[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 204 (Monday, October 22, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53256-53257]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-22939]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30Day-19-18UF]


Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has submitted the information 
collection request titled Assessment of Evidence to Inform Standards 
that Ensure Turnout Gear Remains Protective Throughout Its Lifecycle to 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. CDC 
previously published a ``Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public 
Comment and Recommendations'' notice on April 12, 2018 to obtain 
comments from the public and affected agencies. CDC received one 
comment related to the previous notice. This notice serves to allow an 
additional 30 days for public and affected agency comments.
    CDC will accept all comments for this proposed information 
collection project. The Office of Management and Budget is particularly 
interested in comments that:
    (a) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    (b) Evaluate the accuracy of the agencies estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    (c) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected;
    (d) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including, through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submission of responses; and
    (e) Assess information collection costs.
    To request additional information on the proposed project or to 
obtain a copy of the information collection plan and instruments, call 
(404) 639-7570 or send an email to [email protected]. Direct written comments 
and/or suggestions regarding the items contained in this notice to the 
Attention: CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th 
Street NW, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202) 395-5806. Provide 
written comments within 30 days of notice publication.

Proposed Project

    Evidence to Inform Standards that Ensure Turnout Gear Remains 
Protective Throughout Its Lifecycle--New--National Institute for 
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    Turnout gear is a type of personal protective equipment used by the 
1.1 million U.S. fire fighters to shield the body from carcinogens, 
flames, heat, and chemical/biological agents. It serves as a barrier to 
external hazards while simultaneously allowing for the escape of 
metabolic heat to prevent elevated core body temperatures. To provide 
the necessary performance characteristics, turnout gear design is 
complex, consisting of three major layers that work as a composite--a 
thermal liner, a moisture barrier, and an outer shell.
    Consensus standards provide performance requirements and retirement 
criteria for turnout gear. The retirement criteria is based on visual 
inspections and a 10-year age cap with visual inspection being less 
effective for the moisture barrier and thermal liner layers. Recent 
data of turnout gear donated from fire departments demonstrates that 
turnout gear from 2 to 10 years old was unable to meet all performance 
requirements. Thus, under the current retirement criteria, turnout

[[Page 53257]]

gear that may not be protective against all hazards is being used by 
fire fighters.
    Intuitively, the use conditions to which turnout gear would be 
exposed to when used by a large or medium metropolitan fire department 
would be very different than those of a smaller department. However, 
the absence of scientific data to link performance to use conditions 
(e.g., number and type of washings, number of fire-related calls) 
provides a barrier to transitioning to an alternative approach to 
retirement.
    This study will obtain a statistically meaningful sample of turnout 
gear from three fire departments. The use conditions for the sampled 
turnout gear will be determined, and the gear will be subjected to 
established performance requirements. For each set of gear, its 
performance will be directly linked to its use condition history. This 
combined lab and field data will help determine if there is a 
relationship between turnout gear use conditions and the ability for 
turnout gear to effectively protect the user.
    The use conditions for each set of sampled gear will be determined 
by:
    (1) Reviewing fire department records, practices, and policies;
    (2) surveying the fire fighters assigned to each set of sampled 
gear to obtain one-month of retrospective information about the use 
conditions to which it was likely exposed; and
    (3) a 6-month prospective data collection where the fire fighters 
assigned to each set of sampled gear provide information about their 
shift-specific exposures.
    The estimated annualized Burden Hours for this information 
collection is 1,050. There is no cost to respondents other than their 
time.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                                      Average
                                                                     Number of       Number of      burden per
        Type of respondents                   Form name             respondents    responses per   response  (in
                                                                                    respondent        hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Individual Fire Fighter............  Turnout Gear Safety Survey--            100               1           30/60
                                      Retrospective Exposures
                                      for past month.
                                     Turnout Gear Safety Survey--            100              60           10/60
                                      Prospective Exposures for
                                      six months.
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Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Acting 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. 2018-22939 Filed 10-19-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P