[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 206 (Friday, October 23, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67544-67546]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-23454]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-21-0728; Docket No. CDC-2020-0096]


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 the opportunity to comment on a 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 National Notifiable Diseases 
Surveillance System--Revision--Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology 
and Laboratory Services (CSELS), Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC). The purpose of this data collection is to provide the 
official source of statistics in the United States for nationally 
notifiable conditions. Data will be used to monitor the occurrence and 
spread of nationally notifiable conditions. Data will be gathered 
through electronic submissions of case notifications to CDC from public 
health departments from 50 states, New York City, Washington DC, five 
U.S. territories, and three freely associated states.

DATES: CDC must receive written comments on or before December 22, 
2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2020-
0096 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. CDC will post, without change, all relevant comments 
to Regulations.gov.
    Please note: Submit all comments 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: 404-639-7118; 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 the 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

    National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (OMB Control No. 
0920-0728, Exp. 04/30/2023)--Revision--Center for Surveillance, 
Epidemiology and Laboratory Services (CSELS), Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The Public Health Services Act (42 U.S.C. 241) authorizes CDC to

[[Page 67545]]

disseminate nationally notifiable condition information. The National 
Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) is based on data 
collected at the state, territorial and local levels as a result of 
legislation and regulations in those jurisdictions that require health 
care providers, medical laboratories, and other entities to submit 
health-related data on reportable conditions to public health 
departments. These reportable conditions, which include infectious and 
non-infectious diseases, vary by jurisdiction depending upon each 
jurisdiction's health priorities and needs. Each year, the Council of 
State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), supported by CDC, 
determines which reportable conditions should be designated nationally 
notifiable or under standardized surveillance.
    CDC requests a three-year approval for a Revision for the NNDSS 
(OMB Control No. 0920-0728, Expiration Date 04/30/2023). This Revision 
includes requests for approval to: (1) Receive case notification data 
for Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS) associated with Coronavirus 
Disease 2019 (COVID-19); (2) receive new disease-specific data elements 
for Anthrax, Brucellosis, Campylobacteriosis, Cholera, 
Cryptosporidiosis, Hansen's Disease, Leptospirosis, Melioidosis, MIS 
associated with COVID-19, COVID-19, S. Paratyphi Infection, S. Typhi 
Infection, Salmonellosis, STEC, Shigellosis, and Vibriosis; and (3) 
Receive new vaccine-related data elements for all conditions.
    The NNDSS currently facilitates the submission and aggregation of 
case notification data voluntarily submitted to CDC from 60 
jurisdictions: public health departments in every U.S. state, New York 
City, Washington DC, five U.S. territories (American Samoa, the 
Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the 
U.S. Virgin Islands), and three freely associated states (Federated 
States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the 
Republic of Palau). This information is shared across jurisdictional 
boundaries and both surveillance and prevention and control activities 
are coordinated at regional and national levels.
    Approximately 90% of case notifications are encrypted and submitted 
to NNDSS electronically from already existing databases by automated 
electronic messages. When automated transmission is not possible, case 
notifications are faxed, emailed, uploaded to a secure network or 
entered into a secure website. All case notifications that are faxed or 
emailed are done so in the form of an aggregate weekly or annual 
report, not individual cases. These different mechanisms used to send 
case notifications to CDC vary by the jurisdiction and the disease or 
condition. Jurisdictions remove most personally identifiable 
information (PII) before data are submitted to CDC, but some data 
elements (e.g., date of birth, date of diagnosis, county of residence) 
could potentially be combined with other information to identify 
individuals. Private information is not disclosed unless otherwise 
compelled by law. All data are treated in a secure manner consistent 
with the technical, administrative, and operational controls required 
by the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA) and 
the 2010 National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 
Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems and 
Organizations. Weekly tables of nationally notifiable diseases are 
available through CDC WONDER and data.cdc.gov. Annual summaries of 
finalized nationally notifiable disease data are published on CDC 
WONDER and data.cdc.gov and disease-specific data are published by 
individual CDC programs.
    The burden estimates include the number of hours that the public 
health department uses to process and send case notification data from 
their jurisdiction to CDC. Specifically, the burden estimates include 
separate burden hours incurred for automated and non-automated 
transmissions, separate weekly burden hours incurred for modernizing 
surveillance systems as part of NNDSS Modernization Initiative (NMI) 
implementation, separate burden hours incurred for annual data 
reconciliation and submission, and separate one-time burden hours 
incurred for the addition of new diseases and data elements. The burden 
estimates for the one-time burden for reporting jurisdictions are for 
the addition of case notification data for MIS associated with COVID-
19; disease-specific data elements for Anthrax, Brucellosis, 
Campylobacteriosis, Cholera, Cryptosporidiosis, Hansen's Disease, 
Leptospirosis, Melioidosis, MIS associated with COVID-19, COVID-19, S. 
Paratyphi Infection, S. Typhi Infection, Salmonellosis, STEC, 
Shigellosis, and Vibriosis; and vaccine data elements for all diseases. 
The estimated annual burden for the 257 respondents is 18,954 hours. 
The cost of the information collection is $830,400. The total burden 
hours increased from 18,414 to 18,954 since the last revision because 
there were more disease-specific data elements added in this revision 
as compared to the last revision.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                     Number of    Average burden
      Type of respondent            Form name        Number of     responses per   per response    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent        (in hr)         (in hr)
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States........................  Weekly                        50              52           20/60             867
                                 (Automated).
States........................  Weekly (Non-                  10              52               2           1,040
                                 automated).
States........................  Weekly (NMI                   50              52               4          10,400
                                 Implementation).
States........................  Annual..........              50               1              75           3,750
States........................  One-time                      50               1              12             600
                                 Addition of
                                 Diseases and
                                 Data Elements.
Territories...................  Weekly                         5              52           20/60              87
                                 (Automated).
Territories...................  Weekly,                        5              56           20/60              93
                                 Quarterly (Non-
                                 automated).
Territories...................  Weekly (NMI                    5              52               4           1,040
                                 Implementation).
Territories...................  Annual..........               5               1               5              25
Territories...................  One-time                       5               1              12              60
                                 Addition of
                                 Diseases and
                                 Data Elements.
Freely Associated States......  Weekly                         3              52           20/60              52
                                 (Automated).
Freely Associated States......  Weekly,                        3              56           20/60              56
                                 Quarterly (Non-
                                 automated).
Freely Associated States......  Annual..........               3               1               5              15

[[Page 67546]]

 
Freely Associated States......  One-time                       3               1              12              36
                                 Addition of
                                 Diseases and
                                 Data Elements.
Cities........................  Weekly                         2              52           20/60              35
                                 (Automated).
Cities........................  Weekly (Non-                   2              52               2             208
                                 automated).
Cities........................  Weekly (NMI                    2              52               4             416
                                 Implementation).
Cities........................  Annual..........               2               1              75             150
Cities........................  One-time                       2               1              12              24
                                 Addition of
                                 Diseases and
                                 Data Elements.
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    Total.....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............          18,954
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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. 2020-23454 Filed 10-22-20; 8:45 am]
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