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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 227 (Monday, November 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 92938-92939]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-27469]

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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

[[Page 92939]]

Clearance for data collections to support research focused on 
identifying and addressing environmental factors associated with 
foodborne illness outbreaks and other food safety issues. These data 
are essential to environmental public health regulators' efforts to 
respond more effectively to and prevent future outbreaks and food 
safety-associated events.
    An estimated 47.8 million foodborne illnesses occur annually in the 
United States, resulting in 127,839 hospitalizations, and 3,037 deaths 
annually. These figures indicate that foodborne illness is a 
significant problem in the U.S. Reducing foodborne illness requires 
identification and understanding of the environmental factors that 
cause these illnesses. CDC needs to know how and why food becomes 
contaminated with foodborne illness pathogens. This information can 
then be used to determine effective food safety prevention methods. 
Ultimately, these actions can lead to increased regulatory program 
effectiveness and decreased foodborne illness. The purpose of this food 
safety research program is to identify and understand environmental 
factors associated with foodborne illness and outbreaks. This program 
is conducted by the Environmental Health Specialists Network (EHS-Net), 
a collaborative project of CDC, FDA, USDA, and local and state sites.
    Environmental factors associated with foodborne illness include 
both food safety practices (e.g., inadequate cleaning practices) and 
the factors in the environment associated with those practices (e.g., 
worker and retail food establishment characteristics). To understand 
these factors, we need to collect data from those who prepare food 
(i.e., food workers) and on the environments in which the food is 
prepared (i.e., retail food establishment kitchens). Thus, data 
collection methods for this generic package include: (1) manager and 
worker interviews/information collection instruments; and (2) 
observation of kitchen environments. Both methods allow data collection 
on food safety practices and environmental factors associated with 
those practices.
    To date, EHS-Net has conducted six studies under this Generic 
Clearance. The data from these studies have been disseminated to 
environmental public health/food safety regulatory programs and the 
food industry in the form of presentations at conferences and meetings, 
scientific journal publications, and website postings. Data from these 
studies have been presented in 13 articles in peer-reviewed scientific 
journals, in multiple presentations at national food safety 
conferences, and on CDC's website.
    The current package is a Revision of the previous PRA clearance 
from 2021. This package includes the potential for sites to offer 
incentives to participants in EHS-Net data collection activities. This 
will not result in an increased cost to the Federal Government because 
the cost of incentives is included in the existing EHS-Net cooperative 
agreement. The annual cost to the Federal Government has increased by a 
maximum of $614 per year to cover the cost of Spanish translation of 
the manager and worker interview forms by the CDC Multilingual Services 
Team. CDC requests OMB approval for an estimated 844 annual burden 
hours. There is no change in the estimated annualized burden hours from 
the previous PRA Clearance and there is no cost to respondents other 
than their time to participate.

Estimated Annualized Burden Hours

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                                                                                     Number of    Average burden
          Type of respondents                   Form name            Number of     responses per   per response
                                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)
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Retail managers.......................  Manager Telephone                    889               1            3/60
                                         Recruiting Script.
                                        Manager Interview/                   400               1           30/60
                                         Assessment.
                                        Observation.............             400               1           30/60
Retail food workers...................  Worker Recruiting/                 2,000               1            2/60
                                         Informed Consent Script.
                                        Worker Interview/                  2,000               1           10/60
                                         Assessment.
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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. 2024-27469 Filed 11-22-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P
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