2019-13561. Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Administrative Procedures for Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments Categorization

AGENCY:

Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by the Agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Federal Agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on administrative procedures for Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) categorization of certain in vitro diagnostic tests.

DATES:

Submit either electronic or written comments on the collection of information by August 26, 2019.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments as follows. Please note that late, untimely filed comments will not be considered. Electronic comments must be submitted on or before August 26, 2019. The https://www.regulations.gov electronic filing system will accept comments until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time at the end of August 26, 2019. Comments received by mail/hand delivery/courier (for written/paper submissions) will be considered timely if they are postmarked or the delivery service acceptance receipt is on or before that date.

Electronic Submissions

Submit electronic comments in the following way:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted electronically, including attachments, to https://www.regulations.gov will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment does not include any confidential information that you or a third party may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone else's Social Security number, or confidential business information, such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in the body of your comments, that information will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov.
• If you want to submit a comment with confidential information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner detailed (see “Written/Paper Submissions” and “Instructions”).

Written/Paper Submissions

Submit written/paper submissions as follows:

• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier (for written/paper submissions): Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
• For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets Management Staff, FDA will post your comment, as well as any attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, as confidential, if submitted as detailed in “Instructions.”

Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No. FDA-2013-N-0514 for “Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Administrative Procedures for Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments Categorization.” Received comments, those filed in a timely manner (see ADDRESSES), will be placed in the docket and, except for those submitted as “Confidential Submissions,” publicly viewable at https://www.regulations.gov or at the Dockets Management Staff between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

• Confidential Submissions—To submit a comment with confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states “THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.” The Agency will review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in its consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be available for public viewing and posted on https://www.regulations.gov. Submit both copies to the Dockets Management Staff. If you do not wish your name and contact information to be made publicly available, you can provide this information on the cover sheet and not in the body of your comments and you must identify this information as “confidential.” Any information marked as “confidential” will not be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other applicable disclosure law. For more information about FDA's posting of comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or access the information at: https://www.gpo.gov/​fdsys/​pkg/​FR-2015-09-18/​pdf/​2015-23389.pdf.

Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https://www.regulations .gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in the heading of this document, into the “Search” box and follow the prompts and/or go to the Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Amber Sanford, Office of Operations, Food and Drug Administration, Three White Flint North, 10A-12M, 11601 Landsdown St., North Bethesda, MD 20852, 301-796-8867, [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the 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. “Collection of information” is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) and includes Agency requests or requirements that members of the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) requires Federal Agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, FDA is publishing notice of the proposed collection of information set forth in this document.

With respect to the following collection of information, FDA invites comments on these topics: (1) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of FDA's functions, including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of FDA's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques, when appropriate, and other forms of information technology.

Administrative Procedures for CLIA Categorization—42 CFR 493.17

OMB Control Number 0910-0607—Extension

FDA's “Guidance for Administrative Procedures for CLIA Categorization” ^[1] describes procedures FDA uses to assign the complexity category to a device, which affects what type of CLIA certificate the laboratory obtains. Typically, FDA assigns complexity categorizations to devices at the time of clearance or approval of the device. In some cases, however, a manufacturer may request CLIA categorization even if FDA is not simultaneously reviewing a 510(k) or PMA. One example is when a manufacturer requests that FDA assign CLIA categorization to a previously cleared device that has changed names since the original CLIA categorization. Another example is when a device is exempt from premarket review. In such cases, the guidance recommends that manufacturers provide FDA with a copy of the package insert for the device and a cover letter indicating why the manufacturer is requesting a categorization (e.g., name change, exempt from 510(k) review). The guidance recommends that in the correspondence to FDA the manufacturer should identify the product code and classification as well as reference to the original 510(k) when this is available.

FDA estimates the burden of this collection of information as follows:

Table 1—Estimated Annual Reporting Burden ¹

Activity	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Total annual responses	Average burden per response	Total hours	Total operating and maintenance costs
Request for CLIA categorization	80	5	400	1	400	$2,000
1 There are no capital costs associated with this collection of information.

Based on recent receipt data for requests for CLIA categorization separate from a product application, the number of respondents is approximately 80. On average, each respondent requests such categorizations five times per year.

The cost, not including personnel, is estimated at $5 per submission (5 × 400), totaling $2,000. This includes the cost of copying and mailing copies of package inserts and a cover letter. The burden hours are based on FDA familiarity with the types of documentation typically included in a sponsor's categorization requests, and costs for basic office supplies (e.g., paper). Upon review of this information collection, we have adjusted the estimated cost per submission (previously $52). Because the submissions are typically only a few pages per package insert and copying or printing and postage for a few pages is not expected to be more than $5, we believe this is a more appropriate cost burden estimate.

Our estimated burden for the information collection reflects an overall decrease of 500 hours. We attribute this adjustment to a decrease in the number of submissions we received over the last few years. Also, upon review of this information collection, we believe the previous estimate may have included requests for categorization associated with a premarket submission, the burden estimate of which is included under the OMB approval for the applicable premarket submission. We have therefore revised the number of respondents/responses to include only those that are separate from a product application, consistent with the scope of this information collection.

Dated: June 20, 2019.

Lowell J. Schiller,

Principal Associate Commissioner for Policy.

Footnotes

1.  Available at https://www.fda.gov/​media/​71065/​download.