2022-00102. 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.

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: [phone]; Email: [e-mail].

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

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

Type of respondents	Form name	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden per response (in hours)	Total burden hours
Maritime Vessel Operator	42 CFR 71.21(a) report of illness or death from ships—Maritime Conveyance Illness or Death Investigation Form Sections 1-4	500	1	10/60	83
Maritime Vessel Operator	42 CFR 71.21(a) report of illness or death from ships—Maritime Conveyance Illness or Death Investigation Form Section 5	100	1	5/60	8
Maritime Vessel Operator	Cumulative Influenza/Influenza-Like Illness (ILI)	3000	1	2/60	100
Maritime Vessel Operator	42 CFR 71.35 Report of death/illness during stay in port (No Form)	5	1	30/60	3
Pilot in command	42 CFR 71.21 (b) Death/Illness reports from aircrafts (No form)	79,500	1	2/60	2,650
Traveler	Airline Travel Illness or Death Investigation and Traveler Follow up Form	79,500	1	15/60	19,875
Traveler	Land Travel Illness or Death Investigation Form	3,000	1	15/60	750
Isolated or Quarantined individuals	42 CFR 71.33 Report by persons in isolation or surveillance (No Form)	11	1	3/60	1
Total					23,467

Jeffrey M. Zirger,

Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific Integrity, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.