2019-24006. 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 Airline and Traveler Information Collection: Domestic Manifests and the Passenger Locator Form that enables CDC to collect contact information and facilitate public health follow-up of at-risk travelers in the event a sick person is confirmed on board an aircraft.

DATES:

CDC must receive written comments on or before January 3, 2020.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2019-0100 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, of the 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; and

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.

5. Assess information collection costs.

Proposed Project

Airline and Traveler Information Collection: Domestic Manifests and the Passenger Locator Form (OMB Control No. 0920-1181, Exp. 05/31/2020)—Revision—Division of Global Migration and Quarantine (DGMQ), National Center for Emerging Zoonotic and Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

Stopping a communicable disease outbreak—whether it is naturally occurring or intentionally caused—requires the use of the most rapid and effective public health tools available. Basic public health practices, such as collaborating with airlines in the identification and notification of potentially exposed contacts, are critical tools in the fight against the introduction, transmission, and spread of communicable diseases in the United States.

The collection of timely, accurate, and complete contact information enables Quarantine Public Health Officers in CDC's Division of Global Migration and Quarantine (DGMQ) to notify state and local health departments in order for them to make contact with individuals who may have been exposed to a contagious person during travel and identify appropriate next steps. In order to collect this contact information, (i.e., a manifest), CDC is seeking approval for domestic airline and traveler information orders under current authorities in 42 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 70.10. This activity is already current practice.

CDC also requests continued approval to use the Passenger Locator Form (PLF) for the collection of traveler information from individuals on domestic flights and international flights under 42 CFR 70.10 and 42 CFR 71.20, respectively. The PLF, a form developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in concert with its international member states and other aviation organizations, is used when there is a confirmation or strong suspicion that an individual(s) aboard a flight is infected with or exposed to a communicable disease that is a threat to co-travelers, and CDC is made aware of the individual(s) prior to arrival in the United States. This prior awareness can provide CDC with an opportunity to collect traveler contact information directly from the traveler prior to departure from the arrival airport.

CDC estimates that for each set of airline and traveler information ordered, airlines require approximately six hours to review the order, search their records, and send those records to CDC. CDC anticipates that travelers will need approximately five minutes to complete the PLF. There is no cost to respondents other than their time perform these actions. For manifest information, CDC does not have a specified format for these submissions, only that it is one acceptable to both CDC and the respondent.

Estimated Annualized Burden Hours

Type of respondent	Form name	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden per response (in hours)	Total burden (in hours)
Airline Medical Officer or Equivalent/Computer and Information Systems Manager	Domestic TB Manifest Template or Informal Manifest Request	2	1	360/60	12
Airline Medical Officer or Equivalent/Computer and Information Systems Manager	Domestic Non-TB Manifest Template or Informal Manifest Request	48	1	360/60	288
Traveler	Public Health Passenger Locator Form: Outbreak of public health significance* (international flights)	2,700,000	1	5/60	225,000
Traveler	Public Health Passenger Locator Form: Limited onboard exposure † (international flights)	800	1	5/60	67
Traveler	Public Health Passenger Locator Form (domestic flights)	800	1	5/60	67
Total					225,434

Jeffrey M. Zirger,

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