Notice2026-02650

Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

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Published
February 11, 2026

Issuing agencies

Health and Human Services DepartmentCenters for Disease Control and Prevention

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 28 (Wednesday, February 11, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 11, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6224-6226]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-02650]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30-Day-26-0156]


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 ``Data Management Plan Template for 
Extramural Research'' 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 
August 26, 2025 to obtain comments from the public and affected 
agencies. CDC received three comments related to the previous notice, 
two of which were reviewed and discussed. 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 <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. 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

    Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Data Management Plan (DMP) 
Template for Extramural Research--New--Office of Science (OS), Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Office of 
Science (OS) is requesting approval of a New Information Collection 
Request (ICR) for a period of three years under the project titled, 
Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Data Management Plan (DMP) 
Template for Extramural Research, hereafter referred to as CDC NOFO 
DMP. OS operates within CDC, and works to collaborate with the agency's 
Centers, Institutes, and Offices (CIOs). Multiple CIOs have their own 
DMPs, and a deep dive into these DMPs showed some common elements. 
There is a need to have a consistent and unified approach whereby CDC 
could meet obligations of calls to action.
    The White House Office of Science Technology and Policy (OSTP) 
released a memo in 2013 titled, ``Increasing Access to the Results of 
Federally Funded Scientific Research'' [<a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/ostp_public_access_memo_2013.pdf">https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/ostp_public_access_memo_2013.pdf</a>]. This memo emphasized DMPs and stated 
the following instructions:
    (b) Ensure that all extramural researchers receiving Federal grants 
and contracts for scientific research and intramural researchers 
develop data management plans, as appropriate, describing how they will 
provide for long-term preservation of, and access to, scientific data 
in digital formats resulting from federally funded research, or 
explaining why long-term preservation and access cannot be justified;
    (c) Allow the inclusion of appropriate costs for data management 
and access in proposals for Federal funding for scientific research;
    (d) Ensure appropriate evaluation of the merits of submitted data 
management plans;

[[Page 6225]]

    (e) Include mechanisms to ensure that intramural and extramural 
researchers comply with data management plans and policies;
    In response, CDC developed a data plan, produced a public access 
policy, and updated its data policy.
    In 2022, OSTP released a follow-up memo titled, ``Ensuring Free, 
Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research'' [<a href="https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/08-2022-OSTP-Public-Access-Memo.pdf">https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/08-2022-OSTP-Public-Access-Memo.pdf</a>]. This memo emphasized the scientific data 
underlying peer-reviewed publications. It included the following 
language.
    (b) Scientific Data
    i. Scientific data underlying peer-reviewed scholarly publications 
resulting from federally funded research should be made freely 
available and publicly accessible by default at the time of 
publication, unless subject to limitations as described in Section 
3(c)(i) and should be subject to federal agency guidelines for 
researcher responsibilities regarding data management and sharing 
plans, consistent with Section 3(c) of this memorandum.
    (c) Public access plans should outline the policies that federal 
agencies will use to establish researcher responsibilities on how 
federally funded scientific data will be managed and shared, including:
    (i) Details describing any potential legal, privacy, ethical, 
technical, intellectual property, or security limitations, and/or any 
other potential restrictions or limitations on data access, use, and 
disclosure, including those defined in terms and conditions of funding 
agreement or award or that convey from a data use agreement or 
stipulations of an Institutional Review Board;
    (ii) Plans to maximize appropriate sharing of the federally funded 
scientific data identified in Section 3(a) of this memorandum, such as 
providing risk-mitigated opportunities for limited data access; and,
    (iii) The specific online digital repository or repositories where 
the researcher expects to deposit their relevant data, consistent with 
the federal agency's guidelines.
    OSTP released an additional memo in 2025 titled, ``Agency Guidance 
for Implementing Gold Standard Science in the Conduct & Management of 
Scientific Activities'' [<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/OSTP-Guidance-for-GSS-June-2025.pdf">https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/OSTP-Guidance-for-GSS-June-2025.pdf</a>]. This memo addresses 
``science conducted in a manner that abides by nine key tenets'': (i) 
reproducible; (ii) transparent; (iii) communicative of error and 
uncertainty; (iv) collaborative and interdisciplinary; (v) skeptical of 
its findings and assumptions; (vi) structured for falsifiability of 
hypotheses; (vii) subject to unbiased peer review; (viii) accepting of 
negative results as positive outcomes; and, (ix) without conflicts of 
interest.
    The Executive Order (E.O.), ``Establishing the President's Make 
America Healthy Again Commission'' [<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/establishing-the-presidents-make-america-healthy-again-commission/">https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/establishing-the-presidents-make-america-healthy-again-commission/</a>], emphasizes transparency and open-source 
data in section 2(a).
    ``Sec. 2. Policy. It shall be the policy of the Federal Government 
to aggressively combat the critical health challenges facing our 
citizens, including the rising rates of mental health disorders, 
obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. To do so, executive 
departments and agencies (agencies) that address health or healthcare 
must focus on reversing chronic disease. Under this policy:
    (a) all federally funded health research should empower Americans 
through transparency and open-source data, and should avoid or 
eliminate conflicts of interest that skew outcomes and perpetuate 
distrust;
    (b) the National Institutes of Health and other health-related 
research funded by the Federal Government should prioritize gold-
standard research on the root causes of why Americans are getting sick;
    (c) agencies shall work with farmers to ensure that United States 
food is the healthiest, most abundant, and most affordable in the 
world; and
    (d) agencies shall ensure the availability of expanded treatment 
options and the flexibility for health insurance coverage to provide 
benefits that support beneficial lifestyle changes and disease 
prevention.''
    This project addresses and responds to these memos and Executive 
Orders by collecting data using a unified DMP. The CDC NOFO DMP was 
created to capture information consistent with CDC Grants Notice of 
Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Additional Requirement 25: Data Management 
and Access [<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/grants/additional-requirements/ar-25.html">https://www.cdc.gov/grants/additional-requirements/ar-25.html</a>] and is meant to be broadly applicable across CDC. The 
implementation of a unified DMP is expected to reduce researcher burden 
when applying for funding and when updating DMPs. This project will 
also reduce CDC staff burden, reduce cognitive load on DMP reviewers, 
and make it explicit which DMP elements have no responses. The project 
will reduce CDC staff time spent on DMP reviews by making each DMP 
element atomic and specific.
    Use of the CDC NOFO DMP will allow CDC to understand the number and 
types of datasets that are being released and shared alongside 
publications. The proposed new metadata elements for a unified DMP will 
also help guide CDC-funded researchers towards greater collaborations 
through fostering data reuse; improve reproducibility by encouraging 
greater data documentation; and improve accessibility by making CDC 
data more open and reusable to researchers and the public.
    Respondents are expected to complete the CDC NOFO DMP with as much 
information as known at the time. The document is a living document and 
may be updated when additional information is known and during 
reporting periods. Expected respondents include any researcher 
responding to Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) announcements. CDC 
requests OMB approval for an estimated 2,877 total burden hours with an 
estimated annual burden of 959 hours. There is no cost to respondents 
other than their time to participate.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Number of    Average burden
          Type of respondents                   Form name            Number of     responses per   per response
                                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)    Notice of Funding                    548               1             1.5
 Applicants (Initial).                   Opportunity (NOFO) Data
                                         Management Plan (DMP)
                                         Template for Extramural
                                         Research.

[[Page 6226]]

 
Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)    Notice of Funding                    548               1           15/60
 Applicants (Update).                    Opportunity (NOFO) Data
                                         Management Plan (DMP)
                                         Template for Extramural
                                         Research.
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Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Public Health 
Ethics and Regulations, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2026-02650 Filed 2-10-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P


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Indexed from Federal Register on February 11, 2026.

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