Request for Emergency ICR

USDA
United States Department of Agriculture

United States
Department of
Agriculture

TO:

Marketing and
Regulatory
Programs

THROUGH: Ruth Brown
Department Clearance Officer
Office of the Chief Informat' Officer

Washington, DC
20250

FROM:

Cortney Higgins
Office of Management and Budget Desk Officer

Greg Ibach
Under Secretary
Marketing and Re

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‘

tb.

y Programs

Digitally signed by ANTHONY
Kevin Shea
SHEA
ANTHONY
SHEA
Administrator
Date: 2020.10.02 17:13:29 -0400'
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Burke L. Healey
Deputy Administrator
Veterinary Services

Digitally signed by BURKE

HEALEY
BURKE HEALEY Date:
2020.08.17 09:34:37-0600'

SUBJECT: Request for Emergency Approval of a New Information
Collection for Reporting Requirements — SARS-CoV-2
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is requesting an
emergency six-month approval for epidemiological reporting of Sudden Acute
Respiratory Syndrome Coronovirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) from the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB). Approval to collect this information is needed
immediately to monitor the unanticipated pandemic of the SARS-CoV-2
emerging disease and its effects in the North American animal population.
Data collection will occur in coordination with the National Animal Health
Reporting System' (NAHRS) OMB Control number 0579-0299, expiration
October 31, 2022, an ongoing information collection process within APHIS.
APHIS' main mission is the prevention, control, and eradication of animal
diseases to safeguard animal health. Disease detection and prevention is the
most effective method for maintaining a healthy animal population and for
enhancing the United States' ability to compete globally in animal and animal
product trade. APHIS determined that in this situation traditional information
collection and rulemaking procedures could further cause public harm, is
contrary to the public interest, and that there is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553.

See the homepage for the NAHRS program:
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/monitoring-andsurveillance/sa_disease_reporting/ct info for_participants.

Ms. Higgins
Page 2
The NAHRS program is designed to provide summary infotmation on the presence or
absence of reportable animal diseases in the United States. The program collects data
from participant States on the presence of listed diseases in livestock, poultry, and
aquaculture species that have been observed in the State with a high level of certainty.
SARS-CoV-2 is currently on the list of reportable diseases that State officials report on
each month.
The main objectives behind collecting additional SARS-CoV-2 data through the NAHRS
system is to further our understanding of the disease in animals while meeting our World
Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) reporting obligations. Reports of emerging and
OIE-listed diseases occurring in the United States are required for membership in the OIE
and meet international trade reporting requirements for animal health. The data collected
from member countries are available at the OIE website World Animal Health
Information Database (WAHIS)2. Information about SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging
diseases is used by OIE member and nonmember countries to better understand the
disease and enhance the world's capacity for response to such crises.3
Furthermore, because SARS-CoV-2 is zoonotic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has
a duty under Section 8319 of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness
and Response Act of 2002 to collaborate and coordinate with Department of Health and
Human Services partners in its surveillance.4 Collection and dissemination of animal and
poultry health data and information is mandated by 7 U.S.C. 391, the Animal Industry
Act of 1884, which established the precursor of the APHIS, Veterinary Services, Bureau
of Animal Industry. Legal requirements for examining and reporting on animal disease
control methods are further mandated by 21 U.S.C. 119, "Agents to Examine and Report
on Methods of Treatment of Animals, and Means for Suppression of Diseases," amended
February 7, 1928.
Thank you for your time and consideration.

2 More information on the World Animal Health reporting may be found at the OfE's website:
https://www.oie.int/wahis 2/public/wahid.php/Wahidhome/Home
3 https://mai lchi .mp/o ie. int/the-oies-ro le-in-global-e fforts-to-combat-covid-19
https://uscode.house.gov/statviewer.htm?volume=116&page=674

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