[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 243 (Tuesday, December 20, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77840-77842]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27507]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-23-1175; Docket No. CDC-2023-0140]


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 Environmental Public Health 
Tracking Network (Tracking Network). The Tracking Program is the 
ongoing collection, integration, analysis, and dissemination of health, 
exposure, and hazard data designed to drive public health actions that 
protect the population from harm resulting from exposure to 
environmental contaminants, and integrates these data from various 
sources including state and local health departments (SLHD) into the 
Tracking Network.

DATES: CDC must receive written comments on or before February 21, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2022-
0140 by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.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 H21-8, Atlanta, Georgia 30329.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and Docket Number. CDC will post, without change, all relevant comments 
to www.regulations.gov.
    Please note: Submit all comments through the Federal eRulemaking 
portal (www.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 H21-8, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; Telephone: 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;

[[Page 77841]]

    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

    Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (Tracking Network) 
(OMB Control No. 0920-1175, Exp. 07/31/2023)--Revision--National Center 
for Environmental Health (NCEH), Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The CDC is submitting a three-year Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 
revision information collection request (ICR) for Environmental Public 
Health Tracking Network (Tracking Network) (OMB Control No. 0920-1175, 
Expiration 07/31/2023). This information collection is sponsored by the 
Environmental Public Health Tracking Section (Tracking Section), 
Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice (DEHSP), National 
Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) at CDC.
    In September 2000, the Pew Environmental Health Commission issued a 
report entitled America's Environmental Health Gap: Why the Country 
Needs a Nationwide Health Tracking Network. The Commission documented a 
critical gap in knowledge that hinders our national efforts to reduce 
or eliminate diseases that might be prevented by better managing 
environmental factors due largely to the fact that existing 
environmental health systems were inadequate and fragmented. They 
described a lack of data for the leading causes of mortality and 
morbidity, a lack of data on exposure to hazards, a lack of 
environmental data with applicability to public health, and barriers to 
integrating and linking existing data. To address this critical gap, 
the Commission recommended a ``Nationwide Health Tracking Network'' for 
disease and exposures. In response to the report and this critical gap, 
Congress appropriated funds in the fiscal year 2002 budget for the CDC 
to establish the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program 
(Tracking Program) and Network and has appropriated funds each year 
thereafter to continue this effort.
    The Tracking Program includes State and Local Health Departments 
(SLHD) which collaborate to: (1) build and maintain the Tracking 
Network; (2) advance the practice and science of environmental public 
health tracking; (3) communicate information to guide environmental 
health policies and actions; (4) enhance tracking workforce and 
infrastructure; and (5) foster collaborations between health and 
environmental programs. In spring of 2022, under Notice of Funding 
Opportunity CDC-RFA-EH22-2202, the CDC's Tracking Program funded 33 
state and local public health programs (funded SLHDs). These recipients 
were selected through a competitive objective review process and are 
managed as CDC cooperative agreements. Awards are for five years and 
are renewed through an Annual Performance Report (APR)/Continuation 
Application. The Tracking Program collects data from recipients about 
their activities and progress for the purposes of program evaluation 
and monitoring (hereafter referenced as program data).
    Environmental public health tracking is the ongoing collection, 
integration, analysis, and dissemination of health, exposure, and 
hazard data (hereinafter referenced as Tracking Network data) to inform 
public health actions that protect the population from harm resulting 
from exposure to environmental contaminants. The Tracking Network 
provides data from existing health, exposure, and hazard surveillance 
systems and supports ongoing efforts within the public health and 
environmental sectors to improve data collection, accessibility, and 
dissemination as well as analytic and response capacity. Data that were 
previously collected for different purposes and stored in separate 
state and local systems are now available in a nationally standardized 
format allowing programs to begin bridging the gap between health and 
the environment.
    CDC is requesting approval for an increase of seven additional 
annual respondents from the 30 approved under the previous ICR and 
five-year NOFO (CDC-RFA-EH17-1702). In spring of 2022, under the new 
five-year NOFO (CDC-RFA-EH22-2202), the CDC's Tracking Program funded 
33 state and local public health programs (funded SLHD). CDC is now 
requesting approval for up to 37 annual respondents. This number 
reflects the current 33 SLHD respondents plus four to allow for future 
funding of new SLHD or to collect voluntary responses from unfunded 
SLHD.
    Data from recipients or other SLHD are submitted annually following 
standardized procedures. Tracking network data submitted annually by 
recipients and other SLHD to the Tracking Program include seven 
datasets and the metadata form, specifically: (1) birth defects 
prevalence; (2) childhood blood lead levels; (3) drinking water 
monitoring; (4) emergency department visits; (5) hospitalizations; (6) 
radon testing; (7) biomonitoring; and (8) metadata. The Tracking 
Program will begin using Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) for 
its Electronic Data Capture System (EDCS) needs, which is an easy-to-
use, free software tool useful for programmatic deliverable management 
and data capture. Using an EDCS significantly reduces the burden by 
optimizing the data capture method to eliminate the need for personnel 
to complete manual data cleaning and organization before using data for 
analysis and evaluation upon submission.
    CDC is requesting OMB approval for a decrease in the annualized 
number of responses from 628 to 599 and the annualized time burden from 
21,860 to 14,041 hours. There are no costs to respondents other than 
their time.

                                                            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 hrs.)       (in hrs.)
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State and local health department..............  Birth Defects Prevalence Form..........              30               1              40           1,200
                                                 Childhood Blood Lead Levels Form.......              37               1              40           1,480
                                                 Drinking Water Monitoring Form.........              37               1              50           1,850
                                                 Emergency Department Visits Form.......              37               1              40           1,480

[[Page 77842]]

 
                                                 Hospitalizations Form..................              37               1              40           1,480
                                                 Radon Testing Form.....................              25               1              50           1,250
                                                 Biomonitoring Form.....................              25               1              40           1,000
                                                 Metadata Records.......................              37               2              20           1,480
                                                 Environmental Public Health Tracking                 33               1              21             693
                                                  Work Plan--REDCap.
                                                 Program Accomplishments and Public                   33               2              20           1,320
                                                  Health Actions Report--REDCap.
                                                 Performance Measures Report--REDCap....              33               1              20             660
                                                 PHA Impact Follow-up--REDCap...........              33               2           15/60              16
                                                 Communications Plan Template...........              33               1               2              66
                                                 Web Stats Template.....................              33               2               1              66
                                                                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total......................................  .......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............          14,041
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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. 2022-27507 Filed 12-19-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P