[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 154 (Friday, August 13, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44725-44726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-17345]


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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.
    <bullet> 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.
    <bullet> Since the previous PRA clearance, the National Center for 
Environmental Health (NCEH) Human Subjects Coordinator has determined 
that EHS-Net information collections are not human subjects research, 
and thus, do not require IRB review or approval.
    <bullet> 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.

[[Page 44726]]



                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                   Number of      Average burden
         Type of respondents                 Form name            Number of      responses per     per response
                                                                 respondents       respondent       (in hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Retail managers.....................  Manager Telephone                   889                1             3/60
                                       Recruiting Script.
                                      Manager Interview/                  400                1            30/60
                                       Assessment.
                                      Observation............             400                1            30/60
Retail food workers.................  Worker Recruiting/                2,000                1             2/60
                                       Informed Consent
                                       Script.
                                      Worker Interview/                 2,000                1            10/60
                                       Assessment.
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Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific 
Integrity, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2021-17345 Filed 8-12-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P