Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

Issuing agencies

Full Text

<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 180 (Friday, September 18, 2026)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 180 (Friday, September 18, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59137-59138]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-19170]



[[Page 59137]]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30Day-26-1072]


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 ``STI Surveillance Network (SSuN)'' 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 December 5, 2025, to obtain 
comments from the public and affected agencies. CDC received three 
public 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 <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

    The STI Surveillance Network (SSuN) (OMB Control No. 0920-1072, 
Exp. 09/30/2026)--Revision--National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, 
STD, TB Prevention (NCHHSTP), Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is requesting 
a Revision of a currently approved information collection request (ICR) 
titled The STI Surveillance Network (SSuN) and approval for an 
additional period of three years. The Revision submitted for this ICR 
reflects changes to: (1) the title of the currently approved ICR; (2) 
the inclusion of Doxycycline Post-exposure Prophylaxis (Doxy PEP) data 
elements; (3) the deletion of multiple data elements no longer 
required; and (4) an updated anonymous patient clinic survey. The 
estimated burden hours for this revised collection decreases from the 
previously approved 7,510 to 7,237 due to decreases in the number of 
participating clinical sites and expected number of interviews 
conducted by funded jurisdictions, a result of declines in reported 
gonorrhea cases.
    The purpose of the STI Surveillance Network (SSuN) is to enhance 
national capacity for STI surveillance. While U.S. jurisdictions 
voluntarily report STI cases to the CDC via the National Notifiable 
Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS), these reports often lack 
essential patient demographics and detailed information on risk 
behaviors, treatment, co-infections, preventive services, and sexual 
networks.
    SSuN enhances CDC's STI surveillance efforts by:
    1. Providing comprehensive behavioral and demographic data on STI 
cases not available from standard case-based surveillance;
    2. Monitoring trends in STI and HIV co-infection, screening, 
prevention interventions, and healthcare access among patients with 
gonorrhea or other STIs;
    3. Providing an additional sentinel monitoring system for emerging 
health threats like mpox;
    These data help public health authorities better understand STI 
trends, assess disease burden inequalities, and monitor treatment 
outcomes and adverse health effects among STI patients. Data will be 
transmitted through CDC's Secure Access Management System (SAMS) by the 
15 state and local health jurisdictions (eight jurisdictions funded for 
both Strategy A and B, four Strategy A only jurisdictions, and three 
Strategy B only jurisdictions) funded to conduct SSuN activities. The 
revised project, SSuN Cycle 5 (2024-2029), comprises 15 US local/state 
health departments. SSuN recipients are funded to conduct either or 
both of the two core SSuN Strategies: Sentinel surveillance in 
specialty sexual health clinics (Strategy A) and enhanced population-
based surveillance for persons diagnosed with gonorrhea and adult 
syphilis (Strategy B).
    In Strategy A, data is abstracted from existing electronic medical 
records at 16 participating STI clinics across 12 funded jurisdictions 
(several sites utilize >1 clinical facility), utilizing information 
already collected during routine clinical care. This reflects a total 
of 384 burden hours (16 STI clinic respondents across 12 funded 
jurisdictions x six data transmissions x four hours per data 
transmission). These data are sent to the 12 funded health 
jurisdictions, where they are formatted and deduplicated by data 
managers into standardized formats. Records are also matched with the 
jurisdiction's HIV surveillance registry, providing data on HIV co-
infection not available from other multi-jurisdictional sources. All 
patient records are fully de-identified and securely transmitted to the 
CDC six times a year. Data managers at each of the 16 clinical 
facilities across 12 jurisdictions receiving funding are responsible 
for transmitting validated datasets for these activities to CDC every 
other month. This reflects 2,880 burden hours for Strategy A health 
department data management (12 health jurisdiction respondents x six 
data transmissions x 40 hours per data transmission). Participating 
Strategy A clinics are also required to administer a one-time brief 
(~five minute) clinic patient survey between years 2-5 of the cycle. 
Clinic patient surveys will be conducted with approximately 3,000 
patients across all funded sites for a total of five minutes each, 
resulting in 250 burden hours.
    The second core data collection activity, Strategy B, includes: (1) 
abstraction, recoding, and reporting of all gonorrhea and syphilis 
cases in the collaborating jurisdiction; (2) enhanced investigations of 
a random sample of diagnosed individuals; and (3) health

[[Page 59138]]

department abstraction and registry matching for a complete census of 
reported cases. Enhanced investigations include clinical data 
abstraction from providers, registry matching, and brief demographic 
and behavioral interviews. SSuN recipients implement data collection 
protocols that provide uniformly coded data on demographics, risk 
factors, clinical care, laboratory data, and healthcare-seeking 
behaviors, which are compiled into a national dataset after quality 
assurance at the CDC. For Activity 1, data managers at participating 
health jurisdictions are responsible for transmitting validated 
datasets case datasets to CDC every other month, resulting in 2,640 
burden hours (11 jurisdictions x six data transmissions x 40 hours per 
data transmission). In 2023, there were 187,833 cases of gonorrhea 
diagnosed and reported across the 11 Strategy B SSuN jurisdictions. 
Approximately 7%, or 13,148 gonorrhea cases were randomly sampled for 
enhanced investigation. Over past cycles, approximately 50% of patients 
contacted for investigation responded; we estimate this will result in 
1,083 burden hours for patients with gonorrhea.
    The total estimated annual burden hours are 7,237. Respondents will 
not receive federal funds to participate in this project. There are no 
additional costs to respondents other than their time.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                        Number of      Average
           Type of respondent                      Form name             Number of    responses per   hours per
                                                                        respondents    respondent      response
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Data managers at sentinel STI clinics...  Electronic Clinical Record             16               6            4
                                           Abstraction.
General Public--Adults (persons           Patient interviews for a            6,500               1        10/60
 diagnosed with gonorrhea).                random sample of gonorrhea
                                           cases.
Data Managers: local/state health         Data cleaning/validation,              12               6           40
 departments (Strategy A).                 HIV registry matching and
                                           data transmissions for all
                                           activity components.
Data Managers: local/state health         Data cleaning/validation,              11               6           40
 departments (Strategy B).                 HIV registry matching and
                                           data transmissions for all
                                           activity components.
General Public--Adults (persons           Clinic patient surveys.....         3,000               1         5/60
 presenting for care in STI Clinics).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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. 2026-19170 Filed 9-17-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P


</pre></body>
</html>