Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request-Review of Major Changes in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), 32859-32860 [2019-14696]

Download as PDF 32859 Notices Federal Register Vol. 84, No. 132 Wednesday, July 10, 2019 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 Food and Nutrition Service Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request—Review of Major Changes in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), 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 the proposed information collection. This is a reinstatement, with change, of a previously approved collection for which approval has expired. The previously approved collection is associated with State agencies notifying FNS of and thereafter reporting on Major Changes in their operation of SNAP. The final rule entitled Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Review of Major Changes in Program Design and Management Evaluation Systems was published on January 19, 2016. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) cleared the associated information collection requirements (ICR) on March 10, 2016. DATES: Written comments must be received on or before September 9, 2019. ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted in writing by one of the following methods: • Preferred Method: Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https:// www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. • Mail: Send comments to Program Design Branch, Program Development Division, FNS, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 800, Alexandria, Virginia 22302. • All written comments submitted in response to this information collection will be included in the record and will jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:32 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 247001 be made available to the public. Please be advised that the substance of the comments and the identity of the individuals or entities submitting the comments will be subject to public disclosure. FNS will make the written comments publicly available on the internet via https://www.regulations.gov. All written comments will be open for public inspection at the FNS office during regular business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday) at 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 800, Alexandria, Virginia 22302. 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 should be directed to Ms. Mary Rose Conroy at (703) 305–2803. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 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; (d) 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. Title: Review of Major Changes in Program Design. OMB Number: 0584–0579. Expiration Date: 5/31/2019. Type of Request: Reinstatement, with change, of a previously approved collection for which approval has expired. Abstract: Section 11 of the Act (7 U.S.C. 2020) requires the Department to develop standards for identifying major changes in the operations of State agencies that administer SNAP. Regulations at 7 CFR 272.15 require State agencies to notify the Department when planning to implement a major change in operations and State agencies to collect any information required by the Department to identify and correct PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 any adverse effects on program integrity or access, including access by vulnerable households. Since these rules have been in effect for about two years, FNS has gained experience with the number and type of major changes States have reported. However, since decisions to make major changes to program operations rest with each individual State agency, the frequency and timing of future major changes can only be estimated based upon the last two years of FNS’ experience. Regulations at 7 CFR 272.15(a)(3) require States to provide both descriptive and analytic information regarding the major change. We estimate it takes 8 hours to describe the change and 32 hours to complete the required analysis for a total of 40 hours per response. State agencies are required to provide descriptive information regarding the major change together with an analysis of its projected impacts on program operations. The regulations also set out requirements for the State to collect and report additional monthly information collected and gathered at the program/State levels that are submitted on a quarterly basis to FNS. Reporting continues for at least a year after the change is completely implemented. It is not uncommon for a State to pilot a change prior to statewide implementation. FNS can require information from the pilot to be submitted to FNS as well as information regarding the statewide impacts of the change after full implementation. There are six categories of major changes: (1) Changes to the States automated system, (2) changing the responsibilities of merit system personnel, (3) office closings, (4) reductions in State SNAP merit system personnel, (5) changes that may make it more difficult for households to report and (6) an undefined ‘‘other’’ category. Once a State has triggered one of the six criteria, the State is required to report the ‘‘automatic’’ information as required in § 272.15(b)(2)–(4) and FNS must determine what, if any, additional data the State will be required to collect and report as provided for in § 272.15(b)(5). FNS has determined the automatic reporting requirements and its ongoing data collection it requires will be sufficient to provide to FNS the needed information on a major change. Additional data will occasionally need to be generated from States’ automated E:\FR\FM\10JYN1.SGM 10JYN1 32860 Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 132 / Wednesday, July 10, 2019 / Notices eligibility systems or gathered by conducting additional case review surveys. Based upon FNS’ experience over the last two years, out of 53 State agencies this data collection impacts, FNS estimates only 10 States to submit major changes annually. The total estimated burden hours associated with the Major Change requirements since the final rule are being revised from 9,663.75 to 2,160. While the number of expected major changes States are expected to report annually is revised from 22.5 to 20, most of the decrease is based due to the initial overestimated need for additional reporting beyond the ‘‘automatic’’ provisions of the rule. The final rule estimated that 6.75 States would be required to gather and report additional data, while to date FNS has not required this of any State so the estimate has been revised to one (1) State annually will gather and report additional data to FNS. This correction accounts for a decrease in hours from 7,377 in the final rule to 896 in this notice. Affected Public: State, Local and Tribal governments. Estimated Number of Respondents: 10 States per year. Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 5. Estimated Total Annual Responses: 50. Estimated Time per Response: 43.2 hours (average). Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 2,160. While FNS’ experience has resulted in a change to the number of Major Changes FNS expects States to report annually and the number that will require additional reporting, there is no basis to change original estimates of time/staff needed by States to complete the required notification reports. Thus, with an estimated 10 States reporting one major change per year (based upon the last two years), the initial reporting and analysis aspect of the rulemaking would be 10 annual responses × 40 hours per initial response per State = an estimated 400 burden hours per year. In terms of State reporting after the initial notification, no additional reporting has been required beyond the automatic reporting requirements. Therefore, FNS is projecting that for nine of the ten major changes expected each year there would be no additional reporting burden beyond the automatic reporting. All 10 of the major changes estimated each year are expected to require some automated system reprogramming to generate the required States responding per year Responses per respondent automatic data reporting. At 48 hours per reprogramming effort, this would be 480 hours per year (10 × 48). Preparing the 40 quarterly reports are estimated to require 12 hours each. The total for the 10 States would be 480 + 480 hours = 960 total hours for reporting (divided by the 10 states = 96 hours per State per year). For the 1 State projected to require additional data collection, this requirement would be in addition to the 960 hours above. Such data will generally be collected through a sample of case reviews. While the required sample sizes may vary based on the type of major change and the proportion of the State’s SNAP caseload it may affect, 200 cases per quarter would likely be an upper limit on what FNS could ask of a State. At an estimated one hour to review and report on a case, this would require 800 hours per year for one State each year. When the 400 hours for notifications and the 960 hours are added for the automatic information, the total for the 10 States is 2,160 (or 216 hours per State per year). With all 10 States reporting quarterly, there would be 40 responses annually. One of the 40 reports would contain additional information from sample data. Number of responses Hours per response Total burden hours Section Requirement 272.15(a)(3) ......... 272.15(b)(2)–(4) ... Initial analysis of Major Change ........ Reports required without additional data collection. Reports required with additional data collection. 10 9 1 4 10 36 40 24 400 864 1 4 4 224 896 ............................................................ 10 *5 50 * 43.2 2,160 272.15(b)(5) ......... Totals ............ (average) Dated: June 28, 2019. Brandon Lipps, Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service. [FR Doc. 2019–14696 Filed 7–9–19; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410–30–P DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with NOTICES Information Collection: Generic Clearance To Conduct Survey Improvement Projects Forest Service, USDA. Notice; request for comment. AGENCY: ACTION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Forest Service is seeking comments from all interested individuals and SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:32 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 247001 organizations on a new generic information collection request, Generic Clearance to Conduct Survey Improvement Projects. DATES: Comments must be received in writing on or before September 9, 2019 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date will be considered to the extent practicable. ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Kenli Kim, National Program Leader for Social Science Research, Forest Service, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Mailstop 1114, Washington, DC 20250–1114, or by electronic mail to kenli.kim@ usda.gov, with ‘‘PRA comment’’ in the subject line. If comments are sent by electronic mail, the public is requested not to send duplicate written comments via regular mail. Please confine written comments to issues pertinent to the PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 information collection request, explain the reasons for any recommended changes, and, where possible, reference the specific section or paragraph being addressed. All timely and properly submitted comments, including names and addresses when provided, are placed in the record and are available for public inspection and copying. The public may inspect comments received on this information collection at the USDA Forest Service Headquarters, 201 14th St. SW, Washington, DC 20250 between the hours of 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on business days. Those wishing to inspect comments should contact Kenli Kim to facilitate an appointment and entrance to the building. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenli Kim, National Program Leader for E:\FR\FM\10JYN1.SGM 10JYN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 10, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32859-32860]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-14696]


========================================================================
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. 84, No. 132 / Wednesday, July 10, 2019 / 
Notices

[[Page 32859]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request--Review of Major Changes in the Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program (SNAP)

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), 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 the proposed information collection. This is a reinstatement, with 
change, of a previously approved collection for which approval has 
expired. The previously approved collection is associated with State 
agencies notifying FNS of and thereafter reporting on Major Changes in 
their operation of SNAP. The final rule entitled Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program: Review of Major Changes in Program Design and 
Management Evaluation Systems was published on January 19, 2016. The 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) cleared the associated 
information collection requirements (ICR) on March 10, 2016.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before September 9, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted in writing by one of the following 
methods:
     Preferred Method: Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Send comments to Program Design Branch, Program 
Development Division, FNS, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 800, 
Alexandria, Virginia 22302.
     All written comments submitted in response to this 
information collection will be included in the record and will be made 
available to the public. Please be advised that the substance of the 
comments and the identity of the individuals or entities submitting the 
comments will be subject to public disclosure. FNS will make the 
written comments publicly available on the internet via https://www.regulations.gov. All written comments will be open for public 
inspection at the FNS office during regular business hours (8:30 a.m. 
to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday) at 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 
800, Alexandria, Virginia 22302. 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 
should be directed to Ms. Mary Rose Conroy at (703) 305-2803.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 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; (d) 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.
    Title: Review of Major Changes in Program Design.
    OMB Number: 0584-0579.
    Expiration Date: 5/31/2019.
    Type of Request: Reinstatement, with change, of a previously 
approved collection for which approval has expired.
    Abstract: Section 11 of the Act (7 U.S.C. 2020) requires the 
Department to develop standards for identifying major changes in the 
operations of State agencies that administer SNAP. Regulations at 7 CFR 
272.15 require State agencies to notify the Department when planning to 
implement a major change in operations and State agencies to collect 
any information required by the Department to identify and correct any 
adverse effects on program integrity or access, including access by 
vulnerable households. Since these rules have been in effect for about 
two years, FNS has gained experience with the number and type of major 
changes States have reported. However, since decisions to make major 
changes to program operations rest with each individual State agency, 
the frequency and timing of future major changes can only be estimated 
based upon the last two years of FNS' experience.
    Regulations at 7 CFR 272.15(a)(3) require States to provide both 
descriptive and analytic information regarding the major change. We 
estimate it takes 8 hours to describe the change and 32 hours to 
complete the required analysis for a total of 40 hours per response. 
State agencies are required to provide descriptive information 
regarding the major change together with an analysis of its projected 
impacts on program operations. The regulations also set out 
requirements for the State to collect and report additional monthly 
information collected and gathered at the program/State levels that are 
submitted on a quarterly basis to FNS. Reporting continues for at least 
a year after the change is completely implemented. It is not uncommon 
for a State to pilot a change prior to statewide implementation. FNS 
can require information from the pilot to be submitted to FNS as well 
as information regarding the statewide impacts of the change after full 
implementation.
    There are six categories of major changes: (1) Changes to the 
States automated system, (2) changing the responsibilities of merit 
system personnel, (3) office closings, (4) reductions in State SNAP 
merit system personnel, (5) changes that may make it more difficult for 
households to report and (6) an undefined ``other'' category.
    Once a State has triggered one of the six criteria, the State is 
required to report the ``automatic'' information as required in Sec.  
272.15(b)(2)-(4) and FNS must determine what, if any, additional data 
the State will be required to collect and report as provided for in 
Sec.  272.15(b)(5). FNS has determined the automatic reporting 
requirements and its ongoing data collection it requires will be 
sufficient to provide to FNS the needed information on a major change. 
Additional data will occasionally need to be generated from States' 
automated

[[Page 32860]]

eligibility systems or gathered by conducting additional case review 
surveys.
    Based upon FNS' experience over the last two years, out of 53 State 
agencies this data collection impacts, FNS estimates only 10 States to 
submit major changes annually. The total estimated burden hours 
associated with the Major Change requirements since the final rule are 
being revised from 9,663.75 to 2,160. While the number of expected 
major changes States are expected to report annually is revised from 
22.5 to 20, most of the decrease is based due to the initial 
overestimated need for additional reporting beyond the ``automatic'' 
provisions of the rule. The final rule estimated that 6.75 States would 
be required to gather and report additional data, while to date FNS has 
not required this of any State so the estimate has been revised to one 
(1) State annually will gather and report additional data to FNS. This 
correction accounts for a decrease in hours from 7,377 in the final 
rule to 896 in this notice.
    Affected Public: State, Local and Tribal governments.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 10 States per year.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 5.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 50.
    Estimated Time per Response: 43.2 hours (average).
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 2,160.
    While FNS' experience has resulted in a change to the number of 
Major Changes FNS expects States to report annually and the number that 
will require additional reporting, there is no basis to change original 
estimates of time/staff needed by States to complete the required 
notification reports. Thus, with an estimated 10 States reporting one 
major change per year (based upon the last two years), the initial 
reporting and analysis aspect of the rulemaking would be 10 annual 
responses x 40 hours per initial response per State = an estimated 400 
burden hours per year.
    In terms of State reporting after the initial notification, no 
additional reporting has been required beyond the automatic reporting 
requirements. Therefore, FNS is projecting that for nine of the ten 
major changes expected each year there would be no additional reporting 
burden beyond the automatic reporting. All 10 of the major changes 
estimated each year are expected to require some automated system 
reprogramming to generate the required automatic data reporting. At 48 
hours per reprogramming effort, this would be 480 hours per year (10 x 
48). Preparing the 40 quarterly reports are estimated to require 12 
hours each. The total for the 10 States would be 480 + 480 hours = 960 
total hours for reporting (divided by the 10 states = 96 hours per 
State per year).
    For the 1 State projected to require additional data collection, 
this requirement would be in addition to the 960 hours above. Such data 
will generally be collected through a sample of case reviews. While the 
required sample sizes may vary based on the type of major change and 
the proportion of the State's SNAP caseload it may affect, 200 cases 
per quarter would likely be an upper limit on what FNS could ask of a 
State. At an estimated one hour to review and report on a case, this 
would require 800 hours per year for one State each year. When the 400 
hours for notifications and the 960 hours are added for the automatic 
information, the total for the 10 States is 2,160 (or 216 hours per 
State per year).
    With all 10 States reporting quarterly, there would be 40 responses 
annually. One of the 40 reports would contain additional information 
from sample data.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                              States
                  Section                            Requirement          responding per   Responses per     Number of       Hours per     Total burden
                                                                               year         respondent       responses       response          hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
272.15(a)(3)..............................  Initial analysis of Major                 10               1              10              40             400
                                             Change.
272.15(b)(2)-(4)..........................  Reports required without                   9               4              36              24             864
                                             additional data collection.
272.15(b)(5)..............................  Reports required with                      1               4               4             224             896
                                             additional data collection.
                                                                         -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals................................  ............................              10             * 5              50          * 43.2           2,160
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(average)


    Dated: June 28, 2019.
Brandon Lipps,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-14696 Filed 7-9-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.