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 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]


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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
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