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 ( printed page 8885) 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 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

National Wastewater Surveillance System for Infectious Diseases to Inform Public Health Action (OMB Control No. 0920-1422, Exp. 12/31/2026)—Revision—National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Background and Brief Description

The National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) was established in 2020 at CDC and continues to serve as a public health tool to provide wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2. It has since expanded to include wastewater surveillance for emerging infectious diseases of public health concern such as Influenza, RSV, monkeypox virus, and measles, and is designed to permit the rapid addition or exchange of infectious disease targets for wastewater testing. This built-in flexibility will allow jurisdictions to adapt wastewater surveillance to changing public health needs, enable rapid responses to outbreaks or emergencies, and support broad capacity to detect future infectious disease threats.

Wastewater surveillance provides aggregated, anonymized data at the community level to indicate RSV and influenza infection trends, measles prevalence, and data on other infectious disease targets. This data collection could also help inform jurisdictions early about outbreaks leading to efficient resource allocation, providing health departments with additional, independent surveillance data to assess community-level infections.

CDC requests OMB approval for an additional three years and for an estimated 453,505 annual burden hours. There are no costs to respondents other than their time to participate.

91 FR 8884