Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request-Federal Claims Collection Methods for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Recipient Claims, 75117-75118 [2012-30599]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 19, 2012 / Notices
[FR Doc. 2012–30556 Filed 12–18–12; 8:45 a.m.]
BILLING CODE 3410–30–C
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
Agency Information Collection
Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request—Federal Claims
Collection Methods for Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program
Recipient Claims
Food and Nutrition Service,
USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
Notice invites the general public and
other public agencies to comment on
proposed information collections. This
Notice of Proposed Information
Collection announces the intent of the
Food and Nutrition Service to revise
and extend the information collection
requirements associated with initiating
and conducting Federal collection
actions against households with
delinquent Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) recipient
debts.
DATES: Written comments must be
submitted on or before February 19,
2013 to be assured consideration.
ADDRESSES: Comments are invited on:
(a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate
of the burden of the proposed collection
of information, including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used;
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility,
and clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on those who are to respond, including
through the use of appropriate,
automated, electronic, mechanical, or
other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information
technology.
Send comments to Jane Duffield,
Chief, State Administration Branch,
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program, Food and Nutrition Service,
USDA, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room
818, Alexandria, Virginia 22302.
Comments may also be submitted via
fax to the attention of Jane Duffield at
703–605–0795. Comments will also be
accepted through the Federal
eRulemaking Portal. Go to https://
www.regulations.gov and follow the
sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:35 Dec 18, 2012
Jkt 229001
online instructions for submitting
comments electronically.
All written comments will be open for
public inspection at the office of the
Food and Nutrition Service, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park
Center Drive, Alexandria, Virginia
22302, Room 818.
All comments will be summarized
and included in the request for Office of
Management and Budget approval of the
information collection. All comments
will become a matter of public record.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Debra Utting at (703) 305–2439.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Federal Claims Collection
Methods for Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program Recipient Claims
OMB Number: 0584–0446
Form Number: None
Expiration Date: January 31, 2013
Type of Request: Revision of a
currently approved collection.
Abstract: Section 13(b) of the Food
Stamp Act of 1977, as amended (7
U.S.C. 2022(b)), and Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
regulations at 7 CFR 273.18 require
State agencies to refer delinquent
debtors for SNAP benefit over-issuance
to the U.S. Department of the Treasury
for collection. The Debt Collection
Improvement Act of 1996, 31 U.S.C.
3701, et seq., requires these debts to be
referred to Treasury for collection when
they are 180 days or more delinquent.
Through the Treasury Offset Program
(TOP), 31 CFR part 285, payments such
as Federal income tax refunds, Federal
salaries and other Federal payments
payable to these delinquent debtors will
be offset and the amount applied to the
delinquent debt. TOP places a burden
on States agencies and/or former SNAP
recipients who owe delinquent debts in
three areas: 60-day notices from State
agencies to debtors that their debt will
be referred to TOP; State-level
submissions; and automated data
processing (ADP).
TOP 60-Day Notice Burden
The burden associated with the
information collection involves both the
debtors and the State agencies. The TOP
60-day notice notifies the debtor of the
proposed referral to TOP and provides
the right for review and appeal. The
State agency prepares and mails the
notices as well as responds to inquiries
and appeals. The debtor, in turn,
receives and reads the notice and may
make an inquiry or appeal the
impending action. Based on an average
of the number of records for claims the
States sent to TOP for calendar years
2009, 2010 and 2011, we estimate that
PO 00000
Frm 00013
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
75117
State agencies will produce and send
and that debtors will read 240,901 60day notices. We estimate that the
debtors will submit and State agencies
will respond to about 16,863 phone and
informal inquiries. Debtors will file and
the States will respond to an estimated
1,445 appeals each. An additional 3,000
notices will be sent directly from FNS
to Federal employees concerning the
potential offset of their Federal salary.
Historically, 30% of these notices will
result in a phone inquiry from a debtor;
and approximately 20 will result in a
formal appeal to FNS requiring
documentation from the State. Thus, the
total number of responses for the 60-day
notice and debtor inquiry is 522,358
responses (263,129 household responses
+ 259,229 State Agency responses) per
year resulting in an annual reporting
burden of 34,510.28 hours. The existing
burden for activity relating to the 60-day
notice is 36,313.83 hours. The net
decrease of 1,803.55 hours is due to a
decrease in the number of 60-day
notices sent to debtors by State agencies.
TOP State-Level Submissions
Treasury prescribes specific processes
and file formats for FNS to use to send
debts to TOP. FNS provides guidance
and file formats to State agencies and
monitors their compliance with such.
State agencies must submit specified
documents and/or information to FNS
and FNS sends required information to
Treasury. The first document is an
annual letter to FNS certifying that all
of the debts submitted in the past and
all debts to be submitted in the
upcoming calendar year by the State
agency to TOP are valid and legally
enforceable in the amount stated.
Secondly, State agencies report TOP
collections on the FNS–209 Status of
Claims Against Households report. (The
burden for the remainder of the FNS–
209 report is already covered under
OMB burden number 0584–0069.) FNS
estimates that it will take State agencies
a total of 26.5 hours per year for these
State submissions. This burden has not
changed.
TOP ADP Burden
The burden for ADP includes weekly
file processing, monthly address
requests and system maintenance.
Weekly and monthly file processing
includes requesting addresses to use to
send out 60-day notices, adding and
maintaining debts in TOP, correcting
errors on unprocessable records, and
posting weekly collection files. Much of
this activity is completed using
automation and involves an estimated
1.4 million records annually. FNS
estimates that this activity takes
E:\FR\FM\19DEN1.SGM
19DEN1
75118
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 19, 2012 / Notices
12,374.82 annual reporting and 689
recordkeeping burden hours. This
burden has not changed.
Summary of Estimated Burden
The net aggregate change from the
existing to the revised annual burden for
this entire Information Collection is a
decrease of 1,803.55 hours from the
previous submission. For the activity
relating to the 60-day notice, we are
decreasing the estimated annual burden
for State agencies and debtors from
36,313.83 hours to 34,510.28 hours to
reflect a decrease in the number of
notices and the resulting inquiries and
appeals. The State-level submissions
portion of the reporting and
recordkeeping burden is estimated to
require the same number of hours as the
currently approved collection, 26.5
hours. The annual ADP portion of this
burden package is also estimated to
require the same number of hours as the
currently approved collection, 12,375
reporting and 689 recordkeeping hours.
This results in a final total of 47,600.6
annual burden hours.
Affected Public: State and local
government, and former SNAP
households
Estimated Number of Respondents:
240,954
Estimated Number of Responses per
Respondent: 2.21
Estimated Total Number of Annual
Responses: 531,638
Estimated Hours per Response: .09
Estimated Total Annual Burden:
47,600.6
Dated: December 10, 2012.
Audrey Rowe,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2012–30599 Filed 12–18–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–30–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS–2012–0051]
National Advisory Committee on Meat
and Poultry Inspection
Food Safety and Inspection
Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
AGENCY:
Pursuant to the Federal
Advisory Committee Act, the Food
Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is
announcing a meeting of the National
Advisory Committee on Meat and
Poultry Inspection (NACMPI). The
Committee is being convened to review
two topics for FSIS. The first is
strengthening Agency verification
activities and guidance concerning
sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:35 Dec 18, 2012
Jkt 229001
sanitary dressing and antimicrobial
interventions at veal slaughter
operations. FSIS test results show that
the percent positive for Shiga toxinproducing Escherichia coli (STEC) from
trimmings and ground beef produced
from veal are higher than trimmings and
ground beef produced from other cattle
slaughter classes. FSIS is seeking
feedback from NACMPI on
improvements FSIS can make to its
verification activities related to sanitary
dressing and interventions at veal
slaughter establishments and
improvements it can make to its
compliance guidance to address veal
slaughter operations.
FSIS is also seeking feedback from
NACMPI on the ideal outreach strategy
for communicating with the veal
industry.
The second topic is a review of
criteria for categorizing FSIS regulations
as public health regulations. FSIS has
revised its criteria for identifying
regulations that are most closely related
to public health outcomes. FSIS is
seeking input from NACMPI on the
criteria and feedback on the proposed
approach.
DATES: The meeting is scheduled for
January 16–17, 2013 from 9:00 a.m. to
5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The committee
will meet from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. on
January 16 for administrative purposes;
this portion of the meeting is not open
to the public.
ADDRESSES: The meetings will be held
in the Auditorium at the Patriot Plaza III
building, 355 E. Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20024. The auditorium
is located on the first floor. Please note
that due to increased security measures
at the Patriot Plaza III, all persons
wishing to attend are strongly
encouraged to RSVP in advance.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
General information about the
committee can also be found at https://
www.fsis.usda.gov/About_FSIS/
NACMPI/index.asp. Sally Fernandez,
Program Specialist, Designated Federal
Officer, at
Sally.Fernandez@fsis.usda.gov or 202–
690–6524 (Phone), or (202) 690–6519
(Fax), may be contacted for specific
questions about the committee or this
meeting.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The purpose of the Committee is to
provide advice to the Secretary of
Agriculture concerning State and
Federal programs with respect to meat,
poultry, and processed egg products,
inspection, safety, and other matters
that fall within the scope of the Federal
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry
Products Inspection Act. The
Administrator of FSIS is the chairperson
of the Committee. Membership of the
Committee is drawn from
representatives of consumer groups;
producers; processors; and marketers
from the meat, poultry and egg product
industries; State and local government
officials; and academia. The current
members of the NACMPI are: Patricia K.
Buck, Center for Foodborne Illness
Research and Prevention; Dr. Fur-Chi
Chen, Tennessee State University;
Nancy J. Donley, STOP Foodborne
Illness; Veneranda Gapud, Fieldale
Farms Corporation; Sherika Harvey,
Mississippi Department of Agriculture
and Commerce; Dr. Heidi Kassenborg,
Minnesota Department of Agriculture;
Sarah A. Klein, Center for Science in the
Public Interest; Dr. Carol L. Lorenzen,
Missouri State University; Dr. John A.
Marcy, University of Arkansas; Robert
G. Reinhard, Sara Lee Corporation; Dr.
Michael L. Rybolt, Hillshire Farms; Dr.
Craig E. Shultz, Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture; Dr. John D.
Tilden, Michigan Department of
Agriculture and Rural Development;
Steve E. Warshawer, Mesa Top Farm;
Dr. J. Byron Williams, Mississippi State
University; Christopher A. Waldrop,
Consumer Federation of America; and
Leonard W. Winchester, Public Health—
Seattle & King County.
Register for the Meeting: The public is
asked to pre-register for the meeting.
Your pre-registration must state: The
names of each person in your group;
organization or interest represented; the
number of people planning to give oral
comments, if any; and whether anyone
in your group requires special
accommodations. Submit registrations
to (we have to get a mailbox address).
FSIS will also accept walk-in
registrations. Members of the public
requesting to give oral comment to the
Committee must sign in at the
registration desk.
Public Comments: Written public
comments may be mailed to USDA/
FSIS, 1400 Independence Avenue SW.,
Mail Stop 3778, Washington, DC 20250
or submitted via fax (202) 690–6519 or
by email NACMPI@fsis.usda.gov. All
written comments must arrive by
January 12, 2013. Oral comments are
also accepted. To request to give oral
comments, see instructions under
‘Register for the Meeting’ above.
Availability of Materials for the
Meeting: All written public comments
will be compiled into a binder and
available for review at the meeting.
Duplicate comments from multiple
individuals will appear as one
comment, with a notation that multiple
E:\FR\FM\19DEN1.SGM
19DEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 244 (Wednesday, December 19, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75117-75118]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-30599]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request--Federal Claims Collection Methods for Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program Recipient Claims
AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
Notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment
on proposed information collections. This Notice of Proposed
Information Collection announces the intent of the Food and Nutrition
Service to revise and extend the information collection requirements
associated with initiating and conducting Federal collection actions
against households with delinquent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) recipient debts.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before February 19,
2013 to be assured consideration.
ADDRESSES: Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection
of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions
of the agency, including whether the information will have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the use of appropriate, automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
Send comments to Jane Duffield, Chief, State Administration Branch,
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Food and Nutrition Service,
USDA, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 818, Alexandria, Virginia 22302.
Comments may also be submitted via fax to the attention of Jane
Duffield at 703-605-0795. Comments will also be accepted through the
Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and follow
the online instructions for submitting comments electronically.
All written comments will be open for public inspection at the
office of the Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 22302, Room
818.
All comments will be summarized and included in the request for
Office of Management and Budget approval of the information collection.
All comments will become a matter of public record.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Debra Utting at (703) 305-2439.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Federal Claims Collection Methods for Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program Recipient Claims
OMB Number: 0584-0446
Form Number: None
Expiration Date: January 31, 2013
Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Abstract: Section 13(b) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977, as amended
(7 U.S.C. 2022(b)), and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP) regulations at 7 CFR 273.18 require State agencies to refer
delinquent debtors for SNAP benefit over-issuance to the U.S.
Department of the Treasury for collection. The Debt Collection
Improvement Act of 1996, 31 U.S.C. 3701, et seq., requires these debts
to be referred to Treasury for collection when they are 180 days or
more delinquent. Through the Treasury Offset Program (TOP), 31 CFR part
285, payments such as Federal income tax refunds, Federal salaries and
other Federal payments payable to these delinquent debtors will be
offset and the amount applied to the delinquent debt. TOP places a
burden on States agencies and/or former SNAP recipients who owe
delinquent debts in three areas: 60-day notices from State agencies to
debtors that their debt will be referred to TOP; State-level
submissions; and automated data processing (ADP).
TOP 60-Day Notice Burden
The burden associated with the information collection involves both
the debtors and the State agencies. The TOP 60-day notice notifies the
debtor of the proposed referral to TOP and provides the right for
review and appeal. The State agency prepares and mails the notices as
well as responds to inquiries and appeals. The debtor, in turn,
receives and reads the notice and may make an inquiry or appeal the
impending action. Based on an average of the number of records for
claims the States sent to TOP for calendar years 2009, 2010 and 2011,
we estimate that State agencies will produce and send and that debtors
will read 240,901 60-day notices. We estimate that the debtors will
submit and State agencies will respond to about 16,863 phone and
informal inquiries. Debtors will file and the States will respond to an
estimated 1,445 appeals each. An additional 3,000 notices will be sent
directly from FNS to Federal employees concerning the potential offset
of their Federal salary. Historically, 30% of these notices will result
in a phone inquiry from a debtor; and approximately 20 will result in a
formal appeal to FNS requiring documentation from the State. Thus, the
total number of responses for the 60-day notice and debtor inquiry is
522,358 responses (263,129 household responses + 259,229 State Agency
responses) per year resulting in an annual reporting burden of
34,510.28 hours. The existing burden for activity relating to the 60-
day notice is 36,313.83 hours. The net decrease of 1,803.55 hours is
due to a decrease in the number of 60-day notices sent to debtors by
State agencies.
TOP State-Level Submissions
Treasury prescribes specific processes and file formats for FNS to
use to send debts to TOP. FNS provides guidance and file formats to
State agencies and monitors their compliance with such. State agencies
must submit specified documents and/or information to FNS and FNS sends
required information to Treasury. The first document is an annual
letter to FNS certifying that all of the debts submitted in the past
and all debts to be submitted in the upcoming calendar year by the
State agency to TOP are valid and legally enforceable in the amount
stated. Secondly, State agencies report TOP collections on the FNS-209
Status of Claims Against Households report. (The burden for the
remainder of the FNS-209 report is already covered under OMB burden
number 0584-0069.) FNS estimates that it will take State agencies a
total of 26.5 hours per year for these State submissions. This burden
has not changed.
TOP ADP Burden
The burden for ADP includes weekly file processing, monthly address
requests and system maintenance. Weekly and monthly file processing
includes requesting addresses to use to send out 60-day notices, adding
and maintaining debts in TOP, correcting errors on unprocessable
records, and posting weekly collection files. Much of this activity is
completed using automation and involves an estimated 1.4 million
records annually. FNS estimates that this activity takes
[[Page 75118]]
12,374.82 annual reporting and 689 recordkeeping burden hours. This
burden has not changed.
Summary of Estimated Burden
The net aggregate change from the existing to the revised annual
burden for this entire Information Collection is a decrease of 1,803.55
hours from the previous submission. For the activity relating to the
60-day notice, we are decreasing the estimated annual burden for State
agencies and debtors from 36,313.83 hours to 34,510.28 hours to reflect
a decrease in the number of notices and the resulting inquiries and
appeals. The State-level submissions portion of the reporting and
recordkeeping burden is estimated to require the same number of hours
as the currently approved collection, 26.5 hours. The annual ADP
portion of this burden package is also estimated to require the same
number of hours as the currently approved collection, 12,375 reporting
and 689 recordkeeping hours. This results in a final total of 47,600.6
annual burden hours.
Affected Public: State and local government, and former SNAP
households
Estimated Number of Respondents: 240,954
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 2.21
Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 531,638
Estimated Hours per Response: .09
Estimated Total Annual Burden: 47,600.6
Dated: December 10, 2012.
Audrey Rowe,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-30599 Filed 12-18-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P
