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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 248 (Friday, December 27, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 105617-105619]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-31030]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Indian Health Service

Request for Public Comment: 60-Day Notice for Extension of the 
Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program

AGENCY: Indian Health Service, HHS.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments; request for extension of 
approval.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Indian Health Service (IHS) invites the general public to take this 
opportunity to comment on the information collection Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number 0917-

[[Page 105618]]

0014, titled, ``IHS Loan Repayment Program (LRP).'' This notice 
announces our intent to submit this collection, which expires February 
28, 2025, to the OMB for approval of an extension and solicit comments 
on specific aspects for the proposed information collection.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received by February 
25, 2025.

ADDRESSES: 
    For Comments: Submit comments to Correy Ahhaitty by one of the 
following methods:
     Email: [email protected].
     Phone: (301) 443-2544.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be made 
available to the public by publishing them in the 30-day Federal 
Register Notice for this information collection. For this reason, 
please do not include information of a confidential nature, such as 
sensitive personal information or proprietary information. If comments 
are submitted via email, the email address will be automatically 
captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the 
public docket and made available on the internet. Please note that 
responses to this public comment request containing any routine notice 
about the confidentiality of the communication will be treated as 
public comments that may be made available to the public 
notwithstanding the inclusion of the routine notice.
    A copy of the draft supporting statement is available at 
www.regulations.gov (see Docket ID (IHS_FRDOC_0001)).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information, 
please contact Patricia Lawton, Information Collection Clearance 
Officer at: [email protected] or 240-381-9031.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This previously approved information 
collection project was last published in the Federal Register (86 FR 
60055) on October 29, 2021, and allowed 30 days for public comment. No 
public comment was received in response to the notice.
    The IHS is submitting the proposed information collection to the 
OMB for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, as 
amended, and its implementing regulations. This notice is soliciting 
comments from members of the public and affected agencies as required 
by 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A) and 5 CFR 1320.8(d) concerning the proposed 
collection of information to: (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; (3) 
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be 
collected; and (4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information 
on those who are to respond; including through the use of appropriate 
automated collection techniques of other forms of information 
technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.
    Title: 0917-0014, ``Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program.''
    Type of Information Collection Request: 3-year extension approval 
of this information collection.
    OMB Control Number: 0917-0014.
    Forms: Educational and Professional Background, Financial 
Information, and General Applicant Information (i.e., all forms are 
part of the LRP application). The LRP application is available in an 
electronically fillable and fileable format.
    Need and Use of Information Collection: The IHS LRP identifies 
health professionals with pre-existing financial obligations for 
education expenses that meet program criteria and who are qualified and 
willing to serve at, often remote, IHS health care facilities. Under 
the program, eligible health professionals sign a contract through 
which the IHS agrees to repay part or all of their indebtedness in 
exchange for an initial 2-year service commitment to practice full-time 
at an eligible Indian health program. This program is necessary to 
augment the critically low health professional staff at IHS health care 
facilities.
    Eligible health professionals wishing to have their health 
education loans repaid may apply to the IHS LRP. A 2-year contract 
obligation is signed by both parties, and the individual agrees to work 
at an eligible Indian health program location and provide health 
services to American Indian and Alaska Native individuals.
    The information collected via the online application from 
individuals is analyzed and a score is given to each applicant. This 
score will determine which applicants will be awarded each fiscal year 
(FY). The administrative scoring system assigns a score to the 
geographic location according to vacancy rates for that FY and also 
considers whether the location is in an isolated area. When an 
applicant accepts employment at a location, the applicant in turn 
``picks-up'' the score of that location.
    Status of the Proposed Information Collection: Renewal of a current 
collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals and households.
    Type of Respondents: Individuals.
    The table below provides: Types of data collection instruments, 
estimated number of respondents, number of responses per respondent, 
average burden hour per response, and total annual burden hours.

                                             Estimated Burden Hours
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                                                                                                   Total annual
                                                 Number of        Number of      Average burden       burden
        Data collection instrument(s)           respondents     responses per     per response    responses (in
                                                                  respondent       (in hours)         hours)
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LRP Application (3 forms in total)..........            1999                1              1.5           2998.5
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[[Page 105619]]

    There are no Capital Costs, Operating Costs, and/or Maintenance 
Costs to report.

Roselyn Tso,
Director, Indian Health Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-31030 Filed 12-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-16-P
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