2018-26351. 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 National Surveillance of Community Water Systems and Corresponding Populations with the Recommended Fluoridation Level. This surveillance collects the fluoridation status of the nation's approximately 52,000 community water systems (CWS) which serve the 50 states and the District of Columbia. It also collects fluoride level testing data for those CWS which adjust naturally occurring fluoride levels. The data are analyzed and published to inform the public and to support state and local governments' efforts to monitor community water fluoridation levels relative to the US Public Health Service recommended level to prevent tooth decay.

DATES:

CDC must receive written comments on or before February 4, 2019.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2018-0108 by any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Jeffrey M. Zirger, Acting Lead, 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; 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

National Surveillance of Community Water Systems and Corresponding Populations with the Recommended Fluoridation Level—Existing Collection in use without an OMB Control Number—National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

Dental caries is one of the most common chronic diseases throughout the lifespan in the United States, and disproportionately affects populations with low socioeconomic status, and racial and ethnic minority populations. Dental caries can lead to infection and diminished quality of life, and cause substantial societal cost due to absence from school and work, as well as expensive treatments.

Naturally occurring fluoride is found in all surface and ground water sources, but typically is lower than the recommended concentration needed to prevent dental caries (tooth decay). Community water fluoridation is the process of adjusting the fluoride concentration of a community water system (CWS) to the level beneficial for prevention of dental caries as recommended by the US Public Health Service (PHS). CDC monitors CWS fluoride levels relative to the PHS recommended level under the Public Health Service Act. In 2000, CDC launched a Web-based data management tool—Water Fluoridation Reporting Systems (WFRS) in collaboration with the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors. States may report their information to CDC using WFRS or via email.

Respondents to the information collection are state fluoridation managers or other state government officials designated by the state dental director or drinking water administrator. State participation in the data collection is voluntary. Respondents are asked to update fluoridation status of, and counties and populations served by, each CWS in their state annually. All 50 states respond to this portion of the collection. Washington DC is not included in the data collection because water is supplied by a CWS from Virginia and therefore Virginia will collect data. Historically collected natural fluoride concentrations are available in WFRS for all CWS; once collected, they rarely change over time. Respondents also are asked to enter the high, low, and average fluoride testing level data annually for each month for their fluoride-adjusted CWS. Currently, two-thirds of the states respond to this portion of the collection.

CDC analyzes and publishes results through interactive, public-facing web pages: (1) Biennial surveillance reports documenting the percentage of the population with fluoridated water at national, state, and local levels; and (2) My Water's Fluoride, which publishes the fluoridation status of individual CWS and some fluoride level data for states which choose to display it. CDC uses the information collection to (1) provide national fluoridation surveillance reports; (2) assist states manage their fluoride level data and monitor and improve quality of community water fluoridation programs; (3) measure national performance toward the fluoridation Healthy People objective; (4) evaluate outcomes of CDC's cooperative agreements with states; (5) facilitate creation of state-specific reports for states' programmatic and policy use. The information collection is also used to inform health care providers to determine targeted delivery of preventive care, for example, determining use of fluoride supplements for children living in fluoride-deficient areas.

CDC's collection of CWS data is not duplicative of any other federal collection, including the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), as SDWIS receives state reports of CWS fluoride levels that exceed 4 mg/L but not those near the beneficial level of 0.7 mg/L recommended for dental caries prevention by the PHS. Thus, CDC's system is required to assess the degree to which the nation is reaching this PHS-recommended level.

The total estimated annualized burden hours are 2,824, including (1) 1,900 hours for the validation or update of CWS fluoridation status and population served from 50 respondents, with estimated average burden hours of 38 per respondent; and (2) 924 hours for the annual entry of fluoride testing level data for fluoride-adjusted CWS conducted by 33 respondents with an estimated average burden of 28 hours per respondent. WFRS will be hosted and maintaineded by CDC. There are no maintenance costs to respondents, and 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 (in hours)
State Official	Fluoridation status and population	50	1	38	1,900
State Official	Fluoride testing data	33	1	28	924
Total					2,824

Jeffrey M. Zirger,

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