Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 14 / Thursday, January 22, 2015 / Notices 3237 

the Department of Health and Human 

Services to update the poverty 

guidelines at least annually, adjusting 

them on the basis of the Consumer Price 

Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI–U). 

The poverty guidelines are used as an 

eligibility criterion by the Community 

Services Block Grant program and a 

number of other Federal programs. The 

poverty guidelines issued here are a 

simplified version of the poverty 

thresholds that the Census Bureau uses 

to prepare its estimates of the number of 

individuals and families in poverty. 

As required by law, this update is 

accomplished by increasing the latest 

published Census Bureau poverty 

thresholds by the relevant percentage 

change in the Consumer Price Index for 

All Urban Consumers (CPI–U). The 

guidelines in this 2015 notice reflect the 

1.6 percent price increase between 

calendar years 2013 and 2014. After this 

inflation adjustment, the guidelines are 

rounded and adjusted to standardize the 

differences between family sizes. The 

same calculation procedure was used 

this year as in previous years. (Note that 

these 2015 guidelines are roughly equal 

to the poverty thresholds for calendar 

year 2014 which the Census Bureau 

expects to publish in final form in 

September 2015.) 

The poverty guidelines continue to be 

derived from the Census Bureau’s 

current official poverty thresholds; they 

are not derived from the Census 

Bureau’s new Supplemental Poverty 

Measure (SPM). 

The following guideline figures 

represent annual income. 

2015 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR THE

48 CONTIGUOUS STATES AND THE

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Persons in family/household Poverty 

guideline 

1 ............................................ $11,770 

2 ............................................ 15,930 

3 ............................................ 20,090 

4 ............................................ 24,250 

5 ............................................ 28,410 

6 ............................................ 32,570 

7 ............................................ 36,730 

8 ............................................ 40,890 

For families/households with more than 8 

persons, add $4,160 for each additional 

person. 

2015 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR

ALASKA

Persons in family/household Poverty 

guideline 

1 ............................................ $14,720 

2 ............................................ 19,920 

3 ............................................ 25,120 

2015 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR

ALASKA—Continued 

Persons in family/household Poverty 

guideline 

4 ............................................ 30,320 

5 ............................................ 35,520 

6 ............................................ 40,720 

7 ............................................ 45,920 

8 ............................................ 51,120 

For families/households with more than 8 

persons, add $5,200 for each additional 

person. 

2015 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR

HAWAII

Persons in family/household Poverty 

guideline 

1 ............................................ $13,550 

2 ............................................ 18,330 

3 ............................................ 23,110 

4 ............................................ 27,890 

5 ............................................ 32,670 

6 ............................................ 37,450 

7 ............................................ 42,230 

8 ............................................ 47,010 

For families/households with more than 8 

persons, add $4,780 for each additional 

person. 

Separate poverty guideline figures for 

Alaska and Hawaii reflect Office of 

Economic Opportunity administrative 

practice beginning in the 1966–1970 

period. (Note that the Census Bureau 

poverty thresholds—the version of the 

poverty measure used for statistical 

purposes—have never had separate 

figures for Alaska and Hawaii.) The 

poverty guidelines are not defined for 

Puerto Rico or other outlying 

jurisdictions. In cases in which a 

Federal program using the poverty 

guidelines serves any of those 

jurisdictions, the Federal office that 

administers the program is generally 

responsible for deciding whether to use 

the contiguous-states-and-DC guidelines 

for those jurisdictions or to follow some 

other procedure. 

Due to confusing legislative language 

dating back to 1972, the poverty 

guidelines sometimes have been 

mistakenly referred to as the ‘‘OMB’’ 

(Office of Management and Budget) 

poverty guidelines or poverty line. In 

fact, OMB has never issued the 

guidelines; the guidelines are issued 

each year by the Department of Health 

and Human Services. The poverty 

guidelines may be formally referenced 

as ‘‘the poverty guidelines updated 

periodically in the Federal Register by 

the U.S. Department of Health and 

Human Services under the authority of 

42 U.S.C. 9902(2).’’ 

Some federal programs use a 

percentage multiple of the guidelines 

(for example, 125 percent or 185 percent 

of the guidelines), as noted in relevant 

authorizing legislation or program 

regulations. Non-Federal organizations 

that use the poverty guidelines under 

their own authority in non-Federallyfunded activities also may choose to use 

a percentage multiple of the guidelines. 

The poverty guidelines do not make a 

distinction between farm and non-farm 

families, or between aged and non-aged 

units. (Only the Census Bureau poverty 

thresholds have separate figures for aged 

and non-aged one-person and twoperson units.) 

Note that this notice does not provide 

definitions of such terms as ‘‘income’’ or 

‘‘family,’’ because there is considerable 

variation in defining these terms among 

the different programs that use the 

guidelines. These variations are 

traceable to the different laws and 

regulations that govern the various 

programs. This means that questions 

such as ‘‘Is income counted before or 

after taxes?’’, ‘‘Should a particular type 

of income be counted?’’, and ‘‘Should a 

particular person be counted as a 

member of the family/household?’’ are 

actually questions about how a specific 

program applies the poverty guidelines. 

All such questions about how a specific 

program applies the guidelines should 

be directed to the entity that administers 

or funds the program, since that entity 

has the responsibility for defining such 

terms as ‘‘income’’ or ‘‘family,’’ to the 

extent that these terms are not already 

defined for the program in legislation or 

regulations. 

Dated: January 16, 2015. 

Sylvia M. Burwell, 

Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

[FR Doc. 2015–01120 Filed 1–21–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4150–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[60Day–15–15KX] 

Proposed Data Collections Submitted 

for Public Comment and 

Recommendations 

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 to take this opportunity to 

comment on proposed and/or 

continuing information collections, as 

required by the Paperwork Reduction 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
3238 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 14 / Thursday, January 22, 2015 / Notices 

Act of 1995. To request more 

information on the below proposed 

project or to obtain a copy of the 

information collection plan and 

instruments, call 404–639–7570 or send 

comments to Leroy A. Richardson, 1600 

Clifton Road, MS–D74, Atlanta, GA 

30333 or send an email to omb@cdc.gov. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and/or 

included in the request for Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

approval. Comments are invited on: 

(a) Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information shall have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate 

of the burden of the proposed collection 

of information; (c) ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; (d) ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on respondents, including 

through the use of automated collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology; and (e) estimates of capital 

or start-up costs and costs of operation, 

maintenance, and purchase of services 

to provide information. Burden means 

the total time, effort, or financial 

resources expended by persons to 

generate, maintain, retain, disclose or 

provide information to or for a Federal 

agency. 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. Written comments should 

be received within 60 days of this 

notice. 

Proposed Project 

Assessing Community-Based 

Organizations’ Partnerships with 

Schools for the Prevention of HIV/

STDs—New—Division of Adolescent 

and School Health (DASH), National 

Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, 

STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

HIV infections remain high among 

young men who have sex with men 

(YMSM). The estimated number of new 

HIV infections increased between 2008 

and 2010 both overall and among MSM 

ages 13 to 24. Furthermore, sexual risk 

behaviors associated with HIV, other 

sexually transmitted disease (STD), and 

pregnancy often emerge in adolescence. 

For example, 2011 Youth Risk Behavior 

Surveillance System (YRBSS) data 

revealed 47.4% of U.S. high school 

students reported having had sex, and 

among those who had sex in the 

previous three months, 39.8% reported 

having not used a condom during last 

sexual intercourse. In addition, 2001– 

2009 YRBSS data revealed high school 

students identifying as gay, lesbian, and 

bisexual and those reporting sexual 

contact with both males and females 

were more likely to engage in sexual 

risk-taking behaviors than heterosexual 

students. 

Given the disproportionate risk for 

HIV among YMSM ages 13–24, it is 

important to find ways to reach the 

younger youth (i.e., ages 13–19) in this 

range to decrease sexual risk behaviors 

and increase health-promoting 

behaviors such as routine HIV testing. 

Schools provide one opportunity for 

this. Because schools enroll more than 

22 million teens (ages 14–19) and often 

have existing health and social services 

infrastructure, schools and their staff 

members are well-positioned to connect 

youth to a wide range of needed 

services, including housing assistance, 

support groups, and sexual health 

services such as HIV testing. As a result, 

CDC’s DASH has focused a number of 

HIV and STD prevention efforts on 

strategies that can be implemented in or 

centered on schools. 

However, conducting HIV and STD 

prevention work (particularly work that 

is designed to specifically meet the 

needs of YMSM), can be challenging. 

School is not always a welcoming 

environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, 

transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) 

youth. Harassment, bullying, and verbal 

and physical assault are often reported, 

and such unsupportive environments 

and victimization among LGBT youth 

are associated with a variety of negative 

outcomes, including truancy, substance 

use, poor mental health, HIV and STD 

risk, and even suicide. Schools build 

partnerships with community-based 

organizations to increase access to 

needed services of LGBTQ youth. 

The CDC requests a 3-year OMB 

approval to conduct a new information 

collection entitled, ‘‘Assessing 

Community-Based Organizations’ 

Partnerships with Schools for the 

Prevention of HIV/STDs.’’ The 

information collection will allow CDC 

to conduct assessment of selected staff 

from community-based organizations 

(CBOs) and health and/or wellness 

centers (HWCs), including school-based 

health centers, at participating schools 

or to which YMSM from participating 

schools are referred. This is part of the 

HIV and STD prevention efforts that are 

taking place in conjunction with local 

education agencies (LEAs) funded by 

the CDC, Division of Adolescent and 

School Health (DASH) under strategy 4 

(School-Centered HIV/STD Prevention 

for Young Men Who Have Sex with 

Men) of PS13–1308: Promoting 

Adolescent Health through SchoolBased HIV/STD Prevention and SchoolBased Surveillance. This information 

collection will provide data and reports 

for the three funded LEAs, and will 

allow each LEA to identify areas of the 

partnerships with CBOs and HWCs that 

are working well and other areas that 

will need additional improvement. In 

addition, the findings will allow the 

CDC to determine the potential impact 

of currently recommended strategies 

and make changes to those 

recommendations if necessary. 

This information collection system 

involves administration of a web-based 

questionnaire to no more than 60 total 

staff members who work for up to 60 

CBOs and HWCs that are participating 

in the HIV/STD prevention project with 

the three LEAs (Broward County Public 

Schools in Broward County, Florida; 

Los Angeles Unified School District in 

Los Angeles, California; and San 

Francisco Unified School District in San 

Francisco, California) funded by CDC 

cooperative agreement PS13–1308. 

These LEAs represent all funded LEAs 

under Strategy 4 of PS13–1308. The 

questionnaire will include questions on 

the following topics: services offered by 

the organization and the organization’s 

relationships with the school district 

and participating schools in the LEA. 

The Web-based instrument will be 

administered in the 2015 and again in 

2016 and 2018. These data collection 

points coincide with the initiation of 

project activities, the mid-way point, 

and endpoint of the PS13–1308 

cooperative agreement. Although some 

respondents may participate in the data 

collection in multiple years, this is not 

a longitudinal design and individual 

staff member responses will not be 

tracked across the years. No personally 

identifiable information will be 

collected and data will only be reported 

in the aggregate to protect the CBOs and 

HWCs being represented. 

All respondents will receive informed 

consent forms prior to participation in 

the information collection. The consent 

form explains the study and also 

explains that participants may choose 

not to complete the Web-based 

questionnaire with no penalty and no 

impact on their job or relationship with 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 14 / Thursday, January 22, 2015 / Notices 3239 

the LEA. Participation is completely 

voluntary. 

For the Web-based questionnaire, the 

estimated burden per response is about 

60 minutes (1 hour). This estimate of 

burden is an average and takes into 

account that the length of the 

questionnaire for each respondent will 

vary slightly due to the skip patterns 

that may occur with certain responses, 

variations in the reading speed of 

respondents, and variations in the time 

required to collect the information 

needed to complete the questionnaire. 

The estimated annualized burden of 

this data collection is 60 hours for 

respondents. 

There are no costs to respondents 

other than their time. 

ESTIMATED ANNUALIZE BURDEN TO RESPONDENTS

Respondents Form name Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Average 

burden per 

response 

(in hours) 

Total burden 

(in hours) 

CBO staff .......................................... CBO Assessment Questionnaire ..... 30 1 1 30 

HWC staff .......................................... HWC Assessment Questionnaire .... 30 1 1 30 

Total ........................................... ........................................................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 60 

Leroy A. 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. 2015–01009 Filed 1–21–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[60Day–15–0929] 

Proposed Data Collections Submitted 

for Public Comment and 

Recommendations 

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 to take this opportunity to 

comment on proposed and/or 

continuing information collections, as 

required by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995. To request more 

information on the below proposed 

project or to obtain a copy of the 

information collection plan and 

instruments, call 404–639–7570 or send 

comments to LeRoy Richardson, 1600 

Clifton Road, MS–D74, Atlanta, GA 

30333 or send an email to omb@cdc.gov. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and/or 

included in the request for Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

approval. Comments are invited on: (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information shall have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate 

of the burden of the proposed collection 

of information; (c) ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; (d) ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on respondents, including 

through the use of automated collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology; and (e) estimates of capital 

or start-up costs and costs of operation, 

maintenance, and purchase of services 

to provide information. Burden means 

the total time, effort, or financial 

resources expended by persons to 

generate, maintain, retain, disclose or 

provide information to or for a Federal 

agency. 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. Written comments should 

be received within 60 days of this 

notice. 

Proposed Project 

World Trade Center Health Program 

Petition for the Addition of a New WTCRelated Health Condition for Coverage 

under the World Trade Center (WTC) 

Health Program (OMB No. 0920–0929, 

expires 4/30/2015)—Revision—National 

Institute for Occupational Safety and 

Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

Title I of the James Zadroga 9/11 

Health and Compensation Act of 2010 

(Pub. L. 111–347), amended the Public 

Health Service Act (PHS Act) to add 

Title XXXIII establishing the WTC 

Health Program within the Department 

of Health and Human Services (HHS). 

The WTC Health Program provides 

medical monitoring and treatment 

benefits to eligible firefighters and 

related personnel, law enforcement 

officers, and rescue, recovery, and 

cleanup workers who responded to the 

September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in 

New York City, at the Pentagon, and in 

Shanksville, Pennsylvania (responders), 

and to eligible persons who were 

present in the dust or dust cloud on 

September 11, 2001 or who worked, 

resided, or attended school, childcare, 

or adult daycare in the New York City 

disaster area (survivors). PHS Act 

§ 3312(a)(3) identifies a list of health 

conditions for which individuals who 

are enrolled in the WTC Health Program 

may be monitored or treated. PHS Act 

§ 3312(a)(6)(B) specifies that interested 

parties may petition the Administrator 

of the WTC Health Program to request 

that a new health condition be added to 

the List of WTC-Related Health 

Conditions in 42 CFR 88.1. 

To aid the petitioner, the WTC Health 

Program provides a petition form to be 

completed and then sent to the 

Administrator for review. However, the 

petitioner is not required to use the 

form, and may submit a petition in a 

different format, provided it contains all 

of the data elements requested on the 

form. Data elements include the 

interested party’s name, contact 

information, signature, and a statement 

about the medical basis for the 

relationship/association between the 

9/11 exposure and the proposed health 

condition, which the Administrator of 

the WTC Health Program will use to 

determine whether to propose a rule to 

add the condition, to not to add the 

condition, or to seek a recommendation 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES