Department of Health and Human Services December 12, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Under the provisions of Section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for review and approval the information collection listed below. This proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on October 3, 2008, page 57634, and allowed 60 days for public comment. One comment was received. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment. The National Institutes of Health may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Proposed Collection: Title: Hispanic Community Health Study (HCHS)/ Study of Latinos (SOL). Type of Information Collection Request: New Collection. Need and Use of Information Collection: The Hispanic Community Health Study (HCHS)/ Study of Latinos (SOL) will identify risk factors for cardiovascular and lung disease in Hispanic populations and determine the role of acculturation in the prevalence and development of these diseases. Hispanics, now the largest minority population in the US, are influenced by factors associated with immigration from different cultural settings and environments, including changes in diet, activity, community support, working conditions, and health care access. This project is a multicenter, six- and-a-half year epidemiologic study and will recruit 16,000 Hispanic men and women aged 18-74 in four community-based cohorts in Chicago, Miami, San Diego, and the Bronx. The study will examine measures of obesity, physical activity, nutritional habits, diabetes, lung and sleep function, cognitive function, hearing, and dental conditions. Closely integrated with the research component will be a community and professional education component, with the goals of bringing the research results back to the community, improving recognition and control of risk factors, and attracting and training Hispanic researchers in epidemiology and population-based research. Frequency of Response: The participants will be contacted annually. Affected Public: Individuals or households; Businesses or other for profit; Small businesses or organizations. Type of Respondents: Individuals or households; physicians. The annual reporting burden is as follows: Estimated Number of Respondents: 30,401; Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 2.234; Average Burden Hours Per Response: 0.7178; and Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours Requested: 48,755. The annualized cost to respondents is estimated at $756,412, assuming respondents time at the rate of $15 per hour and physician time at the rate of $55 per hour. There are no Capital Costs to report. There are no Operating or Maintenance Costs to report.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gives notice of a decision to designate a class of employees at the Connecticut Aircraft Nuclear Engine Laboratory in Middletown, Connecticut, as an addition to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. On October 24, 2008, the Secretary of HHS designated the following class of employees as an addition to the SEC: All employees of the Department of Energy (DOE), its predecessor agencies, and DOE contractors or subcontractors who worked at the Connecticut Aircraft Nuclear Engine Laboratory in Middletown, CT, from January 1, 1958 through December 31, 1965 for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days occurring either solely under this employment or in combination with work days within the parameters established for one or more other classes of employees in the Special Exposure Cohort. This designation will become effective on November 23, 2008, unless Congress provides otherwise prior to the effective date. After this effective date, HHS will publish a notice in the Federal Register reporting the addition of this class to the SEC or the result of any provision by Congress regarding the decision by HHS to add the class to the SEC.