Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 154 / Friday, August 13, 2021 / Notices 44723 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; 

3. Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; 

4. 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 submissions 

of responses; and 

5. Assess information collection costs. 

Proposed Project 

One Health SARS–CoV–2 Animal 

Testing Form—New—National Center 

for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious 

Diseases (NCEZID), Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

The goal of this project is to collect 

information from state, tribal, local, and 

territorial partners on the scope and 

context of SARS–CoV–2 testing in 

animals in order to understand and 

monitor testing burden and prevalence 

of the virus among animal populations. 

Currently, most animal samples that test 

positive for SARS–CoV–2 are confirmed 

by the United States Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) National Veterinary 

Services Lab (NVSL), and are reported 

to the World Organization for Animal 

Health (OIE). However, no reporting 

requirements or mechanisms are in 

place to determine the number of 

negative results, total number of 

samples tested, and samples for which 

testing was not approved by state, 

territorial, local, or tribal health 

authorities. Additional information on 

the overall number of animals tested for 

SARS–CoV–2 will allow us to refine our 

understanding of the clinical course and 

presentation in animals, gain a sense of 

the burden that SARS–COV–2 testing 

places on health officials, and develop 

an estimate of national prevalence of 

SARS–CoV–2. In turn, these data can 

help inform guidance and 

recommendations, as well as 

surveillance directives for future 

emerging infectious diseases. 

The need for these data has been 

discussed with federal, state, tribal, 

local, and territorial partners and the 

questionnaire was developed in 

consultation with these stakeholders. 

CDC requests approval for an estimated 

8,000 annual burden hours. There is no 

cost to respondents other than their 

time. 

ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED BURDEN HOURS

Type of respondents Form name Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Average 

burden per 

response 

(in hours) 

Total burden 

(in hours) 

State public health veterinarians, State animal health officials, and wildlife veterinarians.State Level Veterinary Authority Surveillance Questionnaire.80 400 15/60 8,000 

Jeffrey M. Zirger, 

Lead, Information Collection Review Office, 

Office of Scientific Integrity, Office of Science, 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

[FR Doc. 2021–17348 Filed 8–12–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[60Day–21–0852; Docket No. CDC–2021– 

0082] 

Proposed Data Collection Submitted 

for Public Comment and 

Recommendations 

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC), Department of Health 

and Human Services (HHS). 

ACTION: Notice with comment period. 

SUMMARY: 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 the opportunity to comment on 

a proposed and/or continuing 

information collection, as required by 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 

This notice invites comment on a 

proposed information collection project 

titled Prevalence Survey of HealthcareAssociated Infections and Antimicrobial 

Use in U.S. Acute Care Hospitals. This 

project examines the numbers and types 

of Healthcare-Associated Infections and 

causative pathogens, types of 

antimicrobial drugs (such as antibiotics) 

used, and the quality of antimicrobial 

prescribing in U.S. acute care hospitals. 

DATES: CDC must receive written 

comments on or before October 12, 

2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by Docket No. CDC–2021– 

0082 by any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

Regulations.gov. Follow the instructions 

for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information 

Collection Review Office, Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 

Clifton Road NE, MS–D74, Atlanta, 

Georgia 30329. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

Docket Number. CDC will post, without 

change, all relevant comments to 

Regulations.gov. 

Please note: Submit all comments 

through the Federal eRulemaking portal 

(regulations.gov) or by U.S. mail to the 

address listed above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

request more information on the 

proposed project or to obtain a copy of 

the information collection plan and 

instruments, contact Jeffrey M. Zirger, 

Information Collection Review Office, 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, NE, MS– 

D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; phone: 

404–639–7570; Email: omb@cdc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) 

(44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), Federal agencies 

must obtain approval from the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for each 

collection of information they conduct 

or sponsor. In addition, the PRA also 

requires Federal agencies to provide a 

60-day notice in the Federal Register 

concerning each proposed collection of 

information, including each new 

proposed collection, each proposed 

extension of existing collection of 

information, and each reinstatement of 

previously approved information 

collection before submitting the 

collection to the OMB for approval. To 

comply with this requirement, we are 

publishing this notice of a proposed 

data collection as described below. 

The OMB is particularly interested in 

comments that will help: 

1. Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
44724 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 154 / Friday, August 13, 2021 / Notices 

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, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; 

3. Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; 

4. 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 submissions 

of responses; and 

5. Assess information collection costs. 

Proposed Project 

Prevalence Survey of HealthcareAssociated Infections and Antimicrobial 

Use in U.S. Acute Care Hospitals (OMB 

Control No. 0920–0852, 

Exp. 10/31/2022)—Extension—National 

Center for Emerging and Zoonotic 

Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

Preventing healthcare-associated 

infections (HAIs) and improving 

antimicrobial use (AU) are both CDC 

and national priorities. An essential step 

in reducing the occurrence of HAIs is to 

accurately estimate the burden of these 

infections in U.S. acute care hospitals 

and to describe the types of HAIs and 

causative pathogens. Periodic 

assessments of the magnitude and types 

of HAIs and AU occurring in all patient 

populations within acute care hospitals 

are needed to inform decisions by 

policy makers and hospital infection 

control personnel (ICP) regarding 

appropriate targets and strategies for 

HAI prevention and antimicrobial 

stewardship. 

Since 2009, CDC has conducted four 

prevalence surveys (i.e., pilot survey in 

2009, limited-scale survey in 2010, and 

two full-scale surveys in 2011 and 2015) 

in partnership with the CDC’s Emerging 

Infections Program (EIP) sites. Findings 

from the most recent survey showed a 

reduction in the percentage of patients 

with healthcare-associated infections 

compared with 2011. CDC was granted 

approval from OMB to conduct a fifth 

survey in 2020, but due to the COVID– 

19 pandemic the survey was postponed 

to 2023. 

Minor adjustments to data collection 

instruments since the previous 2019 

OMB approval have been made. These 

adjustments were made to enhance 

future analyses and utility of the survey 

data. These changes are non-substantive 

and are not expected to increase the 

public reporting burden. An extension 

of the prevalence survey’s existing OMB 

approval is sought to allow a repeat HAI 

and AU Prevalence Survey to be 

performed in 2023. A repeat survey will 

allow assessment of changes in HAI and 

AU prevalence, pathogen distribution, 

and quality of antimicrobial prescribing. 

These data will also allow CDC and its 

partners to continue to monitor HAI and 

AU trends, to measure progress in 

meeting national targets, and to further 

refine prevention strategies. In the 2023 

survey, data collection will occur within 

acute care general hospitals of varying 

size in each of the 10 EIP sites (i.e., CA, 

CO, CT, GA, MD, MN, NM, NY, OR, & 

TN). 

Infection Control Personnel (ICP) in 

participating hospitals may assist EIP 

site personnel in collecting 

demographic and limited clinical data 

from the electronic or paper-based 

medical records of a sample of 

randomly selected patients on a single 

day in 2023. Patients will not be 

interviewed, and no direct interaction 

with patients will occur. Hospital and 

patient-level data will be collected using 

unique identification codes. EIP site 

personnel will submit hospital and 

patient-level data to CDC using a secure 

data management system. 

Based on experiences from previous 

surveys, the time required to complete 

the Healthcare Facility Assessment 

Form (HFA) and Patient Information 

Form (PIF) is estimated to be 45 and 17 

minutes, respectively. To conduct the 

full-scale survey in a three-year 

approval period, 100 hospital 

respondents will complete both the 

HFA (1x) and the PIF (on average 63x) 

per year. 

To assess changes in HAIs and AU 

over time, EIP sites will seek 

participation from the same hospitals 

that participated in prior surveys. These 

hospitals were originally selected for 

participation using a stratified random 

sampling scheme based on the number 

of staffed acute care beds (i.e., small: 

<150 staffed beds; medium: 151–399 

staffed beds; large: >400 staffed beds). 

Each site will also have the option to 

recruit additional hospitals for a total of 

up to 30 in each site. As in previous 

surveys, hospital participation will 

remain voluntary. Within each 

participating hospital, EIP site 

personnel will establish patient sample 

size targets based on the number of 

staffed acute care beds (e.g., up to 75 

patients in small hospitals, 75 patients 

in medium hospitals, and 100 patients 

in large hospitals). 

The total estimated annualized public 

burden is 1,860 hours, which represents 

no change from the 2019 OMB approval. 

There is no cost to respondents other 

than their time. 

ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED BURDEN HOURS

Type of respondents Form name Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Average 

burden per 

response 

(in hours) 

Total 

burden 

(in hours) 

Hospital Staff (i.e., Infection 

Preventionist).

Healthcare Facility Assessment ....... 100 1 45/60 75 

Patient Information Form ................. 100 63 17/60 1,785 

Total ........................................... ........................................................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 1,860 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 154 / Friday, August 13, 2021 / Notices 44725 

Jeffrey M. Zirger, 

Lead, Information Collection Review Office, 

Office of Scientific Integrity, Office of Science, 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

[FR Doc. 2021–17353 Filed 8–12–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[30Day–21–0792] 

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 April 5, 

2021 to obtain comments from the 

public and affected agencies. CDC did 

not receive 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 

Network (EHS-Net) Program (OMB 

Control No. 0920–0792, Exp. 8/31/ 

2021)—Revision—National Center for 

Environmental Health (NCEH), Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

The CDC is requesting a three-year 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

clearance for this generic clearance. 

This Revision information collection 

request (ICR) will allow the 

Environmental Health Specialists 

Network (EHS-Net) to collect research 

data focused on identifying and 

addressing the environmental causes of 

foodborne illness. 

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, and it 

needs to be understood how and why 

food becomes contaminated with 

foodborne illness pathogens. This 

information can then be used to 

determine effective food safety 

prevention methods, increase regulatory 

program effectiveness, and decrease 

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 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 five 

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. 

The current package differs from the 

previous package in three primary ways, 

described below. 

• The sites in which data will be 

collected differ. CDC funded a renewal 

of the EHS-Net cooperative agreement in 

2020; as a result, one site was dropped 

from the agreement (California), and one 

was added (Franklin County, Ohio). The 

other sites remained the same. These 

are: Harris County, Texas; Minnesota; 

New York; New York City, New York; 

Rhode Island; Southern Nevada Health 

District, Nevada; and Tennessee. 

• Since the previous PRA clearance, 

the National Center for Environmental 

Health (NCEH) Human Subjects 

Coordinator has determined that EHSNet information collections are not 

human subjects research, and thus, do 

not require IRB review or approval. 

• The annual burden estimate has 

been revised downward by 933 hours 

from 1,777 hours in 2018 to 844 hours 

in 2021. We estimated interviewing 10 

workers per restaurant in the last cycle; 

we have revised this down to five 

workers per restaurant. 

There is no cost to the respondents 

other than their time. The total annual 

time burden requested is 844 hours. 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES