[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 100 (Wednesday, May 26, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28356-28357]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-11148]



[[Page 28356]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-21-1102; Docket No. CDC-2021-0050]


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 Tuberculosis Data from Panel 
Physicians. This study collects Tuberculosis data gathered during 
overseas immigration medical exams.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before July 26, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2021-
0050 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;
    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; and
    5. Assess information collection costs.

Proposed Project

    Information Collection for Tuberculosis Data from Panel Physicians 
(OMB Control No. 0920-1102, Exp. 9/30/2021)--Revision--National Center 
for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC), National 
Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Division 
of Global Migration and Quarantine (DGMQ), Immigrant, Refugee, and 
Migrant Health Branch (IRMH), requests approval for a Revision of an 
existing information collection. This project pertains to collecting 
annual reports on certain tuberculosis data from U.S. panel physicians.
    The respondents are panel physicians. More than 760 panel 
physicians from 336 panel sites perform overseas pre-departure medical 
examinations in accordance with requirements, referred to as technical 
instructions, provided by DGMQs Quality Assessment Program (QAP). The 
role of QAP is to assist and guide panel physicians in the 
implementation of the technical instructions; evaluate the quality of 
the overseas medical examination for U.S.-bound immigrants and 
refugees; assess potential panel physician sites; and provide 
recommendations to the U.S. Department of State in matters of immigrant 
medical screening.
    To achieve DGMQ's mission, IRMH works with domestic and 
international programs to improve the health of U.S.-bound immigrants 
and refugees to protect the U.S. public by preventing the importation 
of infectious disease. These goals are accomplished through IRMH's 
oversight of medical exams required for all U.S.-bound immigrants and 
refugees who seek permanent residence in the U.S. IRMH is responsible 
for assisting and training the international panel physicians with the 
implementation of medical exam Technical Instructions (TI). Technical 
Instructions are detailed requirements and national policies regarding 
the medical screening and treatment of all U.S.-bound immigrants and 
refugees.
    Screening for tuberculosis (TB) is a particularly important 
component of the immigration medical exam and allows panel physicians 
to diagnose active TB disease prior to arrival in the United States. As 
part of the TI requirements, panel physicians perform chest x-rays and 
laboratory tests that aid in the identification of TB infection (Class 
B1 applicants) and diagnosis of active TB disease (Class A, 
inadmissible applicants). CDC uses these classifications to report new 
immigrant and refugee arrivals with a higher risk of developing TB 
disease to U.S. state and local health departments for further follow-
up. Some information that panel physicians collect as part of the 
medical exam is not reported on the standard Department of State forms 
(DS-forms), thereby preventing CDC from evaluating TB trends in 
globally mobile populations and monitoring program effectiveness.
    Currently, CDC is requesting this data be sent by panel physicians 
once per year. The consequences of reducing this frequency would be the 
loss of monitoring program impact and TB burdens in mobile populations, 
and immigrants and refugees coming to the United States on an annual 
basis. The total burden hours requested is 999. There is no cost to the 
respondents other than their time.

[[Page 28357]]



                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                     Number of    Average burden
      Type of respondents           Form name        Number of     responses per   per  response   Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)      (in hours)
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International Panel Physicians  TB Indicators                333               1               3             999
                                 REDCap web form.
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............             999
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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. 2021-11148 Filed 5-25-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P