2013-05821. 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 [phone], or send an email to [e-mail]. Send written comments to CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC or by fax to [phone]. Written comments should be received within 30 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

Application for Training (OMB No. 0920-0017, Expiration 03/31/2013)—Revision—Scientific Education and Professional Development Program Office (SEPDPO), Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Services (OSELS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

CDC offers public health training activities to professionals worldwide. Employees of hospitals, universities, medical centers, laboratories, state and federal agencies, and state and local health departments apply for training to learn up-to-date public health practices. CDC's training activities include laboratory training, classroom study, online training, and distance learning. CDC uses two training application forms, the Training and Continuing Education Online New Participant Registration Form and the National Laboratory Training Network Registration Form, to collect information necessary to manage and conduct training pertinent to the agency's mission.

CDC requests OMB approval to continue to collect information through these forms to (1) grant public health professionals the continuing education they need to maintain professional licenses and certifications, (2) create a transcript or summary of training at the participant's request, (3) generate management reports, and (4) maintain training statistics; and a revision that will allow CDC to comply with new continuing education accreditation organization requirements for collection of additional profession-specific data.

Accrediting organizations require a method of tracking participants who complete an educational activity; collecting demographic data allows CDC to meet this requirement. Several accrediting organizations require a permanent record that includes the participant's name, address, and phone number, to facilitate retrieval of historical information about when a participant completed a course or several courses during a time period. This information provides the basis for a transcript or for determining whether a person is enrolled in more than one course. CDC uses the email address to verify the participant's electronic request for transcripts, verify course certificates, and send confirmation that a participant is registered for a course.

Tracking course attendance and meeting accrediting organizations' standards for reporting require uniform and standardized training application forms. The standardized data these forms request for laboratory training, classroom study, online training, and distance learning are not requested elsewhere. These forms do not duplicate requests for information from participants. Data are collected only once per course or once per new registration. The annual burden table has been updated to reflect an increase in distance learning to 6,792 burden hours; that is an average burden of 5 minutes per respondent. There is no cost to respondents other than their time.

Estimated Annualized Burden Hours

Type of respondent	Form name	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden per response (hours)
Health Professionals	Training and Continuing Education Online New Participant Registration Form (Attachment 4)	75,000	1	5/60
Laboratorians	National Laboratory Training Network Registration Form (Attachment 3)	6,500	1	5/60

Dated: March 7, 2013.

Ron A. Otten,

Director, Office of Scientific Integrity, Office of the Associate Director for Science, Office of the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.