2023-12938. 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 information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed information collection project titled Healthcare Outbreak Prevention and Response Curriculum for Public Health Departments. This data collection will allow CDC to evaluate whether the CDC-developed trainings are reaching the intended audience and achieving the intended goal of strengthening public health workforce capacity to prevent and respond to Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antibiotic Resistance (HAI/AR) outbreaks.

DATES:

CDC must receive written comments on or before August 15, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC–2023–0048 by either of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.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 H21–8, Atlanta, Georgia 30329.

Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name and Docket Number. CDC will post, without change, all relevant comments to www.regulations.gov.

Please note: Submit all comments through the Federal eRulemaking portal ( www.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 H21–8, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; Telephone: [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;

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; and

5. Assess information collection costs.

Proposed Project

Healthcare Response and Prevention Training Curriculum for Health Departments—New—National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Disease (NCEZID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

CDC funds Healthcare-Associated Infection and Antibiotic Resistance (HAI/AR) programs in 64 state, local and territorial health departments. Funding is awarded through the Epidemiology and Laboratory cooperative agreements (ELC), and is intended to provide critical resources to recipients in support of a broad range of healthcare infection prevention and control and epidemiologic surveillance activities to detect, monitor, mitigate, and prevent the spread of HAI/AR in healthcare settings.

HAI/AR programs have experienced an increase in program size and scope through COVID–19 supplemental funds. To better support the growing programs, CDC has developed high-priority trainings requested by the health department programs with the goal of strengthening public health workforce capacity to prevent and respond to HAI/AR outbreaks in healthcare settings, including preventing the spread of SARS-CoV–2. The proposed training evaluation will be used to assess whether the CDC-developed trainings are reaching the intended audience and achieving the intended goal of strengthening public health workforce capacity to prevent and respond to HAI/AR outbreaks, including COVID–19, at the individual trainee and program level.

CDC requests OMB approval for an estimated 316 annual burden hours. There is no cost to respondents other than their time to participate.

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 hours
Public Health Trainees	Registration	600	2	5/60	100
Public Health Trainees	Pre-test	600	2	5/60	100
Public Health Trainees	Post-test	600	2	5/60	100
HAI/AR Program Leads	Public Health program impact of trainings	64	1	15/60	16
Total					316

Jeffrey M. Zirger,

Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Public Health Ethics and Regulations, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.