[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 113 (Friday, June 13, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25058-25059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-10739]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

[Document Identifier: OS-0990-0278]


Agency Information Collection Request. 30-Day Public Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirement of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the Office of the Secretary (OS), Department of Health and 
Human Services, is publishing the following summary of a proposed 
collection for public comment.

DATES: Comments on the ICR must be received on or before July 14, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Natalie Klein, [email protected] 
or (240) 453-6900. When submitting comments or requesting information, 
please include the document identifier 0990-0278-30D and project title, 
Federalwide Assurance (FWA) Form, for reference.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Interested persons are invited to send 
comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this 
collection of information, including any of the following subjects: (1) 
The necessity and utility of the proposed information collection for 
the proper performance of the agency's functions; (2) the accuracy of 
the estimated burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology to minimize the information collection burden.
    Title of the Collection: Federalwide Assurance (FWA) Form.
    Type of Collection: Revision.
    OMB No.: 0990-0278.
    Abstract: The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Office 
for Human

[[Page 25059]]

Research Protections (OHRP) is requesting a revision of the currently 
approved collection for the OMB No. 0990-0278, Federalwide Assurance 
(FWA) Form. The form is currently approved through October 31, 2026. 
The purpose of the FWA form is to provide a simplified procedure for 
institutions engaged in research conducted or supported by the 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to satisfy the assurance 
requirements of (1) Section 491(a) of the Public Health Service Act 
(the PHS Act) (42 U.S.C. 289); and (2) HHS regulations for the 
protection of human subjects at 45 CFR 46.103. The respondents for this 
information collection are institutions engaged in HHS-conducted or 
supported research involving human subjects. With this revision, OHRP 
is seeking to remove information from the FWA form to adopt the changes 
for assurances at 45 CFR 46.103 of the 2018 Requirements and reduce 
burden on respondents. The proposed changes to the FWA form include: 
(1) removing the Pre-2018 Common Rule requirement that institutions 
provide a statement of ethical principles; (2) removing the Pre-2018 
Common Rule requirement that an institution designate one or more IRBs 
to review the research to which the FWA applies; (3) removing ``check 
the box'', or the option for U.S. institutions to voluntarily apply the 
Common Rule, or the Common Rule and subparts B, C, and D of the HHS 
regulations at 45 CFR part 46, to all of an institution's nonexempt 
human subjects research regardless of the source of support; and (4) 
eliminating the requirement for institutions outside the U.S. to 
provide procedural standards they apply for human subjects research 
when assuring compliance with the Terms of the Federalwide Assurance. 
Updates to the software applications OHRP uses to manage the FWA 
application process will be deployed to enable such changes.

                                          Annualized Burden Hour Table
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                                                                     Number of        Average
                    Form name                        Number of     responses per    burden per     Total  burden
                                                    respondents     respondent       response          hours
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Federalwide Assurance (FWA).....................          13,000             1.0            0.33           4,290
    Total.......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............           4,290
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Catherine Howard,
Paperwork Reduction Act Reports Clearance Officer, Office of the 
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-10739 Filed 6-12-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-36-P