[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 12 (Friday, January 17, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3206-3207]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00911]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30-Day 14-13AHG]


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

    Evaluation of Food Safety Programs--New--National Center for 
Environmental Health (NCEH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
(CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    Local and state food safety programs (FSPs) are on the frontline of 
foodborne disease prevention in United States (U.S.). Through the 
Environmental Health Specialists Network (EHS-Net)(OMB No. 0920-0792, 
Expiration 2/28/2015), CDC currently funds and works with local and 
state health departments in five states (California, New York, 
Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Tennessee) to: (1) Identify environmental 
antecedents (underlying factors) to illness and disease outbreaks; (2) 
translate findings into improved prevention efforts using a systems-
based approach; (3) offer training opportunities to current and future 
environmental health specialists; and (4) strengthen collaboration 
among epidemiology, laboratory, and environmental health programs. This 
CDC program offers insights into the current status of FSPs among EHS-
Net partners, but information is lacking on a national scale.
    The current tight fiscal environment faced by U.S. health 
departments has led to a significant reduction in funding for public 
health programs, such as food safety. For example, 57 percent of local 
health departments reduced or eliminated at least one public health 
program during 2011. Therefore, the CDC is requesting for a two-year 
OMB approval to conduct the ``Evaluation of Food Safety Programs'' 
survey among a representative sample of local and state health 
departments implementing FSPs in the U.S.
    The purpose of this evaluation of local and state FSPs is to 
collect descriptive data on their current status and activities, to 
describe changes in their status and activities from 2007 to 2012, and 
to determine if there is a relationship between funding status and 
activities. Data will be collected on food safety activities, workforce 
capacity and competency, financial resources, community health, and 
demographics of FSPs. Data collected will help CDC better understand 
the relationship between different levels of funding and FSP 
effectiveness in the U.S.
    State and local food safety programs are primary respondents for 
this data collection. There are over 3,000 state and local health 
departments in the U.S. It is unknown how many state and local health 
departments will actually participate in the evaluation survey, as 
participation will be voluntary.
    This information collection seeks approval to obtain data using a 
one-time data collection survey. The survey will take approximately 2 
hours to complete. The survey will be completed once by respondents 
either manually or electronically. The CDC is asking for this data 
collection burden to allow local and state health departments ample 
time to request and obtain the information they need from their various 
departments and units to complete the evaluation survey.
    For this project, the anticipated number of respondents is 190 
health departments per year, and the total estimated annual burden 
hours are 380 hours. Only local and state health departments 
implementing food safety programs in the U.S. will be eligible to 
participate in the survey. There will be no cost to the respondents 
other than their time.

[[Page 3207]]



                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                     Number of    Average burden
        Type of respondents                   Form name              Number of     responses per   per response
                                                                    respondents     respondent       (in hrs.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local health departments...........  Evaluation Survey                       138               1               2
                                      (electronic).
                                     Evaluation Survey (paper-                35               1               2
                                      based).
State health departments...........  Evaluation Survey                        14               1               2
                                      (electronic).
                                     Evaluation Survey (paper-                 3               1               2
                                      based).
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LeRoy Richardson,
Chief, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific 
Integrity, Office of the Associate Director for Science, Office of the 
Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2014-00911 Filed 1-16-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P