[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 192 (Thursday, October 5, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 46511]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-21488]



[[Page 46511]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Public Comment Request; Information Collection 
Request Title: Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) Program Deeming 
Applications for Free Clinics [OMB No. 0915-0293--Extension]

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department 
of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA 
has submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Comments submitted 
during the first public review of this ICR will be provided to OMB. OMB 
will accept further comments from the public during the review and 
approval period.

DATES: Comments on this ICR must be received no later than November 6, 
2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, including the Information Collection 
Request Title, to the desk officer for HRSA, either by email to 
[email protected] or by fax to 202-395-5806.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the clearance 
requests submitted to OMB for review, email Lisa Wright-Solomon, the 
HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer at [email protected] or 
call (301) 443-1984.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When submitting comments or requesting 
information, please include the information request collection title 
for reference, in compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
    Information Collection Request Title: Federal Tort Claims Act 
(FTCA) Program Deeming Applications for Free Clinics--OMB No. 0915-
0293--Extension.
    Abstract: Section 224(o) of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (42 
U.S.C. 233(o)), as amended, authorizes the ``deeming'' of certain 
individuals as PHS employees for the purposes of receiving Federal Tort 
Claims Act (FTCA) coverage. Section 224(o) relates to employees, 
officers, and contractors at qualifying free clinics. The Free Clinics 
FTCA Program is administered by HRSA's Bureau of Primary Health Care 
(BPHC). Sponsoring free clinics are required by law to submit deeming 
applications in the specified form and manner on behalf of named 
individuals for review and approval, resulting in a ``deeming 
determination'' that includes associated FTCA coverage for these 
individuals.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: Deeming applications must 
address certain specified criteria required by law for deeming 
determinations to be issued, and FTCA application forms are critical to 
BPHC's deeming determination processes. These forms provide BPHC with 
the information necessary to evaluate an application and determine 
whether an individual meets the requirements for deemed PHS employee 
status for the purposes of FTCA coverage. FTCA application forms for 
free clinics do not require any changes with this extension other than 
to update the applicable dates. In response to a Federal Register 
notice announcing the FTCA Program deeming applications for Free 
Clinics published on June 23, 2017 (Vol. 82, No. 120, pages 28667-
28668), BPHC received several comments requesting that FTCA eligibility 
be extended to free clinics as entities. In response, BPHC notes that 
per Section 224(o) of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 233(o)), FTCA coverage 
cannot be extended to the free clinic as an entity. Rather, coverage is 
only available to eligible and approved free clinic-sponsored 
individuals. BPHC notes that the estimated number of responses per 
respondent has increased from one to three annually due to sponsoring 
free clinics submitting a greater number of supplemental applications 
on behalf of individuals who on-board throughout a calendar year.
    Likely Respondents: Respondents include free clinics seeking deemed 
PHS employee status on behalf of their sponsored individuals for 
purposes of FTCA coverage.
    Burden Statement: Burden in this context means the time expended by 
persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide the 
information requested. 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. The total annual burden hours estimated for 
this ICR are summarized in the table below.

                                    Total Estimated Annualized Burden--Hours
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                                                                                      Average
                                     Number of       Number of         Total        burden per     Total burden
            Form name               respondents    responses per     responses     response  (in       hours
                                                    respondent                        hours)
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FTCA Program Deeming Application             228               3             684               2           1,368
 for Free Clinics...............
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    Total.......................             228               3             684               2           1,368
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Amy McNulty,
Acting Director, Division of the Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2017-21488 Filed 10-4-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4165-15-P