Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 219 / Tuesday, November 14, 2006 / Notices 66331 

Peachtree Street, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia 

30309: 

1. Whitney Holding Corporation, New 

Orleans, Louisiana; to merge with 

Signature Financial Holdings, Inc., and 

thereby acquire Signature Bank, both of 

St. Petersburg, Florida. 

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System, November 8, 2006. 

Robert deV. Frierson, 

Deputy Secretary of the Board. 

[FR Doc. E6–19200 Filed 11–13–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6210–01–S 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Office of the Secretary 

Notice of Interest Rate on Overdue 

Debts 

Section 30.13 of the Department of 

Health and Human Services’ claims 

collection regulations (45 CFR Part 30) 

provides that the Secretary shall charge 

an annual rate of interest as fixed by the 

Secretary of the Treasury after taking 

into consideration private consumer 

rates of interest prevailing on the date 

that HHS becomes entitled to recovery. 

The rate generally cannot be lower than 

the Department of Treasury’s current 

value of funds rate or the applicable rate 

determined from the ‘‘Schedule of 

Certified Interest Rates with Range of 

Maturities.’’ This rate may be revised 

quarterly by the Secretary of the 

Treasury and shall be published 

quarterly by the Department of Health 

and Human Services in the Federal 

Register. 

The Secretary of the Treasury has 

certified a rate of 123⁄8% for the quarter 

ended September 30, 2006. This interest 

rate will remain in effect until such time 

as the Secretary of the Treasury notifies 

HHS of any change. 

Dated: November 1, 2006. 

Jean Augustine, 

Director, Office of Financial Policy and 

Reporting. 

[FR Doc. 06–9187 Filed 11–13–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4150–04–M 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[30Day–07–06AW] 

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 the CDC Reports Clearance 

Officer at (404) 639–5960 or send an email to omb@cdc.gov. Send written 

comments to CDC Desk Officer, Office of 

Management and Budget, Washington, 

DC or by fax to (202) 395–6974. Written 

comments should be received within 30 

days of this notice. 

Proposed Project 

Supplement to the National Birth 

Defects Prevention Study: Qualitative 

Assessment of the Attitudes Mothers 

Have Toward Collecting Biological 

Specimens on their Infants and Young 

Children to Study Risk Factors for Birth 

Defects and Preterm Delivery—New— 

National Center on Birth Defects and 

Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD), 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

The National Center on Birth Defects 

and Developmental Disabilities 

(NCBDDD), Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention (CDC), has been 

conducting the National Birth Defects 

Prevention Study (OMB number 0920– 

0010, Exp. 5/31/2009) since 1997. The 

NBDPS is a case-control study of major 

birth defects that includes cases 

identified from existing birth defect 

surveillance registries in nine states, 

including metropolitan Atlanta. Control 

infants are randomly selected from birth 

certificates or birth hospital records. 

Mothers of case and control infants are 

interviewed using a computer-assisted 

telephone interview. Parents are asked 

to collect cheek cells from themselves 

and their infants for DNA testing. 

Information gathered from both the 

interviews and the DNA specimens will 

be used to study independent genetic 

and environmental factors as well as 

gene-environment interactions for a 

broad range of carefully classified birth 

defects. 

This proposed supplement to the 

National Birth Defects Prevention Study 

will use qualitative research to provide 

data on the barriers to participation in 

the collection of biological specimens 

by mothers on themselves, their infants, 

and young children. It is costly to 

implement the collection of biological 

specimens into an interview/ 

questionnaire-based study. However, an 

ever-increasing number of studies 

include the examination of 

environmental and genetic interactions 

to help medical and public health 

professionals’ better target appropriate 

interventions. A critical component for 

studies of gene variants is the collection 

of biological specimens. Participation 

and non-participation in the collection 

of biological specimens is not fully 

understood. We will conduct multiple 

well-designed focus groups to assess the 

attitudes of both mothers who 

participated and mothers who did not 

participate in the collection of biological 

specimens to increase the effectiveness 

of these studies. This information will 

be useful to many groups at the CDC 

who are currently collecting biological 

specimens from infants and their 

families but with less than optimal 

response rates and those who are 

working to implement studies that 

include the use of biological specimens. 

Scientists from the National Birth 

Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS) in 

NCBDDD, the Pregnancy Risk 

Assessment Monitoring System 

(PRAMS) in NCCDPHP, and the Office 

of Genomics and Disease Prevention 

(OGDP) have received Collaborative 

Initiative intramural funding to conduct 

focus groups aimed at gaining insight 

into the barriers and motivations 

women have for participating in the 

collection of biological specimens. 

Among the three collaborating Centers 

within the Coordinating Center for 

Health Promotion, NCBDDD’s National 

Birth Defects Prevention Study provides 

a unique opportunity for exploring the 

barriers and motivations toward 

collection of genetic material. This focus 

group project will recruit mothers who 

participated in the maternal interview 

for the National Birth Defects 

Prevention Study (NBDPS). There are no 

costs to the respondents other than their 

time. The total estimated annualized 

burden hours are 214. 


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