[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 162 (Thursday, August 20, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51437-51438]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-18279]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-20-20NK; Docket No. CDC-2020-0094]


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 effort 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 collection, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed 
information collection project titled NCHS Research and Development 
Survey (RANDS). RANDS will leverage commercially-created and maintained 
survey panels to supplement and expand NCHS' methodological research, 
allowing NCHS to quickly obtain and disseminate information about the 
ongoing coronavirus outbreak and provide documentation supporting the 
validity of outbreak-related survey questions.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 19, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2020-
0094 by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Jeffrey M. Zirger, 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 Jeffrey M. Zirger, 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.
    The OMB is particularly interested in comments that will help:
    1. 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;
    2. Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    4. 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 
submissions of responses.
    5. Assess information collection costs.

Proposed Project

Research and Development Survey (RANDS) COVID19 Data Collection--New--
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention's (CDC)

Background and Brief Description

    The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) requests approval 
for a new six-month OMB Emergency Clearance for Research and

[[Page 51438]]

Development Survey (RANDS) COVID19 Data Collection. Since COVID-19 has 
resulted in a public health crisis, data related to the pandemic is 
needed in an expedited manner.
    This information collection request encompasses two separate, but 
related information collections. First, a two-round methodological 
survey (RANDS-COVID-19) using NORC's AmeriSpeak Panel and TrueNorth 
supplemental panel, and second, a set of cognitive interviews that will 
be used to validate the items on the RANDS-COVID-19 questionnaire. 
While NCHS would prefer to conduct iterative rounds of cognitive 
interviews prior to the fielding of the RANDS-COVID-19 questionnaire, 
given both the limitations of the current testing environment due to 
social distancing and the public health need for the RANDS-COVID-19 
data itself, NCHS will be unable to follow its typical workflow. 
Instead, the cognitive interviewing project proposed here will function 
as a validity study so that NCHS staff and other subject matter experts 
can understand the constructs of the questions as they analyze, 
interpret, and disseminate the RANDS-COVID-19 data.
    The purpose of both activities will include a research component, 
and will also contribute to CDC's ongoing surveillance of the COVID-19 
pandemic. Given the current outbreak and the resulting limitations 
placed on NCHS' other data collections, RANDS will provide NCHS and CDC 
with early estimates of COVID-19-related concepts. The questionnaire 
will cover areas such as general health, psychological distress, 
chronic conditions, health behaviors, testing and treatment for COVID-
19, the outbreak's effects on healthcare access, and how individuals 
are modifying their behaviors due to the epidemic. Estimated burden for 
this one-time information collection is 7,447 hours.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Table
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                                                                                      Average
                                                     Number of       Number of      burden per     Total burden
      Types of respondent           Form name       respondents    responses per   response  (in      (in hr)
                                                                    respondent          hr)
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Individuals or households.....  RANDS-COVID-19            12,000               1           20/60           4,000
                                 Round 1.
Individuals or households.....  RANDS-COVID-19            10,000               1           20/60           3,334
                                 Round 2.
Individuals or households.....  Screener                     150               1            5/60              13
                                 (recruited from
                                 newspaper/
                                 flyer).
Individuals or households.....  Questionnaire...             100               1           55/60              92
Individuals or households.....  Respondent Data.             100               1            5/60               8
                                Collection Sheet
                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............           7,447
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Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific 
Integrity, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2020-18279 Filed 8-19-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P