03-8044. Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a list of information collection requests under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call the CDC Reports Clearance Officer at [phone]. Send written comments to CDC, Desk Officer, Human Resources and Housing Branch, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503. Written comments should be received within 30 days of this notice.

Proposed Project: National Coal Workers' Autopsy Study (NCWAS) Consent Release and History Form 0920-0021—Extension—National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Background

Under the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1977, Pub. L. 91-173 (amended the Federal Coal Mine and Safety Act of 1969), the Public Health Service has developed a nationwide autopsy program (NCWAS) for underground coal miners. The NCWAS is a service program to aid surviving relatives in establishing eligibility for black lung compensation. The Consent Release and History Form is primarily used to obtain written authorization from the next-of-kin to perform an autopsy on the deceased miner. Because a basic reason for the post-mortem examination is research (both epidemiological and clinical), a minimum of essential information is collected regarding the deceased miners, including occupational history and smoking history. The data collected will be used by the staff at NIOSH for research purposes in defining the diagnostic criteria for coal workers' pneumoconiosis (black lung) and pathologic changes that will be correlated with x-ray findings.

It is estimated that only 5 minutes is required for the pathologist to put a statement on the invoice affirming that no other compensation is received for the autopsy. From past experience, it is estimated that 15 minutes is required for the next-of-kin to complete the Consent Release and History Form. Since an autopsy report is routinely completed by a pathologist, the only additional burden is the specific request of abstraction of the terminal illness and final diagnosis relating to pneumoconiosis. Therefore, only 5 minutes of additional burden is estimated for the autopsy report. The annual burden for this data collection is 21 hours, a decrease of 41 hours.

Respondents	Number of respondents	Number of responses/respondent	Average burden/response (in hrs.)
Pathologist Invoice	50	1	5/60
Pathologist Report	50	1	5/60
Next-of-Kin	50	1	15/60

Dated: March 27, 2003.

Thomas Bartenfeld,

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