[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 242 (Thursday, December 17, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78736-78737]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-31741]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-16-16GX; Docket No. CDC-2015-0113]


Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice with comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part 
of its continuing efforts to reduce public burden and maximize the 
utility of government information, invites the general public and other 
Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or 
continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed new 
information collection request entitled ``Mining Industry Surveillance 
System''.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before February 16, 
2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2015-
0113 by any of the following methods: Federal eRulemaking Portal: 
Regulation.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    Mail: Leroy A. Richardson, Information Collection Review Office, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE., MS-
D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and Docket Number. All relevant comments received will be posted 
without change to Regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided. For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to Regulations.gov.
    Please note: All public comment should be submitted through the 
Federal eRulemaking portal (Regulations.gov) or by U.S. mail to the 
address listed above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on the 
proposed project or to obtain a copy of the information collection plan 
and instruments, contact the Information Collection Review Office, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE., MS-
D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; phone: 404-639-7570; Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal agencies must obtain approval from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of 
information they conduct or sponsor. In addition, the PRA also requires 
Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register 
concerning each proposed collection of information, including each new 
proposed collection, each proposed extension of existing collection of 
information, and each reinstatement of previously approved information 
collection before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To 
comply with this requirement, we are publishing this notice of a 
proposed data collection as described below.
    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; (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; and (e) estimates of capital or start-
up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services 
to provide information. Burden means the total time, effort, or 
financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, 
disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This 
includes the time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, 
install and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of 
collecting, validating and verifying information, processing and 
maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to 
train personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of 
information, to search data sources, to complete and review the 
collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the 
information.

Proposed Project

    Mining Industry Surveillance System--New--National Institute for 
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The mission of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
Health (NIOSH) is to promote safety & health at work for all people 
through research and prevention. The Federal Mine Safety & Health Act 
of 1977, section 501, enables NIOSH to carry out research relevant to 
the health and safety of workers in the mining industry. Surveillance 
of occupational injuries, illnesses, and exposures has been an integral 
part of the work of the NIOSH since its creation by the Occupational 
Safety and Health Act in 1970. Surveillance activities at the Office of 
Mine Safety and Health Research (OMSHR), a Division of NIOSH, are 
focused on the nation's mining workforce. OMSHR is planning to develop 
the Mining Industry

[[Page 78737]]

Surveillance System, a unique source of longitudinal information on 
U.S. mines and their employees. Its purpose will be to: (1) Track 
changes and emerging trends over time; (2) provide current data to 
guide research and training activities; (3) provide updated demographic 
and occupational data for the mining workforce; and (4) provide 
denominator data to help understand the risk of work-related injuries, 
disease, and fatalities in specific demographic and occupational 
subgroups. The goal of the proposed project is to improve its 
surveillance capability related to the occupational risks in mining. 
NIOSH is requesting a three-year approval for this data collection.
    NIOSH is planning to use the Mining Industry and Workforce Survey 
(MIWS) to collect data for the Mining Industry Surveillance System. 
Data will be collected through surveys conducted on a rotating basis in 
mining sectors aligned with national mining association. In Phase 1 of 
the project, the MIWS will be conducted in the stone/sand and gravel 
mining sector in year 1, the metal/nonmetal mining sector in year 2, 
and the coal mining sector in year 3. Data from this survey will 
provide denominator data so that accident, injury, and illness reports 
can be evaluated in relation to the population at risk.
    Additionally, NIOSH cannot separately determine the number of 
contractor employees working in metal, nonmetal, stone, or sand and 
gravel mines. The survey will collect mine-level data on contractor 
employees to allow NIOSH to determine the quantity of contract labor 
that mine operators use and the type of work these employees perform. 
NIOSH will also use the MIWS to collect mine-level data that will 
provide a valuable picture of the current working environment (work 
schedules and shift work practices) used in the U.S. mining industry.
    Based on the stratification and sample size allocation plan 
developed for this project, 34% of all sampled mines have fewer than 10 
employees. Mines with 10 or fewer employees will not have to do any 
sampling as they will be asked to provide data for all of their 
employees. Small mines will require up to 45 minutes to complete the 
survey. Mines with 11 or more employees will need up to 1.5 hours given 
their need to generate an employee roster and sample 10 of their 
employees. Thus, NIOSH is estimating that the average annual burden to 
complete the survey will be 1 hour. Non-responding mines will be asked 
to complete the Nonresponse Survey which consists of only seven 
questions. NIOSH estimates that the burden for this brief survey will 
be 10 minutes or less.
    The total estimated burden hours are 1,397. There is no cost to the 
respondents other than their time.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                     Number of      Avg. burden
      Type of respondents           Form name        Number of     responses per   per response    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent       (in hrs.)       (in hrs.)
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Responding Stone/Sand & Gravel  Mining Industry              526               1               1             526
 Mines (Year 1).                 & Workforce
                                 Survey.
Nonresponding Stone/Sand &      Nonresponse                  350               1           10/60              58
 Gravel Mines (Year 1).          Survey.
Responding Metal/Nonmetal       Mining Industry              369               1               1             369
 Mines (Year 2).                 & Workforce
                                 Survey.
Nonresponding Metal/Nonmetal    Nonresponse                  246               1           10/60              41
 Mines (Year 2).                 Survey.
Responding Coal Mines (Year 3)  Mining Industry              363               1               1             363
                                 & Workforce
                                 Survey.
Nonresponding Coal Mines (Year  Nonresponse                  242               1           10/60              40
 3).                             Survey.
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............           1,397
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Leroy A. 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. 2015-31741 Filed 12-16-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P