Request for Information 2019

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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 60 / Thursday, March 28, 2019 / Notices

credit losses embedded in the purchase price
of PCD assets to be estimated and separately
recognized as an allowance as of the date of
acquisition. This is accomplished by grossing
up the purchase price by the amount of
expected credit losses at acquisition, rather
than being reported as a credit loss expense.
As a result, as of acquisition date, the
amortized cost basis of a PCD financial asset
is equal to the principal balance of the asset
less the non-credit discount, rather than
equal to the purchase price as is currently
recorded for PCI loans.
AFS Debt Securities
The new accounting standard also modifies
the existing accounting practices for
impairment on AFS debt securities. Under
this new standard, institutions will recognize
a credit loss on an AFS debt security through
an allowance for credit losses, rather than a
direct write-down as is required by current
U.S. GAAP. The recognized credit loss is
limited to the amount by which the
amortized cost of the security exceeds fair
value. A write-down of an AFS debt
security’s amortized cost basis to fair value,
with any incremental impairment reported in
earnings, would be required only if the fair
value of an AFS debt security is less than its
amortized cost basis and either (1) the
institution intends to sell the debt security,
or (2) it is more likely than not that the
institution will be required to sell the
security before recovery of its amortized cost
basis.
Although the measurement of credit loss
allowances is changing under CECL, the
FASB’s new accounting standard does not
address when a financial asset should be
placed in nonaccrual status. Therefore,
institutions should continue to apply the
agencies’ nonaccrual policies that are
currently in place. In addition, the FASB
retained the existing write-off guidance in
U.S. GAAP, which requires an institution to
write off a financial asset in the period the
asset is deemed uncollectible.
[FR Doc. 2019–05933 Filed 3–27–19; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
[Docket No. CDC–2019–0022; NIOSH–326]

National Firefighter Registry; Request
for Information
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, HHS.
ACTION: Request for information.
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AGENCY:

The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) in the
Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) announces the opening
of a docket to obtain information
regarding the development and
maintenance of a voluntary registry of

SUMMARY:

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U.S. firefighters. The purpose of the
Registry will be to collect health and
occupational information for the
purpose of determining cancer
incidence. CDC is seeking input on
approaches to maximizing firefighter
participation in the Registry and
coordination of data collection.
DATES: Comments must be received by
May 28, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be
submitted electronically, through the
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://
www.regulations.gov, or by sending a
hard copy to the NIOSH Docket Office,
Robert A. Taft Laboratories, MS–C34,
1090 Tusculum Avenue, Cincinnati, OH
45226. All written submissions received
must include the agency name (Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention,
HHS) and docket number (CDC–2019–
0022; NIOSH–326) for this action. All
relevant comments, including any
personal information provided, will be
posted without change to http://
www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Rachel Weiss, Program Analyst, 1090
Tusculum Avenue, MS: C–48,
Cincinnati, OH 45226; telephone (855)
818–1629 (this is a toll-free number);
email [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Firefighter Cancer Registry Act of 2018
(42 U.S.C. 280e-5) requires that CDC
develop and maintain a voluntary
registry of firefighters (Registry) to
improve the nationwide monitoring of
cancer rates among firefighters and to
make the resulting epidemiological
information and analysis publicly
available. In order to develop the
Registry, CDC is soliciting public
comments from any interested party on
a strategy for inclusion of firefighters in
the Registry and to coordinate data
collection activities.
The National Firefighter Registry will
be constructed primarily for the purpose
of determining cancer incidence and
trends among firefighters. Data
submission will be voluntary. In order
to develop an accurate picture of cancer
incidence among the firefighting
community, the Registry will be
designed to collect information on
volunteer, paid-on-call, and career
firefighters, independent of cancer
status or diagnosis. Such information
may include basic demographic
information, number of years and time
period(s) as an active firefighter, number
of fire incidents attended, details of any
cancer diagnosis, additional risk factors
such as smoking or drug use, and
relevant medical history. This
information will be collected
periodically from Registry participants

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and other sources. CDC is further
required to ensure that data and
analyses in the Registry are available to
the public, as appropriate, subject to
relevant Federal and state privacy
protections such as de-identification of
personally identifiable information.
CDC is considering three different
strategies to recruit participants into the
Registry, as described below. Each
approach has strengths and limitations,
and it may be necessary for CDC to use
a combination of all three strategies in
order to reach reliable conclusions
applicable to the general population of
firefighters as well as specific
subgroups. Each approach proposed
below will require obtaining informed
consent from every firefighter who
agrees to participate in the Registry,
prior to the collection of data. The
informed consent document would
describe the purpose of the Registry;
how health, occupational, and contact
information will be maintained,
updated, and potentially used; the
privacy protections afforded by
applicable Federal laws and procedures
to protect such data; and other relevant
information.
Recruitment Strategy Options
1. Convenience Sampling—Open
Enrollment
CDC would develop a secure web
portal to allow current and former
volunteer, paid-on-call, and career
firefighters to provide information to the
Registry, including demographic
information, as well as relevant
occupational and personal health
history. CDC would consult with fire
service stakeholders on methods to raise
awareness and to notify their members
about the open enrollment web portal.
An open enrollment design may limit
the ability of researchers to make
statistical inferences because those who
enroll in this manner may be different
from the general population of
firefighters. Nevertheless, Registry data
from these participants may be helpful
to CDC researchers in generating
hypotheses for future research studies.
Further, this approach would provide
the opportunity for any fire service
members to participate in the Registry
and for CDC researchers to have a quick
and cost-effective means for crosssectional analysis of characteristics
relevant to firefighter health and safety.
2. Organizations-Level Probability
Sampling—Recruit Participants
Through Professional Associations
CDC would consult with firefighter
organizations to identify current and
former members who worked during a

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specified time frame (e.g., 2000–2018)
for the purposes of direct solicitation.
These organizations represent different
groups of currently employed (and, in
some cases, former) firefighters,
including career and volunteer
firefighters; sub-specialties of the fire
service, such as arson investigators,
instructors, wildland firefighters, and
airport rescue firefighters; and specific
demographic groups, such as minority
and female firefighters, and volunteer
firefighters. This strategy would allow
CDC to contact members from these
organizations for voluntary participation
in the Registry.
A strength of this approach is that,
because firefighter organizations reach a
vast majority of the firefighter
workforce, populations representative of
specific subgroups of firefighters are
more likely to be represented. However,
recruiting participants using this
method alone may be time-intensive
and costly, and could result in a limited
sample that is not representative of the
entire population of firefighters.
3. Fire Department-Level Probability
Sampling—Study Population From
Select Fire Departments
CDC would obtain a list of fire
departments from the U.S. Fire
Administration’s National Fire
Department Registry and other sources
to request identification of current and
former firefighters who worked during a
specified time frame (e.g., 2000–2018).
CDC would then match the rosters of
current and former firefighters against
the National Death Index (NDI) to
determine vital status. Living
individuals would be directly contacted
(or directed to the web portal) for
voluntary recruitment into the Registry.
For those firefighters determined to be
deceased, the cause of death would be
included in the Registry database.
This recruitment method would
facilitate reaching large numbers of
firefighters by obtaining immediate
access to fire department rosters of
current and former employees.
Depending on the participation rate, this
method could yield a Registry
population representative of the general
population of firefighters and inclusive
of specific subgroups of firefighters.
However, this approach would require
CDC to obtain approval from individual
fire departments and coordination with
their personnel systems, in addition to
contacting members directly, which
may be time-intensive and costly.
CDC Is Seeking Input From All
Interested Stakeholders
In order to recruit firefighters to
participate in the National Firefighter

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Registry, CDC seeks input and advice
from all interested stakeholders in
response to the following questions:
1. How should CDC define
‘‘firefighter’’ for the purpose of creating
the Registry?
2. What are the strengths and
weaknesses associated with CDC using
a combination of all three of the
recruitment and enrollment strategies
described above?
3. If CDC were to focus on only one
or two of the enrollment approaches
described above, which one(s) should be
used, and why?
4. Are there other recruitment and
enrollment methods that CDC should
consider? If so, please describe them.
5. What are some ways to maximize
firefighter participation in the Registry?
6. Which under-represented or understudied groups of firefighters should be
included in the Registry? Are there
unique data collection needs that
should be considered to allow sufficient
representation of minority, female, and
volunteer firefighters? Are there any
other unique characteristics of these
under-represented or under-studied
groups that should be considered or
addressed in the Registry?
7. What are the preferred methods for
communicating with firefighters in
order to increase awareness of the
Registry and to communicate research
findings?
8. If CDC were to solicit participation
from fire departments, what criteria
should be used in selecting those
departments?
9. What are some ways to maximize
the participation of fire departments in
efforts to recruit firefighters?
10. What are strategies that can be
used to recruit volunteer fire
department members?
11. What are strategies that can be
used to solicit cooperation of fire
departments for the purpose of
recruiting women and minority
firefighters?
12. Do volunteer fire departments
retain employment records and fire
incident records?
Dated: March 25, 2019.
Sandra Cashman,
Executive Secretary, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2019–05971 Filed 3–27–19; 8:45 am]
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11799

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services
[Document Identifier: CMS–3070G–I, CMS–
10565]

Agency Information Collection
Activities: Submission for OMB
Review; Comment Request
Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

The Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services (CMS) is announcing
an opportunity for the public to
comment on CMS’ intention to collect
information from the public. 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 or reinstatement of an existing
collection of information, and to allow
a second opportunity for public
comment on the notice. Interested
persons are invited to send comments
regarding the burden estimate or any
other aspect of this collection of
information, including the necessity and
utility of the proposed information
collection for the proper performance of
the agency’s functions, the accuracy of
the estimated burden, ways to enhance
the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected, and the use
of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology to
minimize the information collection
burden.
DATES: Comments on the collection(s) of
information must be received by the
OMB desk officer by April 29, 2019.
ADDRESSES: When commenting on the
proposed information collections,
please reference the document identifier
or OMB control number. To be assured
consideration, comments and
recommendations must be received by
the OMB desk officer via one of the
following transmissions: OMB, Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Attention: CMS Desk Officer, Fax
Number: (202) 395–5806 OR Email:
[email protected].
To obtain copies of a supporting
statement and any related forms for the
proposed collection(s) summarized in
this notice, you may make your request
using one of following:
1. Access CMS’ website address at
website address at https://www.cms.gov/
Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/
PaperworkReductionActof1995/PRAListing.html.
SUMMARY:

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