[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 5 (Friday, January 7, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 977-979]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00102]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-22-0134; Docket No. CDC-2021-0134]


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 Foreign Quarantine Regulations, 
which specifies the required reporting of ill persons or deaths 
occurring during international travel to the United States.

DATES: CDC must receive written comments on or before March 8, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2021-
0134 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: 404-639-7570; 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 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

[[Page 978]]

    5. Assess information collection costs.

Proposed Project

    Foreign Quarantine Regulations (42 CFR 71) (OMB Control No. 0920-
0134, Exp. 3/31/2022)--Revision--National Center for Emerging and 
Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) (42 U.S.C. 264) 
authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make and 
enforce regulations necessary to prevent the introduction, transmission 
or spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries into the 
United States. The statute and the existing regulations governing 
foreign quarantine activities (42 CFR 71) authorize quarantine officers 
and other personnel to inspect and undertake necessary control measures 
with respect to conveyances, persons, and shipments of animals and 
etiologic agents, in order to protect the public's health. Other 
inspection agencies, such as Customs and Border Protection (CBP), 
assist quarantine officers in public health screening of persons, pets, 
and other importations of public health importance and make referrals 
to quarantine station staff when indicated. These practices and 
procedures ensure protection against the introduction and spread of 
communicable diseases into and within the United States with a minimum 
of recordkeeping and reporting procedures, as well as a minimum of 
interference with trade and travel.
    U.S. Quarantine Stations are located at 20 ports of entry that 
include both airports and land border crossings where international 
travelers arrive. The jurisdiction of each station includes air, 
maritime, and/or land-border ports of entry. Quarantine Station staff 
work in partnership with international, federal, state, and local 
agencies and organizations to fulfill their mission to reduce morbidity 
and mortality among immigrants, refugees, travelers, expatriates, and 
other globally mobile populations. This work is performed to prevent 
the introduction, transmission, and spread of communicable diseases 
from foreign countries into the United States or from one State or 
possession to another State or possession. When an illness suggestive 
of a communicable disease is reported by conveyance operators or port 
partners (e.g., Customs and Border Protection), Quarantine Officers 
respond to carry out an onsite public health assessment and collect 
data from the individual. This response may occur jointly with port 
partners. The collection of comprehensive, pertinent public health 
information during these responses enables Quarantine Officers to make 
an accurate public health assessment and identify appropriate next 
steps. For this reason, quarantine station staff need to systematically 
interview ill travelers and collect relevant health and epidemiologic 
information.
    When Quarantine Officers are present at the port of entry, they may 
often respond in person to conduct assessment of an ill traveler. 
However, there are many instances in which a Quarantine Officer may not 
be able to meet a conveyance or border crosser in person, including 
(but not limited to) the following: The conveyance arrives at a port of 
entry that does not have a Quarantine Station on site; a maritime 
vessel is still out at sea when the report comes in; Quarantine 
Officers are already responding to another illness report; or the 
illness may be reported after hours and Quarantine Officers cannot 
arrive in time to meet the conveyance or border crosser without causing 
substantial delays to travel. If Quarantine Officers are unable to 
respond in-person, they provide phone consultation to port partners 
(e.g., Emergency Medical Services (EMS), DHS/CBP, and maritime partners 
such as ship medical personnel) on the scene, to determine the public 
health importance of the illness. In both circumstances, an interview 
of the ill person(s) is required to conduct the public health 
assessment, whether in-person, by phone, or through a trained responder 
(in consultation with the Quarantine Officer).
    Data collected by DGMQ and the Quarantine staff during the initial 
report of illness or death, and during the follow-up using the illness 
or death response forms, is entered into the Quarantine Activity 
Reporting System (QARS). QARS is a secure internet database implemented 
in June 2005 to document and track the illnesses and deaths reported to 
Quarantine Stations that occurred on conveyances entering the United 
States and at land border crossings.
    Previously, this information collection also included information 
collections related to regulating importations of animals and human 
remains, and animal products. CDC plans to submit information 
collections related to importations into a new and separate information 
collection request. CDC requests approval for an estimated 23,467 
annual burden hours with this Revision ICR. There are no costs to 
respondents other than their time.

                                                            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)         hours
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Maritime Vessel Operator.......................  42 CFR 71.21(a) report of illness or                500               1           10/60              83
                                                  death from ships--Maritime Conveyance
                                                  Illness or Death Investigation Form
                                                  Sections 1-4.
Maritime Vessel Operator.......................  42 CFR 71.21(a) report of illness or                100               1            5/60               8
                                                  death from ships--Maritime Conveyance
                                                  Illness or Death Investigation Form
                                                  Section 5.
Maritime Vessel Operator.......................  Cumulative Influenza/Influenza-Like                3000               1            2/60             100
                                                  Illness (ILI).
Maritime Vessel Operator.......................  42 CFR 71.35 Report of death/illness                  5               1           30/60               3
                                                  during stay in port (No Form).
Pilot in command...............................  42 CFR 71.21 (b) Death/Illness reports           79,500               1            2/60           2,650
                                                  from aircrafts (No form).
Traveler.......................................  Airline Travel Illness or Death                  79,500               1           15/60          19,875
                                                  Investigation and Traveler Follow up
                                                  Form.
Traveler.......................................  Land Travel Illness or Death                      3,000               1           15/60             750
                                                  Investigation Form.

[[Page 979]]

 
Isolated or Quarantined individuals............  42 CFR 71.33 Report by persons in                    11               1            3/60               1
                                                  isolation or surveillance (No Form).
                                                                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total......................................  .......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............          23,467
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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. 2022-00102 Filed 1-6-22; 8:45 am]
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