02-32657. Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

In compliance with the requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects. To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and instruments, call the CDC Reports Clearance Officer on [phone].

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Send comments to Anne O'Connor, CDC Assistant Reports Clearance Officer, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D24, Atlanta, GA 30333. Written comments should be received within 60 days of this notice.

Proposed Project: National Program of Cancer Registries—Cancer Surveillance System 0920-0469—Extension—National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The American Cancer Society estimates that about 1.2 million Americans will be newly diagnosed with cancer and that about 8.2 million Americans are currently alive with a history of cancer. The National Institutes of Health estimates the cost of cancer is about $172 billion including ($61 billion) direct costs to treat cancer and ($111 billion) indirect costs in lost productivity due to illness and premature death.

In 2000, CDC implemented the National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR)—Cancer Surveillance System (CSS) to collect, evaluate and disseminate cancer incidence data collected by population-based cancer registries. In 2002, CDC published United States Cancer Statistics—1999 Incidence which provided cancer statistics for 78% of the United States population from all cancer registries whose data met national data standards. Prior to this, at the national level, cancer incidence data were available for only 14% of the population of the United States.

With this expanded coverage of the U.S. population, it will now be possible to better describe geographic variation in cancer incidence throughout the country and provide incidence data on minority populations and rare cancers to further plan and evaluate state and national cancer control and prevention efforts.

Therefore, the CDC's NCCDPHP, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, proposes to continue to aggregate existing cancer incidence data from states funded by the National Program of Cancer Registries into a national surveillance system.

These data are already collected and aggregated at the state level. Thus the additional burden on the states is small. Funded states are asked to continue to report data to CDC on an annual basis twelve months after the close of a diagnosis year and again at twenty-four months to obtain more complete incidence data and vital status from mortality data. The estimated annualized cost to respondents is $885,000.

Respondents	No. of respondents	No. of responses/respondent	Average burden/ response (in hours)	Total burden (in hours)
State, Territorial, and District of Columbia Cancer Registries	63	1	2	126
Total				126

Dated: December 20, 2002.

Nancy E. Cheal,

Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.