This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

56141 

Vol. 76, No. 176 

Monday, September 12, 2011 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Economic Research Service 

Notice of Intent To Request New 

Information Collection 

AGENCY: Economic Research Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 

notice invites the general public and 

other public agencies to send comments 

regarding any aspect of this proposed 

information collection. This is a new 

collection for a Survey on Rural 

Community Wealth and Health Care 

Provision. 

DATES: Written comments on this notice 

must be received on or before November 

14, 2011 to be assured of consideration. 

ADDRESSES: Address all comments 

concerning this notice to John Pender, 

Resource and Rural Economics Division, 

Economic Research Service, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, 1800 M. St., 

NW., Room N4056, Washington, DC 

20036–5801. Comments may also be 

submitted via fax to the attention of 

John Pender at 202–694–5774 or via email to jpender@ers.usda.gov. 

Comments will also be accepted through 

the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov, and follow 

the online instructions for submitting 

comments electronically. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information contact John Pender 

at the address in the preamble. Tel. 202– 

694–5568. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: All 

written comments will be open for 

public inspection at the office of the 

Economic Research Service during 

regular business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday) at 1800 

M. St., NW., Room N4056, Washington, 

DC 20036–5801. 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for Office of Management and Budget 

approval. All comments and replies will 

be a matter of public record. 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, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; (c) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on those who are to respond, including 

use of appropriate automated, 

electronic, mechanical, or other 

technological collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Title: Survey on Rural Community 

Wealth and Health Care Provision. 

OMB Number: 0536–XXXX. 

Expiration Date: Three years from the 

date of approval. 

Type of Request: New collection. 

Abstract: This survey will collect 

information on the assets and 

investments of rural communities and 

their influence on recruitment and 

retention of rural health care providers, 

and on the effects of rural health care 

provision on economic development of 

rural communities. This information 

will contribute to a better understanding 

of the roles that rural communities play 

in promoting or retarding the 

development and provision of health 

care services, and of how improved 

health care provision contributes to 

development of these communities. 

Such understanding is critical to 

develop effective policies to address the 

challenge of inadequate access to health 

care services in many rural 

communities, and to realize the 

opportunities offered by improved 

health care provision to attract and keep 

residents in rural areas, provide 

employment, and improve the quality of 

life. 

Health care services is one of the 

largest and most rapidly growing 

industries in rural America, and 

adequate provision of health care 

services is increasingly critical for 

achieving economic development and 

improved well-being of rural people. In 

many rural communities, health care 

services is the largest employer, and 

rapid growth in this sector is occurring 

and will continue to occur, especially as 

the Baby-Boom generation retires. 

Provision of adequate health care 

services is likely to be one of the key 

factors in attracting retirees and other 

migrants to rural areas, helping to stem 

persistent outmigration from many of 

these areas and in some cases, 

contributing to rural growth and 

prosperity. Despite recent growth and 

potential for continued growth in this 

sector, many rural communities suffer 

from poor access to health care services, 

especially because of the limited supply 

of health care professionals. Addressing 

these access problems likely will 

become increasingly important as the 

Patient Protection and Affordable Care 

Act is implemented, increasing rural 

people’s access to health insurance. 

Although substantial research has 

investigated the problems of attracting 

and retaining health care providers in 

rural areas, very little of this research 

addresses the issue from the perspective 

of rural communities themselves. For 

example, prior research has established 

that physicians who grew up in a rural 

area, who attended a medical school 

with a rural emphasis, or who 

completed a residency in a rural 

hospital are more likely than other 

physicians to locate their practice in a 

rural community. Policies and programs 

that provide incentives to physicians to 

locate in rural areas have also been 

shown to increase recruitment of 

physicians to rural areas, although the 

impacts on retention of physicians are 

more questionable. Much less research 

has focused on factors affecting 

recruitment and retention of health care 

providers other than physicians to rural 

areas, or on the roles local communities 

play in affecting these decisions. Of the 

research that investigates the roles of 

local communities, the studies have 

been conducted in only a few 

communities with a small number of 

respondents, limiting the ability to draw 

conclusions applicable to broader rural 

regions. 

The proposed rural community 

survey will address this information gap 

by collecting information from 

representatives of 150 rural 

communities in three regions of the 

United States and from health care 

providers in the same communities. The 

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56142 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 176 / Monday, September 12, 2011 / Notices 

survey will investigate the perspectives 

of community leaders and organizations 

concerning the need for improved 

access to health care services, the local 

community assets that attract or repel 

health care providers, the investments 

and efforts undertaken or planned to 

recruit and retain health care service 

providers, and the effects of changes in 

health care service provision on other 

aspects of community development. The 

survey will also investigate the 

perspective of health care providers on 

the factors affecting their decisions to 

locate, continue and change their 

operations in these rural communities, 

including the influence of community 

assets and investments such as 

improvements in local schools, 

availability of Internet broadband or 

other infrastructure, provision of child 

care services, recreational opportunities, 

and other factors. 

The three proposed study regions 

include the lower Mississippi Delta 

region (including parts of the States of 

Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and 

Tennessee), the Southern Great Plains 

region (including parts of Texas, 

Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, New 

Mexico, and Colorado), and part of the 

Upper Midwest region (including parts 

of Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, 

Wisconsin and Illinois). These regions 

include areas with high rates of poverty 

and severe constraints to health care 

access—especially in the Delta and 

Southern Great Plains—while incomes 

and health care access are relatively 

more favorable in the Upper Midwest 

region. All three of these regions 

include rural areas where growth in 

health sector employment has been an 

important contributor to overall 

employment growth in recent years, as 

well as areas where less growth has 

occurred. These regions also include 

important variations in health status of 

the populations, presence of different 

racial and ethnic groups, social capital, 

and other key factors hypothesized to be 

related to rural health care provision. 

The communities (towns and 

surrounding counties and hospital 

service areas (HSAs)) studied in the 

survey will be selected using a stratified 

random sample. Potential respondents 

for each sampled community will be 

identified by accessing public 

information sources and by telephone 

screening. From the town, community 

leaders such as the town mayor, council 

representatives, business leaders or 

other stakeholders involved in 

recruiting and integrating health care 

providers to the community will be 

included on the respondent sample list. 

A sample of local health care providers 

in the selected town—in most cases 

limited to primary health care providers 

such as administrators of rural clinics, 

physicians, nurse practitioners, and 

dentists—will also be identified. At the 

county level, the list will include 

relevant representatives of the county 

government—such as the county 

executive and officials in the health and 

economic development departments—as 

well as civil society organizations and 

others involved at that level in seeking 

to improve health care provision. At the 

HSA level, the sample will include 

hospital administrators and other 

provider representatives. A total of 10 to 

15 respondents will be interviewed in 

each selected community (including 

health care providers and leaders/ 

stakeholders in the town, county and 

HSA). The interviews will be conducted 

by telephone and are expected to 

require on average about 20 minutes per 

respondent, based upon the experience 

of the organization that will implement 

the survey (Survey and Behavioral 

Research Services Group, Iowa State 

University) in implementing community 

level surveys of similar scope and size. 

The sample for each selected 

community will be strategically 

managed in order to provide the 

maximum survey response. Advance 

letters and a colorful information sheet/ 

brochure will be mailed to potential 

respondents. A project Web site will be 

available with additional information, 

and a toll-free number will be provided 

for those who have questions or 

concerns. Confidentiality of responses 

will be both assured and ensured. After 

the advance letters/packets are sent, all 

reasonable efforts will be made to 

contact and interview the respondents 

in the sample. Paper or online copies of 

the survey will be made available to 

those who are unable or unwilling to 

complete a telephone interview. 

All study instruments will be kept as 

simple and respondent-friendly as 

possible. Participation in the survey will 

be voluntary and confidential. Survey 

responses will be used for statistical 

analysis and to produce research reports 

only; not for any other purpose. Data 

files from the survey will not be 

released to the public. Responses will be 

linked to secondary data to augment 

information with no additional 

respondent burden. For example, the 

survey data will be combined with 

available county level data from the 

Census Bureau on community 

socioeconomic and demographic 

characteristics and data from the 

Department of Health and Human 

Services on health care provision and 

health status indicators, to analyze 

factors affecting local changes in health 

care provision. 

The telephone survey will be 

conducted within a six month period 

during 2012. After the telephone survey 

and analysis of its results are completed, 

a follow up information collection will 

be conducted in a sub-sample of the 

surveyed communities (at most 40), 

with the goal of deepening 

understanding of (i) how and why the 

community factors that appear to 

influence recruitment and retention of 

health care providers (as will be 

identified by the telephone survey) are 

able to do so, and (ii) how development 

of the health care sector contributes to 

broader economic development in rural 

communities. This second phase will 

use more qualitative methods, including 

in depth individual and focus group 

interviews, and will be completed in 

2013. This notice focuses on the 

telephone survey; another notice will be 

provided before the second phase 

begins. 

Authority: These data will be collected 

under the authority of 7 U.S.C. 2204(a) and 

sec. 501 of the Rural Development Act of 

1972 (7 U.S.C. 2661). Individually 

identifiable data collected under this 

authority are governed by 7 U.S.C. 2276, 

which requires USDA to afford strict 

confidentiality to non-aggregated data 

provided by respondents. This Notice is 

submitted in accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104–13 (44 

U.S.C. 3501, et seq.) and Office of 

Management and Budget regulations at 5 CFR 

part 1320. ERS also complies with OMB 

Implementation Guidance, ‘‘Implementation 

Guidance for Title V of the E–Government 

Act, Confidential Information Protection and 

Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA)’’, 

72 FR 33362, June 15, 2007. 

Affected Public: Respondents will 

include health care providers, local 

government and community leaders, 

and other stakeholders involved in 

recruiting and retaining health care 

providers in rural communities. 

Estimated Number of Respondents 

and Respondent Burden: The telephone 

survey will be completed at one point 

in time within a six month period in 

2012. The survey will have a complex 

mixed survey administration to include 

telephone screening, pre-notification 

letter with Web access, multi-contact 

telephone interviewing, and follow-up 

non-respondent mail questionnaires. 

The time required for respondents and 

non-respondents to read the notification 

materials, review instructions, 

participate in the screening interview, 

and decide whether to complete the 

questionnaire is estimated to average 15 

minutes per person. Completion time 

for each questionnaire respondent is 

estimated to average 20 minutes per 

completed questionnaire. In addition, 

the screening interviews used to select 

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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 176 / Monday, September 12, 2011 / Notices 56143 

1The 35 minutes per respondent includes 15 

minutes to review the materials, participate in the 

screening interview, and decide whether to 

participate, and 20 minutes to complete the 

questionnaire. 

2The 15 minutes per non-respondent is to review 

the materials, participate in the screening interview, 

and decide whether to participate. 

the sample will involve telephone 

conversations with knowledgeable 

people in each community. We estimate 

that this may require 15 minute 

interviews with up to 8 people per 

community, or a maximum burden of 2 

hours per sample community. 

Full Study: The maximum sample size 

for the full study is 2,812 respondents 

(15 respondents maximum per 

community × 150 communities/80% 

response rate). The expected overall 

response rate is 80 percent. The 

maximum total estimated response 

burden for all of those participating in 

the study is 1,313 hours (2,250 

respondents × 35 minutes per 

respondent 1) and for the nonrespondents is 141 hours (562 nonrespondents × 15 minutes per nonrespondent 2). In addition, we estimate a 

maximum burden of 300 hours on nonsample interviewees contacted during 

the pre-sample screening process for the 

full study (150 communities × 8 

interviewees/community × 15 minutes 

per interviewee). 

Pilot Study: A pilot test of the survey 

will be done in advance of the full 

survey. The purpose of the pilot is to 

evaluate the survey protocol, and test 

instruments and questionnaires. The 

initial sample size for this phase of the 

research is 100 respondents (10 

respondents per community × 10 

communities). The expected response 

rate is 80 percent. The total estimated 

burden for full respondents in the pilot 

testing is 47 hours (100 respondents × 

80 percent × 35 minutes per 

respondent), and for non-respondents is 

5 hours (100 respondents × 20 percent 

× 15 minutes per non-respondent). In 

addition, we estimate a maximum 

burden of 20 hours on non-sample 

interviewees contacted during the presample screening process for the pilot 

study (10 communities × 8 

interviewees/community × 15 minutes 

per interviewee). 

The total respondent burden, 

including the pilot and full study, is 

estimated at 1,826 hours (see table 

below). 

TABLE—ESTIMATED RESPONDENT BURDEN FOR THE SURVEY ON RURAL COMMUNITY WEALTH AND HEALTH CARE

PROVISION

Item Pilot study Full study Total 

Sample size ....................................................................................................................................... 100 2,812 2,912 

Responses 

—Number ................................................................................................................................... 80 2,250 2,330 

—Minutes/response .................................................................................................................... 35 35 

—Burden hours .......................................................................................................................... 47 1,313 1,360 

Non-responses 

—Number ................................................................................................................................... 20 562 582 

—Minutes/response .................................................................................................................... 15 15 

—Burden hours .......................................................................................................................... 5 141 146 

Pre-sample screening interviews 

—Number ................................................................................................................................... 80 1,200 1,280 

—Minutes/interview .................................................................................................................... 15 15 

—Burden hours .......................................................................................................................... 20 300 320 

Total burden hours ..................................................................................................................... 72 1,754 1,826 

Dated: August 31, 2011. 

Laurian Unnevehr, 

Acting Administrator, Economic Research 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–23158 Filed 9–9–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food Safety and Inspection Service 

[Docket No. FSIS–2011–0016] 

National Advisory Committee on 

Microbiological Criteria for Foods 

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection 

Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice is announcing 

that the National Advisory Committee 

on Microbiological Criteria for Foods 

(NACMCF) will hold public meetings of 

the full Committee and subcommittees 

on September 27–30, 2011. The 

Committee will discuss: (1) Control 

strategies for reducing foodborne 

Norovirus infections, and (2) Study of 

microbiological criteria as indicators of 

process control or insanitary conditions. 

DATES: The full Committee will hold an 

open meeting on Friday, September 30, 

2011, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The 

Subcommittee on control strategies for 

reducing foodborne Norovirus 

infections and the Subcommittee on 

study of microbiological criteria as 

indicators of process control or 

insanitary conditions will hold 

concurrent open meetings on Tuesday, 

September 27, Wednesday, September 

28, and Thursday, September 29, 2011, 

from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The September 27–29, 2011, 

subcommittee meetings will be held at 

the Patriot’s Plaza 3, 9th Floor OPHS 

Conference Rooms, 355 E Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20024. The September 

30, 2011, full Committee meeting will 

be held in the conference room at the 

south end of the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) cafeteria located in 

the South Building, 1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250. 

All documents related to the full 

Committee meeting will be available for 

public inspection in the FSIS Docket 

Room, USDA, 1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Patriots Plaza 3, Mailstop 

3782, Room 163A, Washington, DC 

20250–3700, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 

p.m., Monday through Friday, as soon 

as they become available. The NACMCF 

documents will also be available on the 

Internet at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/

Regulations_&_Policies/Federal_

Register_Notices/index.asp. 

FSIS will finalize an agenda on or 

before the meeting dates and post it on 

the FSIS Web page at http://www.fsis.

usda.gov/News/Meetings_&_Events/. 

Please note that the meeting agenda is 

subject to change due to the time 

required for Committee discussions; 

thus, sessions could start or end earlier 

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