Submission for OMB Review; 30-Day Comment Request National Institutes of Health (NIH) Loan Repayment Programs; Office of the Director (OD)

SUMMARY:

Under the provisions of section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Division of Loan Repayment (DLR), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve the information collection listed below. This proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on February 19, 2016, and page numbers 8514-8516, and allowed 60 days for public comment. No public comments were received. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment. The NIH may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

Direct Comments to OMB: Written comments and/or suggestions regarding the item(s) contained in this notice, especially regarding the estimated public burden and associated response time, should be directed to the: Office of Management and Budget, Office of Regulatory Affairs, OIRA_submission@omb.eop.gov or by fax to 202-395-6974, Attention: NIH Desk Officer.

Comment Due Date: Comments regarding this information collection are best assured of having their full effect if received within 30 days of the date of this publication.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To obtain a copy of the data collection plans and instruments or request more information on the proposed project contact: Steve Boehlert, Director of Operations, Division of Loan Repayment, National Institutes of Health, 6011 Executive Blvd., Room 206 (MSC 7650), Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7650. Mr. Boehlert may be contacted via email at BoehlerS@od.nih.gov or by calling 301-451-4465. Formal requests for additional plans and instruments must be requested in writing.

Proposed Collection: National Institutes of Health (NIH) Loan Repayment Programs (LRP). Type of Information Collection Request: Revision of a currently approved collection (OMB No. 0925-0361, expiration date 06/30/17). Form Numbers: NIH 2674-1, NIH 2674-2, NIH 2674-3, NIH 2674-4, NIH 2674-5, NIH 2674-6, NIH 2674-7, NIH 2674-8, NIH 2674-9, NIH 2674-10, NIH 2674-11, NIH 2674-12, NIH 2674-13, NIH 2674-14, NIH 2674-15, NIH 2674-16, NIH 2674-17, NIH 2674-18, NIH 2674-19, and NIH 2674-20 (new).

Need and Use of Information Collection: The NIH makes available financial assistance, in the form of educational loan repayment, to M.D., Ph.D., Pharm.D., Psy.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., D.P.M., D.C., N.D., O.D., D.V.M., or equivalent degree holders who perform biomedical or behavioral research in NIH intramural laboratories or as extramural grantees or scientists funded by domestic non-profit organizations for a minimum of two years (three years for the General Research LRP) in research areas supporting the mission and priorities of the NIH.

The AIDS Research Loan Repayment Program (AIDS-LRP) is authorized by section 487A of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 288-1); the Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (CR-LRP) is authorized by section 487E (42 U.S.C. 288-5); the General Research Loan Repayment Program (GR-LRP) is authorized by section 487C of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 288-3); the Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program (LRP-CR) is authorized by section 487F (42 U.S.C. 288-5a); the Pediatric Research Loan Repayment Program (PR-LRP) is authorized by section 487F (42 U.S.C. 288-6); the Extramural Clinical Research LRP for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (ECR-LRP) is authorized by an amendment to section 487E (42 U.S.C. 288-5); the Contraception and Infertility Research LRP (CIR-LRP) is authorized by section 487B (42 U.S.C. 288-2); and the Health Disparities Research Loan Repayment Program (HD-LRP) is authorized by section 485G (42 U.S.C. 287c-33).

The Loan Repayment Programs can repay up to $35,000 per year toward a participant's extant eligible educational loans, directly to financial institutions. The information proposed for collection will be used by the Division of Loan Repayment to determine an applicant's eligibility for participation in the program.

Frequency of Response: Initial application and one- or two-year renewal application.

Affected Public: Individuals or households; Nonprofits; and Businesses or other for-profit.

Type of Respondents: Physicians, other scientific or medical personnel, and institutional representatives.

Questions, required information, and requested documents remain largely unchanged. Improvements were made to the structure and appearance of online forms to provide applicants with a better user experience. Recommenders will no longer be asked to complete a recommendation form, but to write a reference letter that comments on the research skills and the abilities of the applicant. A general eligibility checklist (NIH 2674-20) was added at the start of the application to reduce the likelihood of ineligible individuals working through the application only to learn of their disqualification after submitting the application. Redundant questions or statements were eliminated. OMB approval is requested for 3 years. There are no costs to respondents other than their time. The total estimated annualized burden hours are 33,242.