12132 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 54 / Monday, March 23, 2009 / Notices 

(iv) Minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including the use of 

appropriate automated electronic 

collection technologies or other forms of 

information technology, e.g. permitting 

electronic and fax submission of 

responses. 

III. The Official Records 

The official records are the paper 

electronic records maintained at the 

address at the beginning of this 

document. FMCS will transfer all 

electronically received comments into 

printed-paper form as they are received. 

List of Subjects 

Labor-Management Cooperation 

Program and Information Collection 

Requests. 

Dated: March 17, 2009. 

Michael Bartlett, 

Deputy General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. E9–6184 Filed 3–20–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6732–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[60 Day–09–09AY] 

Proposed Data Collections Submitted 

for Public Comment and 

Recommendations 

In compliance with the requirement 

of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for 

opportunity for public comment on 

proposed data collection projects, the 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic 

summaries of proposed projects. 

Alternatively, to obtain a copy of the 

data collection plans and instrument, 

call 404–639–5960 and send comments 

to Maryam I. Daneshvar, CDC Reports 

Clearance Officer, 1600 Clifton Road 

NE., MS–D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30333; 

comments may also be sent by e-mail to 

omb@cdc.gov. 

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 a 

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; and (d) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on respondents, including through the 

use of information technology. Written 

comments should be received within 60 

days of this notice. 

Proposed Project 

Laboratory Response Network 

(LRN)—New—National Center for 

Preparedness, Detection, and Control of 

Infectious Diseases (NCPDCID), Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

The Laboratory Response Network 

(LRN) was established by the 

Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS), Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention (CDC) in 

accordance with Presidential Decision 

Directive 39, which outlined national 

anti-terrorism policies and assigned 

specific missions to Federal 

departments and agencies. The LRN’s 

mission is to maintain an integrated 

national and international network of 

laboratories that can respond to 

suspected acts of biological, chemical, 

or radiological terrorism and other 

public health emergencies. 

When Federal, State and local public 

health laboratories voluntarily join the 

LRN, they assume specific 

responsibilities and are required to 

provide information to the LRN Program 

Office at CDC. Each laboratory must 

submit and maintain complete 

information regarding the testing 

capabilities of the laboratory. 

Biannually, laboratories are required to 

review, verify and update their testing 

capability information. Complete testing 

capability information is required in 

order for the LRN Program Office to 

determine the ability of the Network to 

respond to a biological or chemical 

terrorism event. The sensitivity of all 

information associated with the LRN 

requires the LRN Program Office to 

obtain personal information about all 

individuals accessing the LRN Web site. 

In addition, the LRN Program Office 

must be able to contact all laboratory 

personnel during an event so each 

laboratory staff member that obtains 

access to the restricted LRN Web site 

must provide his or her contact 

information to the LRN Program Office. 

As a requirement of membership, LRN 

Laboratories must report all biological 

and chemical testing results to the LRN 

Program at CDC using a CDC developed 

software tool called the LRN Results 

Messenger. This information is essential 

for surveillance of anomalies, to support 

response to an event that may involve 

multiple agencies and to manage limited 

resources. LRN Laboratories must also 

participate in and report results for 

Proficiency Testing Challenges or 

Validation Studies. LRN Laboratories 

participate in multiple Proficiency 

Testing Challenges, Exercises and/or 

Validation Studies every year consisting 

of five to 500 simulated samples 

provided by the LRN Program Office. It 

is necessary to conduct such challenges 

in order to verify the testing capability 

of the LRN Laboratories. The rarity of 

biological or chemical agents perceived 

to be of bioterrorism concern prevents 

some LRN Laboratories from 

maintaining proficiency as a result of 

day-to-day testing. Simulated samples 

are therefore distributed to ensure 

proficiency across the LRN. The results 

obtained from testing these simulated 

samples must also be entered into 

Results Messenger for evaluation by the 

LRN Program Office. 

During a surge event resulting from a 

bioterrorism or chemical terrorism 

attack, LRN Laboratories are also 

required to submit all testing results 

using LRN Results Messenger. The LRN 

Program Office requires these results in 

order to track the progression of a 

bioterrorism event and respond in the 

most efficient and effective way possible 

and for data sharing with other Federal 

partners involved in the response. The 

number of samples tested during a 

response to a possible event could range 

from 10,000 to more than 500,000 

samples depending on the length and 

breadth of the event. Since there is 

potentially a large range in the number 

of samples for a surge event, CDC 

estimates the annualized burden for this 

event will be 3,000,000 hours or 625 

responses per respondent. 

Semiannually the LRN Program Office 

may conduct a Special Data Call to 

obtain additional information from LRN 

Member Laboratories in regards to 

biological or chemical terrorism 

preparedness. Special Data Calls are 

conducted using the LRN Web site. 

There is no cost to the respondents 

other than their time. 


dwashington3 on PROD1PC60 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 54 / Monday, March 23, 2009 / Notices 12133 

ESTIMATE OF ANNUALIZED BURDEN HOURS

Forms Number of 

respondents 

Average 

number of 

responses 

per 

respondent 

Average 

burden 

per response 

(in hours) 

Total burden 

hours 

Biannual Requalification .................................................................................. 200 1 2 400 

General Surveillance Testing Results ............................................................. 200 25 24 120,000 

Proficiency Testing/Validation Testing Results ................................................ 200 5 56 56,000 

Surge Event Testing Results ........................................................................... 200 625 24 3,000,000 

Special Data Call ............................................................................................. 200 2 30/60 200 

Total .......................................................................................................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 3,176,600 

Dated: March 11, 2009. 

Maryam I. Daneshvar, 

Reports Clearance Officer, Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention. 

[FR Doc. E9–6213 Filed 3–20–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[60Day–09–09BD] 

Proposed Data Collections Submitted 

for Public Comment and 

Recommendations 

In compliance with the requirement 

of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for 

opportunity for public comment on 

proposed data collection projects, the 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic 

summaries of proposed projects. To 

request more information on the 

proposed projects or to obtain a copy of 

the data collection plans and 

instruments, call 404–639–5960 and 

send comments to Maryam I. Daneshvar, 

CDC Acting Reports Clearance Officer, 

1600 Clifton Road, MS–D74, Atlanta, 

GA 30333 or send an email to 

omb@cdc.gov. 

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; and (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. Written comments should 

be received within 60 days of this 

notice. 

Proposed Project 

Field Evaluation of Prototype Kneelassist Devices in Low-seam Mining— 

New—National Institute for 

Occupational Safety and Health 

(NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention (CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

NIOSH, under Public Law 91–596, 

Sections 20 and 22 (Section 20–22, 

Occupational Safety and Health Act of 

1970) has the responsibility to conduct 

research relating to innovative methods, 

techniques, and approaches dealing 

with occupational safety and health 

problems. 

According to the Mining Safety and 

Health Administration (MSHA) injury 

database, 227 knee injuries were 

reported in underground coal mining in 

2007. With data from the National 

Institute for Occupational Safety and 

Health (NIOSH), it can be estimated that 

the financial burden of knee injuries 

was nearly three million dollars in 2007. 

Typically, mine workers utilize 

kneepads to better distribute the 

pressures at the knee. The effectiveness 

of these kneepads was only recently 

investigated in a study by NIOSH that 

has not yet been published. The results 

of this study demonstrated that 

kneepads do decrease the maximum 

stress applied to the knee albeit not 

drastically. Additionally, the average 

pressure across the knee remains similar 

to the case where subjects wore no 

kneepads at all. Thus, the injury data 

and the results of this study suggest the 

need for the improved design of kneelassist devices such as kneepads. NIOSH 

is currently undertaking the task of 

designing more effective kneel-assist 

devices such as a kneepad and a padded 

support worn at the ankle where mine 

workers can comfortably rest their body 

weight. 

These devices must also be field 

tested to verify they do not result in 

body discomfort or inadvertent 

accidents. It is also important to 

determine how usable and durable these 

devices are in the harsh mining 

environment. In order to quantitatively 

demonstrate that these prototype 

devices are superior to their 

predecessors, mine workers using these 

prototypes must be interviewed. Their 

feedback will identify any necessary 

changes to the design of the devices 

such that NIOSH can ensure the 

prototypes will be well-accepted by the 

mining community. 

To collect this type of information, a 

field study must be conducted where 

kneel-assist devices currently used in 

the mining industry (i.e. kneepads) are 

compared to the new prototype designs. 

The study suggested here would take 

approximately 13 months. 

A pilot mine will be identified to test 

the prototype kneel-assist devices prior 

to commencing a full study. The data 

collected at this pilot mine will ensure 

that the prototype kneel-assist devices 

are likely to be successful. Data will be 

collected via interviews with individual 

mine workers and through a focus group 

where all mine workers come together 

to express their opinions about the 

devices. If the prototype kneel-assist 

devices do not appear to be successful, 

the data collected will be used to 

adequately redesign them and the above 

described process will begin again. If 

the prototype kneel-assist devices 

appear to be successful, the full study 

will commence. 

Once the full study is ready to 

commence, cooperating mines will be 

identified. Every month, the section 

foreman at the cooperating mines will 

be asked to supply some information 

regarding the current mine 

environment. 

Initially, the mine workers will be 

given a control kneel-assist device. 

Currently, mine workers only utilize 

kneepads as a kneel-assist device. 

Therefore, only a control kneepad will 

be provided. They will then be asked 

some basic demographics information 


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