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Periodically, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) publishes abstracts of information collection requests under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of the clearance requests submitted to OMB for review, call the HRSA Reports Clearance Office on (301) 443-1129.

The following request has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for review under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995:

Proposed Project: The Smallpox Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (OMB No. 0915-0282)—Extension

The Smallpox Emergency Personnel Protection Act (SEPPA) authorized the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish The Smallpox Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which provides benefits and/or compensation to certain persons harmed as a direct result of receiving smallpox covered countermeasures, including the smallpox vaccine, or as a direct result of contracting vaccinia through certain accidental exposures.

The benefits available under the Program include compensation for unreimbursed medical care expenses, lost employment income, and survivor death benefits. To be considered for Program benefits, requesters (i.e., smallpox vaccine recipients, vaccinia contacts, survivors, or the representatives of the estates of deceased smallpox vaccine recipients or vaccinia contacts), or persons filing on Start Printed Page 42420their behalf as their representatives, must file a Request Form and the documentation required under SEPPA and its implementing regulations (42 CFR Part 102) to show that they are eligible.

Requesters must submit appropriate documentation to allow the Secretary to determine if the requesters are eligible for Program benefits. This documentation will vary somewhat depending on whether the requester is filing as a smallpox vaccine recipient, a vaccinia contact, a survivor, or a representative of an estate.

All requesters must submit medical records sufficient to demonstrate that a covered injury was sustained by a smallpox vaccine recipient or a vaccinia contact.

The Estimated Annual Burden is as follows:

Written comments and recommendations concerning the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of this notice to the desk officer for HRSA, either by e-mail to OIRA_submission@omb.eop.gov or by fax to 202-395-6974. Please direct all correspondence to the “attention of the desk officer for HRSA.”

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