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

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
• Food and Nutrition Service

[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]


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Notices
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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.

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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.

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                                                                              States
                  Section                            Requirement          responding per   Responses per     Number of       Hours per     Total burden
                                                                               year         respondent       responses       response          hours
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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
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(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