2013-18310. Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Public Comment Request

AGENCY:

Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects (Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announces plans to submit an Information Collection Request (ICR), described below, to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Prior to submitting the ICR to OMB, HRSA seeks comments from the public regarding the burden estimate below, or any other aspect of the ICR.

DATES:

Comments on this Information Collection Request must be received within 60 days of this notice.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments to [e-mail] or mail the HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer, Room 10-29, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request more information on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and draft instruments, email [e-mail] or call the HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

When submitting comments or requesting information, please include the information request collection title for reference.

Information Collection Request Title: Nurse Anesthetist Traineeship (NAT) Program Application.

OMB No. 0915-XXXX—New.

Abstract: The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) provides advanced education nursing training grants to educational institutions to increase the numbers of Nurse Anesthetists through the NAT Program. The NAT Program is governed by Title VIII, Section 811(a)(2) of the Public Health Service Act, (42 U.S.C. 296j(a)(2)), as amended by Section 5308 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148. The NAT application will use the SF-424 R&R Short Form which includes the Project Abstract, Program Narrative, NAT Attachments and the NAT Tables. The application and proposed NAT Tables will request information on program participants such as the number of enrollees, number of enrollees/trainees supported, number of graduates, number of graduates supported, projected data on enrollees/trainees and graduates for the previous fiscal year, the types of programs they are enrolling into and/or from which enrollees/trainees are graduating, and the distribution of Nurse Anesthetists to practice in underserved, rural, or public health practice settings.

Need and Proposed Use of the Information: Funds appropriated for the NAT Program are distributed among eligible institutions based on a formula. NAT award amounts are based on enrollment and graduate data and two funding factors (Statutory Funding Preference and Special Consideration) reported on the NAT Tables. HRSA will use the data from the application, specifically the NAT Tables to determine the award, ensure programmatic compliance, and provide information to the public and Congress.

Likely Respondents: Eligible applicants are schools of nursing, nursing centers, academic health centers, state or local governments, and other public or private nonprofit entities determined appropriate by the Secretary that submit an application and are accredited for the provision of nurse anesthesia educational program by designated accrediting organizations. Eligible applicants must be accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA) of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. The school must be located in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the Republic of Palau.

Burden Statement: Burden in this context means the time expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide the information requested. This includes the time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of information; to search data sources; to complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the information. The total annual burden hours estimated for this Information Collection Request are summarized in the table below.

Total Estimated Annualized burden hours:

Form name	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Total responses	Average burden per response (in hours)	Total burden hours
NAT Application including the NAT Attachments and NAT Tables	100	1	100	6	600
Total	100	1	100	6	600

HRSA specifically requests comments on (1) the necessity and utility of the proposed information collection for the proper performance of the agency's functions, (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden, (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected, and (4) the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden.

Dated: July 24, 2013.

Bahar Niakan,

Director, Division of Policy and Information Coordination.