Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 227 / Monday, November 25, 2024 / Notices 92937 

Jeffrey M. Zirger, 

Lead, Information Collection Review Office, 

Office of Public Health Ethics and 

Regulations, Office of Science, Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention. 

[FR Doc. 2024–27468 Filed 11–22–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[60Day–25–1255; Docket No. CDC–2024– 

0096] 

Proposed Data Collection Submitted 

for Public Comment and 

Recommendations 

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC), Department of Health 

and Human Services (HHS). 

ACTION: Notice with comment period. 

SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention (CDC), 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 Emergency 

Cruise Ship Outbreak Investigations 

(CSOIs). The Vessel Sanitation Program 

(VSP) conducts CSOIs in response to 

acute gastroenteritis (AGE) outbreaks on 

cruise ships within the VSP’s 

jurisdiction. 

DATES: CDC must receive written 

comments on or before January 24, 

2025. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by Docket No. CDC–2024– 

0096 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. CDC 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: 404–639–7570; email: omb@

cdc.gov. 

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 

Emergency Cruise Ship Outbreak 

Investigations (CSOIs (OMB Control No. 

0920–1255, Exp. 3/31/2025)— 

Extension—National Center for 

Environmental Health (NCEH), Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

Established in 1975 as a cooperative 

activity with the cruise ship industry, 

the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) Vessel Sanitation 

Program (VSP) develops and 

implements comprehensive operational 

public health programs to minimize the 

risk of gastrointestinal illness. VSP 

coordinates and conducts public health 

inspections, ongoing surveillance of 

gastrointestinal illness, and outbreak 

investigations on cruise ships. 

Under the authority of the Public 

Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 264 and 

269), VSP is requesting a three-year 

Extension Information Collection 

Request (ICR) for an existing Generic 

Clearance. This ICR will provide for the 

quick turnaround necessary to conduct 

emergency Cruise Ship Outbreak 

Investigations (CSOIs) in response to 

acute gastroenteritis (AGE) outbreaks. 

CSOIs are used to determine causative 

agents and their sources, modes of 

transmission, or risk factors. VSP’s 

jurisdiction includes passenger vessels 

carrying 13 or more people sailing from 

foreign ports and within 15 days of 

arriving at a U.S. port. 

VSP uses its syndromic surveillance 

system called the Maritime Illness and 

Death Reporting System (MIDRS) (OMB 

Control No. 0920–1260, expiration date 

03/31/2026) to collect aggregate data 

about the number of people onboard 

ships in VSP’s jurisdiction who are 

experiencing AGE symptoms. When the 

levels of illness meet VSP’s alert 

threshold (i.e., at least 2% in either the 

passenger or crew populations), a 

special report is made to VSP via 

MIDRS and VSP provides 

environmental health and 

epidemiologic assistance. VSP considers 

an outbreak to be ≥3% of reportable 

AGE cases in either passenger or crew 

populations. 

When a cruise ship has an AGE 

outbreak, VSP often must deploy a 

response team to meet the ship in port 

within 24 hours of reaching the 

outbreak threshold. In some cases, the 

response team must board the ship 

before its U.S. arrival and sail back to 

the U.S. port of disembarkation to 

conduct a more detailed and 

comprehensive epidemiologic and 

environmental health evaluation of the 

outbreak. 

VSP can ascertain a causative agent, 

sources of exposure, modes of 

transmission, and risk factors by 

gathering the following types of 

information from both the affected and 

(seemingly) unaffected populations: 

• Demographic information, 

• Pre-embarkation travel information, 

• Symptoms, including type, onset, 

duration, 

• Contact with people who were sick 

or their body fluids, 


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92938 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 227 / Monday, November 25, 2024 / Notices 

• Participation in ship and onshore 

activities, 

• Locations of eating and drinking, 

and 

• Foods and beverages consumed 

both on the ship and on shore. Rapid 

and flexible data collection is 

imperative given the mobile 

environment, the remaining duration of 

the voyage left for investigation, and the 

loss to follow-up if delays allow 

passengers to disembark and leave the 

ship, including those returning to 

locations outside of the United States. 

This Generic Clearance will cover 

investigations that meet all the 

following criteria: 

• The investigation is urgent in 

nature (i.e., timely data are needed to 

inform rapid public health action to 

prevent or reduce morbidity or 

mortality). 

• The investigation is characterized 

by undetermined agents, undetermined 

sources, undetermined modes of 

transmission, or undetermined risk 

factors. 

• One or more CDC staff (including 

trainees and fellows) will be deployed 

to the field. 

• Data collection is completed in 30 

days or less (most CSOIs involve two to 

five days of data collection). 

This Generic Clearance excludes each 

of the following: 

• Investigations related to non-urgent 

outbreaks or events. 

• Investigations conducted for the 

primary purpose of program evaluation, 

surveillance, needs assessment, or 

research (e.g., to contribute to 

generalizable knowledge). 

• Investigations with data collection 

expected for greater than 30 days. 

VSP estimates 10 CSOIs annually in 

response to cruise ship AGE outbreaks. 

The estimated number of respondents is 

1,300 per CSOI, for a total of 13,000 

respondents per year. The average time 

burden is 15 minutes for each 

respondent. Therefore, the total 

estimated annual burden in hours is 

4,063. There is no cost to respondents 

other than their time. 

Estimated Annualized Burden Hours 

Type of respondents Form name Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Average 

burden per 

response 

(in hours) 

Total burden 

(in hours) 

Cruise ship crew ............................ Self-administered questionnaire .... 3,000 1 15/60 750 

Cruise ship crew ............................ Interview ........................................ 450 1 15/60 113 

Cruise ship crew ............................ Biospecimen collection .................. 300 1 15/60 75 

Cruise ship passenger ................... Self-administered questionnaire .... 10,000 1 15/60 2,500 

Cruise ship passenger ................... Interview ........................................ 1,500 1 15/60 375 

Cruise ship passenger ................... Biospecimen collection .................. 1,000 1 15/60 250 

Total ........................................ ........................................................ ........................ ........................ ........................ 4,063 

Jeffrey M. Zirger, 

Lead, Information Collection Review Office, 

Office of Public Health Ethics and 

Regulations, Office of Science, Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention. 

[FR Doc. 2024–27467 Filed 11–22–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[30Day–25–0792] 

Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork 

Reduction Act Review 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, the Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

has submitted the information 

collection request titled ‘‘Environmental 

Health Specialists Network (EHS-Net) 

Program’’ to the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) for review and 

approval. CDC previously published a 

‘‘Proposed Data Collection Submitted 

for Public Comment and 

Recommendations’’ notice on August 9, 

2024, to obtain comments from the 

public and affected agencies. CDC 

received three comments related to the 

previous notice. This notice serves to 

allow an additional 30 days for public 

and affected agency comments. 

CDC will accept all comments for this 

proposed information collection project. 

The Office of Management and Budget 

is particularly interested in comments 

that: 

(a) 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; 

(b) Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agencies estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; 

(c) Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; 

(d) 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 submission of 

responses; and 

(e) Assess information collection 

costs. 

To request additional information on 

the proposed project or to obtain a copy 

of the information collection plan and 

instruments, call (404) 639–7570. 

Comments and recommendations for the 

proposed information collection should 

be sent within 30 days of publication of 

this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/ 

do/PRAMain. Find this particular 

information collection by selecting 

‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open 

for Public Comments’’ or by using the 

search function. Direct written 

comments and/or suggestions regarding 

the items contained in this notice to the 

Attention: CDC Desk Officer, Office of 

Management and Budget, 725 17th 

Street NW, Washington, DC 20503 or by 

fax to (202) 395–5806. Provide written 

comments within 30 days of notice 

publication. 

Proposed Project 

Environmental Health Specialists 

(EHS-Net) Program (OMB Control 

Number 0920–0792, Exp. 1/31/2025)— 

Revision—National Center for 

Environmental Health (NCEH), Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

The National Center for 

Environmental Health (NCEH), Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC), is requesting a three-year 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

approval for a Revision of this Generic 


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