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P