E8-24587. Request for Public Comment: 30-Day Proposed Information Collection: Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program

Note:

The purpose of this second announcement is to provide another opportunity for public comment. The previous Federal Register notice was published on August 19, 2008, FR Doc. E8-19053.

AGENCY:

Indian Health Service, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 which requires 30 days for public comment on proposed information collection projects, the Indian Health Service (IHS) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve the information collection listed below. This proposed information collection project was previously published in the Federal Register (73 FR 29520) on May 21, 2008 and allowed 60 days for public comment. No public comment was received in response to the notice. The purpose of this notice is to allow 30 days for public comment to be submitted directly to OMB.

Proposed Collection: Title: 0917-0014, “Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program.” Type of Information Collection Request: Extension, without revision, of currently approved information collection, 0917-0014, “Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program.” Form Number(s): The IHS Loan Repayment Program Information Booklet contains the instructions and the application formats. Need and Use of Information Collection: The IHS Loan Repayment Program (LRP) identifies health professionals with pre-existing financial obligations for education expenses that meet program criteria and who are qualified and willing to serve at, often remote, IHS health care facilities. Under the program, eligible health professionals sign a contract under which the IHS agrees to repay part or all of their indebtedness for professional training education. In exchange, the health professionals agree to serve for a specified period of time in IHS health care facilities. This program is necessary to augment the critically low health professional staff at IHS health care facilities.

Any health professional wishing to have their health education loans repaid may apply to the IHS Loan Repayment Program. A two-year contract obligation is signed by both parties, and the individual agrees to work at an IHS location and provide health services to Native American and Alaska Native individuals.

The information collected from individuals is analyzed and a score is given to each applicant. This score will determine which applicants will be awarded each fiscal year. The administrative scoring system assigns a score to the geographic location according to vacancy rates for that fiscal year and also considers whether the location is in an isolated area. When an applicant takes employment at a location, they in turn “pick-up” the score of that location. Affected Public: Individuals and households. Type of Respondents: Individuals.

The table below provides: Types of data collection instruments, Estimated number of respondents, Number of responses per respondent, Annual number of responses, Average burden hour per response, and Total annual burden hour(s).

Estimated Burden Hours

Data collection instrument	Estimated number of respondents	Responses per respondent	Average burden hour per response	Total annual burden
Section I	510	1	18/60	153.0
Section II	510	1	30/60	255.0
Section III	510	4	15/60	128.0
Contract	510	1	20/60	170.0
Affidavit	510	1	10/60	85.0
Lender's Certification	2,000		15/60	500.0
Total	4,550			1,291.0

There are no Capital Costs, Operating Costs, and/or Maintenance Costs to report.

Request for Comments: Your written comments and/or suggestions are invited on one or more of the following points: (a) Whether the information collection activity is necessary to carry out an agency function; (b) whether the agency processes the information collected in a useful and timely fashion; (c) the accuracy of the public burden estimate (the estimated amount of time needed for individual respondents to provide the requested information); (d) whether the methodology and assumptions used to determine the estimates are logical; (e) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information being collected; and (f) ways to minimize the public burden through the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

Direct Comments to OMB: Send your written comments and suggestions regarding the proposed information collection contained in this notice, especially regarding the estimated public burden and associated response time to: Office of Management and Budget, Office of Regulatory Affairs, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503, Attention: Desk Officer for IHS.

To request more information on the proposed collection or to obtain a copy of the data collection instrument(s) and/or instruction(s) contact: Ms. Janet Ingersoll, FOIA Coordinator, 12300 Twinbrook Parkway, Suite 450, Rockville, MD 20852-1601; call non-toll free [phone]; send via facsimile to [phone]; or send your e-mail requests, comments, and return address to: [e-mail].

Comment Due Date: Comments regarding this information collection are best assured of having full effect if received within 30 days of the date of this publication.

Dated: October 8, 2008.

Robert G. McSwain,

Director, Indian Health Service.