Notice2026-20351
Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
October 5, 2026
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 191 (Monday, October 5, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 191 (Monday, October 5, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63284-63286]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-20351]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[30Day-26-1422]
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 ``National Wastewater Surveillance System for
Infectious Diseases to Inform Public Health Action'' 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 February 24, 2026, to obtain comments from
the public and affected agencies. CDC received 463 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
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 Rapid Response Research and Surveillance Branch (R3SB) in the
Division of Infectious Disease Readiness and Innovation works to reduce
disease burden through collaboration with an integrated network of
public health partners to rapidly respond to infectious diseases of
public health concern. The branch also leads nation-wide wastewater
surveillance, an innovative public health tool to monitor infectious
disease threats regardless of symptoms
[[Page 63285]]
and clinical testing. 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 data
of infectious diseases have provided impactful information to local
public health authorities to confirm trends observed in testing or
hospitalization rates, and to assert the need for increased testing or
healthcare resources. From local universities to statewide efforts,
wastewater surveillance has provided data for early warning of disease
outbreaks, with an approximate 4-6-day lead time relative to clinical
surveillance. NWSS currently supports 64 US jurisdictions, including 50
states and the District of Columbia, six major cities, seven
territories, six tribes, and two tribe-serving organizations to
implement wastewater surveillance. Together with CDC-funded national-
level wastewater testing, data submitted to NWSS covers approximately
142 million people, or about 42% of the US population. NWSS will
continue to support state, tribal, local, and territorial (STLT)
partners to collect wastewater data for rapid and effective public
health action.
NWSS-One CDC Platform (1CDP) accepts data from US jurisdictional
partners, allowing them to submit, view, and analyze wastewater
detections and trends in near real time. These data may then be used at
the state, tribal, local, and territorial level to communicate with the
public or to inform public health decision makers. Wastewater
surveillance can be especially impactful in underserved populations
where clinical testing is limited, or health care seeking is reduced.
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.
The NWSS collects and analyzes community-level wastewater to detect
and track respiratory viruses and other emerging infectious diseases,
providing timely data to inform public health actions. Participating
health departments, utilities, and laboratories (including private labs
under CDC agreements) collect grab or composite influent samples at
least weekly, ship samples and metadata to testing labs for RNA/DNA
quantification and, when indicated, sequencing, and submit
concentration data to 1CDP and sequence data to CDC's Advanced
Molecular Detection (AMD) platform. Wastewater data serve as a pooled
community signal--useful even when infections are asymptomatic or
clinical testing is limited--and can estimate infection trends, provide
early warning (e.g., prior correlations with COVID-19 case increases),
and guide interventions such as targeted outreach or provider alerts.
The system covers U.S. communities (states, counties, cities,
territories, and tribal areas) where sampling occurs, and results are
analyzed using standardized metrics--such as a wastewater viral
activity level for higher-prevalence pathogens and detection/frequency
metrics for lower-prevalence pathogens--with visualization via
dashboards, maps, and tables; sequenced samples are further examined
for genetic variants.
CDC requests OMB approval for a continuation of the NWSS data
collection for an additional three years. Modifications to the data
collection package include and update on platform used to collect data
from the Data Collation and Integration for Public Health Event
Response (DCIPHER) to 1CDP, minor updates and removal of several
attachments, and a reduction in the estimated burden that resulted from
the NWSS no longer collecting case data. The total estimated annualized
burden is 453,505 hours.
Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average
Number of Number of burden per
Type of respondents Form name respondents responses per response (in
respondent hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State, tribal, local, territorial Component 1 Forms:...... 64 2,080.............. 139/60
health departments. <bullet>
Attachment_02_Component
_1_NWSS_Data_Dictionary
_v6.3.0_2026_05_19.xlsx.
<bullet>
Attachment_03_Compon
ent_1_Wastewater_Mas
ter_Reference_Guide_
v4-2-2.xlsx.
<bullet> Attachment
04_Component-
1_BioSample_ww_templ
ate_v1.9_NWSS.xlsx.
<bullet> Attachment
05-Component-
1_SRA_ww_template_v5
.8_nwss.xlsx.
<bullet> Attachment-
06_Component-
1_NCBI_DCIPHER_Cross
walk_DataDictionary.
csv_NEW.xlsx.
<bullet>
Attachment_07_Compon
ent_1_2_NWSS_DCIPHER
_BulkUploadTool_scre
enshot_NEW.pdf.
<bullet>
Attachment_08_Compon
ent_1_NWSS_1CDP_Wast
ewater_Data_CSV_Temp
late_v4_All_Fields_N
EW.csv.
Private laboratory............... Component 1 Forms:...... 1 Up to 62,400 (800 139/60
<bullet> samples per week
Attachment_02_Component plus 400 sequenced
_1_NWSS_Data_Dictionary samples per week
_v6.3.0_2026_05_19.xlsx. is 62,400
annually).
[[Page 63286]]
<bullet>
Attachment_03_Compon
ent_1_Wastewater_Mas
ter_Reference_Guide_
v4-2-2.xlsx.
<bullet> Attachment
04_Component-
1_BioSample_ww_templ
ate_v1.9_NWSS.xlsx.
<bullet> Attachment
05-Component-
1_SRA_ww_template_v5
.8_nwss.xlsx.
<bullet>
Attachment_06_Compon
ent_1_NCBI_DCIPHER_C
rosswalk_DataDiction
ary_New.xlsx.
<bullet>
Attachment_07_Compon
ent_1_2_NWSS_DCIPHER
_BulkUploadTool_scre
enshot_NEW.pdf.
<bullet>
Attachment_08_Compon
ent_1_NWSS_1CDP_Wast
ewater_Data_CSV_Temp
late_v4_All_Fields_N
EW.csv.
<bullet> Attachment-
10_Component-
1_CDC_seq_manifest_d
ata_dict.xlsx.
State, tribal, local, territorial Component 2 Forms:...... 213 1.................. 155/60
health departments and <bullet> Sewershed
wastewater utilities. spatial files, no form
required.
<bullet>
Attachment_07_Component
_1_2_NWSS_DCIPHER_BulkU
ploadTool_screenshot_NE
W.pdf.
<bullet>
Attachment_09-
Component-
2_NWSS_DCIPHER_Sewer
shed_Name_Crosswalk_
CSV_Upload_Template_
NEW.xlsx.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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. 2026-20351 Filed 10-2-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P
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