[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 172 (Thursday, September 9, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50544-50545]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19480]



[[Page 50544]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2018-N-3037]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Generic Clearance for Quantitative Testing for the 
Development of Food and Drug Administration Communications

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing 
an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain 
information by the Agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA), Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal 
Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including 
each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, and 
to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This 
notice solicits comments on the collection of information entitled 
``Generic Clearance for Quantitative Testing for the Development of FDA 
Communications,'' which collects individual generic quantitative 
information (e.g., surveys, experimental studies) to test 
communications or educational messages on FDA-regulated food and 
cosmetic products, dietary supplements, and animal food and feed while 
they are being developed or are in review.

DATES: Submit either electronic or written comments on the collection 
of information by November 8, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments as follows. Please note that late, 
untimely filed comments will not be considered. Electronic comments 
must be submitted on or before November 8, 2021. The https://www.regulations.gov electronic filing system will accept comments until 
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time at the end of November 8, 2021. Comments 
received by mail/hand delivery/courier (for written/paper submissions) 
will be considered timely if they are postmarked or the delivery 
service acceptance receipt is on or before that date.

Electronic Submissions

    Submit electronic comments in the following way:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted 
electronically, including attachments, to https://www.regulations.gov 
will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be 
made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment 
does not include any confidential information that you or a third party 
may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone 
else's Social Security number, or confidential business information, 
such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your 
name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in 
the body of your comments, that information will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov.
     If you want to submit a comment with confidential 
information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, 
submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner 
detailed (see ``Written/Paper Submissions'' and ``Instructions'').

Written/Paper Submissions

    Submit written/paper submissions as follows:
     Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier (for written/paper 
submissions): Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
     For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets 
Management Staff, FDA will post your comment, as well as any 
attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, 
as confidential, if submitted as detailed in ``Instructions.''
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No. 
FDA-2018-N-3037 for ``Agency Information Collection Activities; 
Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Generic Clearance for 
Quantitative Testing for the Development of FDA Communications.'' 
Received comments, those filed in a timely manner (see ADDRESSES), will 
be placed in the docket and, except for those submitted as 
``Confidential Submissions,'' publicly viewable at https://www.regulations.gov or at the Dockets Management Staff between 9 a.m. 
and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, 240-402-7500.
     Confidential Submissions--To submit a comment with 
confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly 
available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You 
should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information 
you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states 
``THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.'' The Agency will 
review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in 
its consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the 
claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be 
available for public viewing and posted on https://www.regulations.gov. 
Submit both copies to the Dockets Management Staff. If you do not wish 
your name and contact information to be made publicly available, you 
can provide this information on the cover sheet and not in the body of 
your comments and you must identify this information as 
``confidential.'' Any information marked as ``confidential'' will not 
be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other 
applicable disclosure law. For more information about FDA's posting of 
comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or 
access the information at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-09-18/pdf/2015-23389.pdf.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in 
the heading of this document, into the ``Search'' box and follow the 
prompts and/or go to the Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane, 
Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852, 240-402-7500.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel Showalter, Office of 
Operations, Food and Drug Administration, Three White Flint North, 10A-
12M, 11601 Landsdown St., North Bethesda, MD 20852, 240-994-7399, 
PRAStaff@fda.hhs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521), Federal 
Agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. 
``Collection of information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 
1320.3(c) and includes Agency requests or requirements that members of 
the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a 
third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) 
requires Federal Agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal 
Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including 
each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, 
before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with 
this requirement, FDA is publishing notice of the proposed collection 
of information set forth in this document.
    With respect to the following collection of information, FDA 
invites comments on these topics: (1) Whether

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the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of FDA's functions, including whether the information will 
have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of FDA's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance 
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; 
and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques, when appropriate, and other forms of information 
technology.

Generic Clearance for Quantitative Testing for the Development of FDA 
Communications

OMB Control Number 0910-0865--Extension

    This notice requests extension of OMB approval of the FDA 
information collection for a generic clearance that allows FDA to use 
quantitative social/behavioral science data collection techniques 
(i.e., surveys and experimental studies) to test consumers' reactions 
to FDA communications or educational messaging about FDA-regulated food 
and cosmetic products, dietary supplements, and animal food and feed. 
To ensure that communications activities and educational campaigns have 
the highest potential to be received, understood, and accepted by those 
for whom they are intended, it is important to assess communications 
while they are under development. Understanding consumers' attitudes, 
motivations, and behaviors in response to potential communications and 
education messaging plays an important role in improving FDA's 
communications.
    If the following conditions are not met, FDA will submit an 
information collection request to OMB for approval through the normal 
PRA process:
     The collections are voluntary;
     The collections are low burden for participants (based on 
considerations of total burden hours, total number of participants, or 
burden hours per participant) and are low cost for both the 
participants and the Federal Government;
     The collections are noncontroversial;
     Personally-identifiable information (PII) is collected 
only to the extent necessary \1\ and is not retained;
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    \1\ For example, collections that collect PII to provide 
remuneration for participants of focus groups and cognitive 
laboratory studies will be submitted under this request. All Privacy 
Act requirements will be met.
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     Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of 
substantially informing influential policy decisions; \2\ and
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    \2\ As defined in OMB and Agency Information Quality Guidelines, 
``influential'' means that ``an agency can reasonably determine that 
dissemination of the information will have or does have a clear and 
substantial impact on important public policies or important private 
sector decisions.''
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     Information gathered will yield qualitative findings; the 
collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistical data 
or used as though the results are generalizable to the population of 
study.
    To obtain approval for an individual generic collection submission 
that meets the conditions of this generic clearance, an abbreviated 
supporting statement will be submitted to OMB along with supporting 
documentation (e.g., a copy of the survey or experimental design and 
stimuli for testing).
    FDA will submit individual quantitative collections under this 
generic clearance to OMB. Individual quantitative collections will also 
undergo review by FDA's Research Involving Human Subjects Committee, 
senior leadership in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, 
and PRA specialists.
    Respondents to this collection of information may include a wide 
range of consumers and other FDA stakeholders such as producers and 
manufacturers who are regulated under FDA-regulated food and cosmetic 
products, dietary supplements, and animal food and feed.
    We estimate the burden of this collection of information as 
follows:

              Table 1--Estimated Annual Reporting Burden by Anticipated Data Collection Methods \1\
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                                                   Number of
                                   Number of      disclosures    Total annual    Average  burden
          Survey type             respondents         per         disclosures     per response     Total  hours
                                                  respondent
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Cognitive Interviews Screener.             720               1             720  0.083 (5                      60
                                                                                 minutes).
Cognitive Interviews..........             144               1             144  1...............             144
Pre-test Study Screener.......           2,400               1           2,400  0.083 (5                     199
                                                                                 minutes).
Pre-test Study................             480               1             480  0.25 (15                     120
                                                                                 minutes).
Self-administered Surveys/              75,000               1          75,000  0.083 (5                   6,225
 Experimental Studies Screener.                                                  minutes).
Self-administered Surveys/              15,000               1          15,000  0.25 (15                   3,750
 Experimental Studies.                                                           minutes).
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    Total.....................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ................          10,498
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\1\ There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection of
  information.

    Based on a review of the information collection since our last 
request for OMB approval, we have made no adjustments to our burden 
estimate. The total estimated annual burden is 10,498 hours. Current 
estimates are based on both historical numbers of participants from 
past projects as well as estimates for projects to be conducted in the 
next 3 years. The number of participants to be included in each new 
survey will vary, depending on the nature of the compliance efforts and 
the target audience.

    Dated: September 3, 2021.
Lauren K. Roth,
Acting Principal Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2021-19480 Filed 9-8-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4164-01-P


