2023-13571. Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

AGENCY:

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION:

Notice with comment period.

SUMMARY:

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), 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 continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed information collection project titled APPLETREE Performance Measures. ATSDR will use this data collection to manage the next five-year cooperative agreement program under Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) No. CDC–RFA–TS–23–0001.

DATES:

ATSDR must receive written comments on or before August 28, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. ATSDR–2023–0002 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. ATSDR 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

APPLETREE Performance Measures (OMB Control No. 0923–0057, Exp. 09/30/2023)—Revision—Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

Background and Brief Description

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) seeks to build and sustain the capacity to evaluate exposures to hazardous waste across the country. Releases from hazardous waste sites are a major source of harmful exposures in homes, schools, workplaces, and communities. These exposures are often complex and may be difficult to identify and control. Hazardous waste sites may involve various toxic substances, exposure pathways, and health impacts. ATSDR's primary goal is to keep communities safe from harmful exposures and related diseases. To accomplish this goal, the agency works closely with partnering agencies to evaluate exposures at hazardous waste sites, educate communities, and seek new ways to better protect public health.

ATSDR's Partnership to Promote Local Efforts to Reduce Environmental Exposure (APPLETREE) Program is critical to ATSDR's success in accomplishing its mission in communities nationwide. ATSDR's recipients will use APPLETREE funding to advance ATSDR's primary goal of keeping communities safe from harmful environmental exposures and related diseases. APPLETREE gives recipients the resources to build their capacity to assess and respond to site-specific issues involving human exposure to hazardous substances in the environment. APPLETREE helps recipients identify exposure pathways at specific sites; educate affected communities about site contamination and potential health effects; make recommendations to prevent exposure; review health outcome data to evaluate potential links between site contaminants and community health outcomes. APPLETREE facilitates the implementation of state-level programs to ensure that potential early care and education facilities are in areas free from harmful environmental exposures. Additionally, it motivates the recipients to innovate and implement progressive public health interventions that can prevent exposure to environmental contamination. Due to the local connections and partnerships of APPLETREE recipients, there is an enhancement in community engagement and implementation of recommendations. This program is authorized under Sections 104(i)(15) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986 [42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(15)].

Under the next five-year APPLETREE cooperative agreement NOFO No. CDC–RFA–TS–23–0001), eligible applicants include federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native tribal governments; American Indian/Alaska native tribally designated organizations; political subdivisions of states (in consultation with states); and state and local governments or their bona fide agents. ATSDR technical project officers (TPOs) will assist approximately 30 APPLETREE recipients to address site-specific issues involving human exposure to hazardous substances. Key capacities include identification of human exposure pathways at ATSDR sites, education of affected communities and local health professionals about site contamination and potential health effects; making appropriate recommendations to prevent exposure; reviewing health outcome data to evaluate potential links between site contaminants and community health; and documenting the effects of environmental remediation on health.

This is a Revision Information Collection Request (ICR) titled “APPLETREE Performance Measures,” previously approved under OMB Control No. 0923–0057 (Expiration Date 9/30/2023). ATSDR will continue to collect information related to recipient activities, and the process and outcome performance measures outlined by the cooperative agreement program. Information will be used to monitor progress toward program goals and objectives, and for program quality improvement. Nine forms have been previously approved by OMB under APPLETREE Performance Measures under OMB Control No. 0923–0057. The first three forms were migrated to the new information technology (IT) system called ATSDR's Request Management Service System (ARMSS).

1. ATSDR Health Education Activity (HE) Form: For each environmental health assessment and health education activity conducted at ATSDR sites, APPLETREE Recipients shall quantitatively assess and report efforts to educate community members about site recommendations and health risks using indicators to assess community understanding of site findings about health risks and community understanding of agency recommendations to reduce health risks. This information will be entered into ARMSS for each health education activity at ATSDR sites.

2. ATSDR Technical Assistance Activity (TA) Form: Throughout the budget year, this form will be used to record the routine requests made by the recipients and their program responses. These responses do not evaluate environmental data and do not make health calls but are monitored by ATSDR as part of the recipients' performance.

3. ATSDR Site Impact Assessment (SIA) Form: For each environmental health assessment and health education activity conducted at ATSDR sites, recipients shall estimate and report the number of people protected from exposure to toxic substances at each site where implementation of agency recommendations has taken place and at each childcare center where safe siting guidelines have been implemented. To the extent possible, recipients shall estimate and report the disease burden prevented due to the implementation of site recommendations and safe siting guidelines.

The fourth form is currently being migrated from SharePoint to ARMSS. This transition is currently taking place.

4. ATSDR Success Story Form: Recipients will provide one success story per quarter (four success stories total per year) that highlights the impact of any of their programs. Recipients will report a summary, background, intervention/action taken, and accomplishment/impact for each story. Optionally, they may include a photo or quote.

Recipients will continue to submit the following five forms to ATSDR via email. In the future, these forms will be moved to an electronic system ( e.g., ARMSS or REDCap) to simplify data collection.

5. APPLETREE Annual Performance Report (APR) Template: Recipients will continue to provide an APR each year and at the end of the funding cycle, which summarizes their annual and funding cycle performances, respectively. APRs will be due in December of each year to coincide with the CDC Grants Management annual reports to reduce the overall reporting burden, and the final report will be due at the end of the funding cycle. The purpose of the performance reports will be to assess Partners based on performance measures and evaluation projects. The reports should include a summary of performance measures, results of any evaluation projects, an accompanying narrative of progress and interpretation of results, optional successes, challenges, and an updated work plan. These reports will be entered into a Microsoft Word form.

6. Choose Safe Places for Early Care and Education (CSPECE) Qualitative Narrative Form: Recipients will continue to provide a narrative report of their CSPECE Programs to document descriptive details of their state's landscape, program plan, program implementation, and results that cannot be captured through numbers. Recipients will complete and submit the narrative once a year as a supplement with their APRs in a Microsoft Word form.

7. CSPECE Quantitative Form: Recipients will continue to provide data on their CSPECE Programs to quantify aspects of their program such as children reached, target audiences educated, early care and education programs referred and screened, and recommendations implemented. To supplement their APRs, recipients will complete and submit a Microsoft Excel form once a year as a supplement with their APRs.

In addition to the required annual reporting, at the end of the five-year program, each recipient will report cumulative five-year performance measures for three forms: the APR, the CSPECE Qualitative Narrative Form, and the CSPECE Quantitative Form. This will result in six total responses in a five-year period for each form. The estimated annualized number of required responses is thus rounded to once per year for these three forms, as 6 hours divided by three years equals 1.2 hours per year.

8. ATSDR SoilSHOP Form: SoilSHOPs are not a required activity; however, if conducted, a recipient will need to complete the ATSDR SoilSHOP Form. This form gathers data on the inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes of the event, such as the number of soil samples screened, the number of elevated soil samples, the number of individuals receiving health consultations, and the number of individuals receiving referrals. The form will be submitted to ATSDR via email within three weeks of the SoilSHOP completion.

9. ATSDR Recommendation Follow-up Form: For each environmental health assessment, recipients will provide an update on the status of acceptance and implementation of all recommendations to understand whether and how recommendations have been implemented, and the subsequent impact on communities. Recipients will complete a Microsoft Excel reporting form annually on the anniversary date of the release of each health assessment.

As part of the Revision request, the last form is new.

10. ATSDR Requests for Certified and Non-certified Public Health Assessments and Health Consultations Form: For each environmental health assessment, recipients will provide the request, dates, and triage information and can associate the request with a hazardous waste site. Site scoping and clearance information are completed for about 15% of environmental health assessments that complete ATSDR's clearance process ( i.e., certified). This information will be entered into ARMSS.

ATSDR is seeking a three-year Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) clearance for this Revision ICR. ATSDR will fund 30 recipients. Recipient reporting is required to receive funding under the APPLETREE cooperative agreement. The total annual time burden requested is 269 hours.

Estimated Annualized Burden Hours

Type of respondents	Form name	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden per response (in hrs.)	Total burden (in hours)
APPLETREE Recipients	ATSDR Health Education (HE) Activity Form	30	17	4/60	34
	ATSDR Technical Assistance (TA) Activity Form	30	17	4/60	34
	ATSDR Site Impact Assessment (SIA) Form	30	3	7/60	11
	ATSDR Success Story Form	30	4	30/60	60
	APPLETREE Annual Performance Report (APR) Template	30	1	2	60
	Choose Safe Places for Early Care and Education (CSPECE) Qualitative Narrative Form	30	1	1	30
	CSPECE Quantitative Form	30	1	15/60	8
	ATSDR SoilSHOP Form	10	1	7/60	1
	ATSDR Recommendation Follow-up	30	4	10/60	20
	ATSDR Requests	30	3	7/60	11
Total					269

Jeffrey M. Zirger,

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