Notice of Request for Extension and Revision of a Currently Approved Information Collection, 14822-14823 [2016-06144]
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Notices
Federal Register
Vol. 81, No. 53
Friday, March 18, 2016
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains documents other than rules or
proposed rules that are applicable to the
public. Notices of hearings and investigations,
committee meetings, agency decisions and
rulings, delegations of authority, filing of
petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are
examples of documents appearing in this
section.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
[Docket No. AMS–FV–15–0069; FV16–981–
1]
Notice of Request for Extension and
Revision of a Currently Approved
Information Collection
Agricultural Marketing Service,
USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for comment.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice
announces the Agricultural Marketing
Service’s (AMS) intention to request an
extension for and revision of a currently
approved information collection for
Almonds Grown in California,
Marketing Order No. 981.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be
received by May 17, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are
invited to submit written comments
concerning this notice. Comments must
be sent to the Docket Clerk, Marketing
Order and Agreement Division,
Specialty Crops Program, AMS, USDA,
1400 Independence Avenue SW., STOP
0237, Washington, DC 20250–0237; Fax:
(202) 720–8938; or Internet:
www.regulations.gov. Comments should
reference the docket number and the
date and page number of this issue of
the Federal Register and will be
available for public inspection in the
Office of the Docket Clerk during regular
business hours, or can be viewed at:
www.regulations.gov. All comments
submitted in response to this notice will
be included in the record and will be
made available to the public. Please be
advised that the identity of the
individuals or entities submitting the
comments will be made available to the
public on the internet at the address
provided above.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Andrew Hatch, Marketing Order and
Agreement Division, Specialty Crops
Program, AMS, USDA, 1400
Independence Avenue SW., STOP 0237,
Room 1406–S, Washington, DC 20250–
0237; Telephone: (202) 720–6862, Fax:
(202) 720–8938, or Email:
andrew.hatch@ams.usda.gov.
Small businesses may request
information on this notice by contacting
Antoinette Carter, Technical Assistant
to the Director, Marketing Order and
Agreement Division, Specialty Crops
Program, AMS, USDA, 1400
Independence Avenue SW., STOP 0237,
Room 1406–S, Washington, DC 20250–
0237; Telephone (202) 690–3919, Fax:
(202) 720–8938; or Email:
antoinette.carter@ams.usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Almonds Grown in California,
Marketing Order No. 981.
OMB Number: 0581–0242.
Expiration Date of Approval: June 30,
2016.
Type of Request: Extension and
revision of a currently approved
information collection.
Abstract: The information collection
requirements in this request are
essential to carry out the intent of the
Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act
of 1937 (Act), as amended (7 U.S.C.
601–674), to provide the respondents
the type of service they request, and to
administer the California almond
marketing order (7 CFR part 981), which
has been operating since 1950.
The marketing order and its rules and
regulations authorize the Almond Board
of California (Board), the agency
responsible for local administration of
the marketing order, to require handlers
and other certain entities to submit
information.
In September 2007, a mandatory
program was implemented under the
marketing order to help reduce the
potential for Salmonella in almonds.
The Board has developed forms as a
means for persons to file required
information with the Board relating to
the treatment of almonds to reduce the
potential for Salmonella. Almond
handlers are required to submit annual
treatment plans to the Board and
inspection agency regarding how they
plan to treat their almonds to reduce the
potential for Salmonella. Entities
interested in being almond process
authorities that validate technologies are
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required to submit an application to the
Board on ABC Form No. 51,
‘‘Application for Process Authority for
Almonds.’’ Manufacturers in the United
States, Canada, and Mexico interested in
being approved to accept untreated
almonds, provided they agree to treat
the almonds themselves under the
Board’s Direct Verifiable (DV) program
are required to submit an application to
the Board on ABC Form No. 52,
‘‘Application for Direct Verifiable (DV)
Program for Further Processing of
Untreated Almonds.’’ Entities interested
in being approved DV user auditors are
required to submit an application to the
Board on ABC Form No. 53,
‘‘Application for Direct Verifiable (DV)
Program Auditors.’’ To ensure
compliance with the mandatory
program, entities are required to use
either an on-site or audit-based
verification program and annually
submit a treatment plan to the Board on
ABC Form No. 54, ‘‘Handler Treatment
Plan.’’
The information collected is used
only by authorized representatives of
USDA, including AMS, Specialty Crops
Program’s regional and headquarters’
staff, and authorized employees and
agents of the Board. Authorized Board
employees, agents, and the industry are
the primary users of the information,
and AMS is the secondary user.
Estimate of Burden: Public reporting
burden for this collection of information
is estimated to average 1.5 hours per
response.
Respondents: Almond handlers;
persons or organizations that would like
to qualify to be Board-approved process
authorities that validate treatments and
technologies; manufacturers who would
like to qualify to participate in the
Board’s DV program; and entities that
would like to qualify as auditors under
the DV program.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
175.
Estimated Number of Responses per
Respondent: 1.00.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 4,200 hours.
Comments are invited on: (1) Whether
this collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the agency, including
whether the information has practical
utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency’s
estimate of the burden of the collection
of information including the validity of
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 53 / Friday, March 18, 2016 / Notices
the methodology and assumptions used;
(3) ways to enhance the quality, utility,
and clarity of the information collected;
and (4) ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on those
who respond, including through the use
of appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
All responses to this notice will be
summarized and included in the request
for OMB approval. All comments will
become a matter of public record.
Dated: March 15, 2016.
Elanor Starmer,
Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing
Service.
[FR Doc. 2016–06144 Filed 3–17–16; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
Agency Information Collection
Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request—Understanding the
Anti-Fraud Measures of Large SNAP
Retailers
Food and Nutrition Service
(FNS), USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the
USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)
invites the general public and other
public agencies to comment on this
proposed information collection. This is
a new collection for the purpose of
learning about the types of
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) related fraud activity
observed by large retailers and the
methods they use to prevent fraud and
minimize their losses. The goal of the
information collection is to learn more
about the types of SNAP fraud that
occur in large retailer settings;
document retailer practices to detect,
deter, and deal with fraud (collectively
known as loss prevention or loss
prevention practices); and determine
which practices could provide
information that would help FNS in
detecting and preventing SNAP fraud.
DATES: Written comments must be
received by May 17, 2016.
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 shall have practical utility;
(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate
of the time and cost burden for this
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proposed collection, including the
validity of the methodology and
assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance
the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; (d) ways to
minimize the reporting burden on those
who are asked to respond, including the
use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
Comments may be sent to Eric Sean
Williams, Food and Nutrition Service,
USDA, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room
1014, Alexandria, VA 22312. Comments
may also be submitted via fax to the
attention of Eric Sean Williams at (703)
305–2576 or via email to Eric.Williams@
fns.usda.gov.
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 FNS
during regular business hours (8:30 a.m.
to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday)
located at 3101 Park Center Drive, Room
1014, Alexandria, Virginia 22312.
All responses to this notice will be
summarized and included in the request
for OMB approval. All comments will
be a matter of public record.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or
copies of this information collected
should be directed to Eric Sean
Williams, Office of Policy Support,
Food and Nutrition Service, USDA,
3101 Park Center Drive, Room 1014,
Alexandria, VA 22302.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Understanding the Anti-Fraud
Measures of Large SNAP Retailers.
OMB Number: 0584—NEW.
Expiration Date: Not Yet Determined.
Abstract: FNS is responsible for
authorizing retailers for participation in
SNAP as well as monitoring their
compliance with applicable regulations.
Fraud in the context of SNAP can come
from client-level program violations or
retailer-level fraud. The latter, which is
the focus of this study, can involve
different actions such as the buying and
selling of benefits or selling ineligible
items like alcohol and tobacco. FNS
believes that any type of fraud in SNAP
weakens the program by diverting
benefits from the intended purpose of
helping low-income Americans
purchase food and undermining the
public confidence in the program. Thus,
the Agency continually seeks new ways
to detect and prevent fraud.
Research has consistently
demonstrated that fraud rates are lowest
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14823
among large retailers. There are several
theories for why this may be true, one
of which is that large regional or
national retail chains of stores have
sophisticated loss prevention systems
that prevent or detect numerous types of
fraud. Thus, a loss prevention system
built to discover an employee engaging
in credit card fraud could easily be
modified to detect an employee
engaging in SNAP benefit fraud.
Similarly, a system built to prevent
internal theft may be able to detect the
sale of ineligible items.
Despite theories as to why large stores
have low SNAP fraud rates, there is
limited understanding of how they
prevent SNAP fraud. If internal loss
prevention systems prevent SNAP
fraud, then it is possible that a better
understanding of large store procedures
could help FNS refine its procedures for
detecting and reducing retailer-level
fraud. Thus, FNS desires to understand
more about the steps large retailers take
to protect themselves from fraud in
general and SNAP fraud specifically.
The information collection activities
to be undertaken subject to this notice
include: Survey of Companies that own/
franchise large SNAP authorized retail
chains: Surveys will be administered to
company SNAP representatives in
companies that own, franchise and/or
have cooperative agreements with the
largest chains of SNAP-authorized
stores. These include super store chains,
large supermarket chains, convenience
store chains, and other chain stores that
sell a combination of food and other
products, such as household products,
pharmaceuticals, or gasoline. The
surveys will address the loss prevention
systems used by these companies.
Survey of SNAP Authorized Stores
owned/franchised/affiliated with large
retail chains: Surveys will be
administered to managers of super
stores, large supermarkets, convenience
stores and other chain stores that sell a
combination of food and other products.
The surveys will address fraud
detection and prevention policies and
practices.
This study does not seek to represent
all SNAP retailers. It targets the
practices of one segment of the SNAP
authorized retailer population—the
largest retail chains. These chains are
likely to have the most sophisticated
loss prevention systems. Therefore, the
study includes the large national and
regional chain retailers responsible for
transacting about half of all SNAP
redemptions. A total of the 35 largest
retail corporations and a sample of
2,000 of their store outlets are expected
to respond to surveys.
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 53 (Friday, March 18, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14822-14823]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-06144]
========================================================================
Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
========================================================================
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 53 / Friday, March 18, 2016 /
Notices
[[Page 14822]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
[Docket No. AMS-FV-15-0069; FV16-981-1]
Notice of Request for Extension and Revision of a Currently
Approved Information Collection
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice announces the Agricultural Marketing
Service's (AMS) intention to request an extension for and revision of a
currently approved information collection for Almonds Grown in
California, Marketing Order No. 981.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by May 17, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments
concerning this notice. Comments must be sent to the Docket Clerk,
Marketing Order and Agreement Division, Specialty Crops Program, AMS,
USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., STOP 0237, Washington, DC 20250-
0237; Fax: (202) 720-8938; or Internet: www.regulations.gov. Comments
should reference the docket number and the date and page number of this
issue of the Federal Register and will be available for public
inspection in the Office of the Docket Clerk during regular business
hours, or can be viewed at: www.regulations.gov. All comments submitted
in response to this notice will be included in the record and will be
made available to the public. Please be advised that the identity of
the individuals or entities submitting the comments will be made
available to the public on the internet at the address provided above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Hatch, Marketing Order and
Agreement Division, Specialty Crops Program, AMS, USDA, 1400
Independence Avenue SW., STOP 0237, Room 1406-S, Washington, DC 20250-
0237; Telephone: (202) 720-6862, Fax: (202) 720-8938, or Email:
andrew.hatch@ams.usda.gov.
Small businesses may request information on this notice by
contacting Antoinette Carter, Technical Assistant to the Director,
Marketing Order and Agreement Division, Specialty Crops Program, AMS,
USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., STOP 0237, Room 1406-S, Washington,
DC 20250-0237; Telephone (202) 690-3919, Fax: (202) 720-8938; or Email:
antoinette.carter@ams.usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Almonds Grown in California, Marketing Order No. 981.
OMB Number: 0581-0242.
Expiration Date of Approval: June 30, 2016.
Type of Request: Extension and revision of a currently approved
information collection.
Abstract: The information collection requirements in this request
are essential to carry out the intent of the Agricultural Marketing
Agreement Act of 1937 (Act), as amended (7 U.S.C. 601-674), to provide
the respondents the type of service they request, and to administer the
California almond marketing order (7 CFR part 981), which has been
operating since 1950.
The marketing order and its rules and regulations authorize the
Almond Board of California (Board), the agency responsible for local
administration of the marketing order, to require handlers and other
certain entities to submit information.
In September 2007, a mandatory program was implemented under the
marketing order to help reduce the potential for Salmonella in almonds.
The Board has developed forms as a means for persons to file required
information with the Board relating to the treatment of almonds to
reduce the potential for Salmonella. Almond handlers are required to
submit annual treatment plans to the Board and inspection agency
regarding how they plan to treat their almonds to reduce the potential
for Salmonella. Entities interested in being almond process authorities
that validate technologies are required to submit an application to the
Board on ABC Form No. 51, ``Application for Process Authority for
Almonds.'' Manufacturers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico
interested in being approved to accept untreated almonds, provided they
agree to treat the almonds themselves under the Board's Direct
Verifiable (DV) program are required to submit an application to the
Board on ABC Form No. 52, ``Application for Direct Verifiable (DV)
Program for Further Processing of Untreated Almonds.'' Entities
interested in being approved DV user auditors are required to submit an
application to the Board on ABC Form No. 53, ``Application for Direct
Verifiable (DV) Program Auditors.'' To ensure compliance with the
mandatory program, entities are required to use either an on-site or
audit-based verification program and annually submit a treatment plan
to the Board on ABC Form No. 54, ``Handler Treatment Plan.''
The information collected is used only by authorized
representatives of USDA, including AMS, Specialty Crops Program's
regional and headquarters' staff, and authorized employees and agents
of the Board. Authorized Board employees, agents, and the industry are
the primary users of the information, and AMS is the secondary user.
Estimate of Burden: Public reporting burden for this collection of
information is estimated to average 1.5 hours per response.
Respondents: Almond handlers; persons or organizations that would
like to qualify to be Board-approved process authorities that validate
treatments and technologies; manufacturers who would like to qualify to
participate in the Board's DV program; and entities that would like to
qualify as auditors under the DV program.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 175.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.00.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 4,200 hours.
Comments are invited on: (1) Whether this collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information has practical utility; (2) the
accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of
information including the validity of
[[Page 14823]]
the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (4) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who
respond, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the
request for OMB approval. All comments will become a matter of public
record.
Dated: March 15, 2016.
Elanor Starmer,
Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-06144 Filed 3-17-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
