[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 46 (Monday, March 10, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13304-13305]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-05077]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[30Day-14-0636]
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
(404) 639-7570 or send an email to [email protected]. Send written comments
to CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC
20503 or by fax to (202) 395-5806. Written comments should be received
within 30 days of this notice.
Proposed Project
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Secure Public
Health Emergency Response Communications Network (Epi-X) (OMB Control
No. 0920-0636, exp. 5/31/2014)--Revision--Office of Public Health
Preparedness and Response (OPHPR), Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
Background and Brief Description
The effectiveness and efficiency of CDC's response to any public
health incident depends on information at the agency's disposal to
characterize and monitor the incident, make timely decisions, and take
appropriate actions to prevent or reduce the impact of the incident.
Available information in anticipation of, during and following
public health incident responses is often incomplete, is not easily
validated by state and local health authorities, and is sometimes
conflicting. This lack of reliable information often creates a high
level of uncertainty with potential negative impacts on public health
response operations. Secure communications with CDC's state, local,
territorial, and tribal public health partners is essential to resolve
conflicting information, validate incident status, and establish and
maintain situational awareness. Reliable, secure communications are
essential for the agency to gain and maintain accurate situational
awareness, make informed decisions, and to respond in the most
appropriate manner possible in order to minimize the impact of an
incident on the public health of the United States.
This generic Information Collection Request (ICR) is being revised
to: (1) Remove verbiage limiting data collection to activation of the
Incident Management Structure, (2) broaden categories under which data
may be collected to increase its utilization, and (3) provide clarity
regarding the data elements.
(Epi-X) is CDC's Web-based communication system for securely
communicating in immediate anticipation of, during and following public
health emergencies that have multi-jurisdictional impacts and
implications. The incidents of September 11, 2001 illustrated the need
for an encrypted and secure communications system that would permit CDC
to communicate urgently with partners at the state and local levels,
and to notify them ``24 hours a day, 7 days a week'', when necessary.
Similarly, Epi-X was specifically designed to provide public health
decision-makers at the state and local levels a secure, reliable tool
for communicating sensitive, unusual, or urgent public health incidents
to neighboring jurisdictions as well as to CDC.
CDC has recognized a need to expand the use of Epi-X to collect
specific response related information in anticipation of, during and
following public health emergencies. Proposed data collection
instruments under this generic ICR will be designed to ensure ready
access to public health and disease epidemiology information.
Authorized officials from state and local health departments
affected by the public health incident will be informed of this data
collection first through an Epi-X Facilitator, who will work closely
with Epi-X program staff and the Epi-X Information Collection Request
Liaison to ensure that Epi-X incident specific information collections
are understood. The survey instruments will contain specific questions
relevant to the current and ongoing public health incident and response
activities.
Respondents will receive the survey instrument(s) as an official
CDC email, which is clearly labeled, ``Epi-X Emergency Public Health
Incident Information Request.'' The email message will be accompanied
by a link to an Epi-X Forum discussion Web page. Respondents can
provide their answers to the survey questions by posting information
within the discussion.
The estimated annual burden to respondents is 24,400 hours. The
total estimated burden for the generic information collection is 73,200
hours for three years.
There are no costs to respondents except their time.
Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Number Average burden
Type of respondent Form name Number of responses per per response
respondents respondent (in hours)
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State Epidemiologists................. Epi-X Emergency Public 50 104 1
Health Incident
Information Request.
County Health Officials............... Epi-X Emergency Public 1,600 12 1
Health Incident
Information Request.
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[[Page 13305]]
Leroy Richardson,
Chief, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific
Integrity, Office of the Associate Director for Science, Office of the
Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2014-05077 Filed 3-7-14; 8:45 am]
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