Justification for Change

Change Request: Passenger Locator Form

0920-0134 Expiration date 06/30/2012

Justification

CDC is requesting OMB approval for a non-substantial changes to the Passenger Locator Information Form currently approved under 0920-0134. The current expiration date of this data collection is 06/30/2012.

The passenger locator form (PLF) and any revisions thereof, is the outcome of a working group convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). This universal form is intended for use by all member parties to the International Health Regulations in the event of an international public health emergency. As specified by WHO and ICAO, “When a public health threat has been identified, and when the public health authorities of a Contracting State require information concerning passengers’ and/or crews’ travel itineraries or contact information for the purposes of tracing persons who may have been exposed to a communicable disease, that Contracting State should accept the “Public Health Passenger Locator Card” as the sole document for this purpose.

Revisions to the PLF already approved under 0920-134 have been recommended by the WHO working group, and are reflected on the revised form submitted with this request. This revised form is expected to be formally adopted by the WHO prior to the expiration date of CDC’s existing approval for data collected on this form. Therefore, CDC is requesting approval for nonsubstantive changes, as outlined below, with no effect on the burden.

The changes to the PLF include re-numbering of questions, re-organization based on question type, and better differentiation between questions to elicit more useful information.

The changes are as follows:

The following items have been deleted:

• Do you live in the U.S?

• If not, how long do you plan to be in the U.S.?

• Date of birth

The following items have been added:

• Passport number and issuing country: This information was added to increase the likelihood of notifying an individual of possible exposure to a communicable disease.

• Name, seat#, and age of traveling companions (if under 18 years): This information was added to: 1) decrease the burden of collecting the same information from family members as only one form is completed per family, and 2) increase the likelihood of finding a particular traveler who may have been traveling with others. The questions include those similar to the fields requested of the individual travelers under the current approval, i.e., name, seat number, and age.

• Email address of emergency contact: This information is requested to increase the likelihood of notifying an individual of possible exposure to a communicable disease.

The following items have been clarified to elicit more useful information:

Date of Flight Departure has been changed to Date of Arrival to allow for efficient planning of response at port of entry.

Explanation for Emergency Contact information has been shorted from 3 weeks to 30 days. This timeframe has been shortened to increase the chance of CDC contacting the exposed individual within the timeframe of required medical intervention.

Reason Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate

The PLF is a universal form that is used worldwide by the aviation industry as referenced by WHO in the International Health Regulations. Because this universal form is one that is formally adopted by CDC, IATA and WHO as well as posted on WHO’s website for all air carriers to access, CDC is requesting exemption from standard OMB control # and expiration date on the form.