Food and Nutrition Service May 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with The Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, USDA FNS is providing notice of a new computer matching program (CMP) between FNS and the State agencies that administer the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The CMP allows State agencies access to the National Accuracy Clearinghouse (NAC), a national database operated by FNS, as a tool to prevent individuals from receiving SNAP benefits in more than one State simultaneously, commonly referred to as duplicate participation. State agencies provide information about SNAP applicants and participants to the NAC that is then compared to discover potential duplicate participation. The NAC CMP employs a Privacy-Preserving Record Linkage (PPRL) approach that identifies and links records that correspond to the same individual across different databases, without the need to collect or retain the names, Social Security numbers, or dates of birth of the individuals being matched. State agencies use the PPRL process to convert this information to a secure cryptographic hash before sharing it to the NAC. When a match is found, indicating potential duplicate participation, the NAC notifies the affected State agencies and facilitates communication between the State agencies as they each take action to resolve the match.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This collection is an extension, without change, of a currently approved collection for assisting State agencies and school nutrition professionals in recording, tracking, and managing the required training hours for state and local school district nutrition professionals, in four major areas (Nutrition, Operations, Administration, and Communications and Marketing), to meet the requirements of the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 Professional Standards Rule. The HHFKA (section 306) requires Professional Standards for state and local school district nutrition professionals. In addition to hiring standards, mandatory annual training is required for all individuals involved in preparing school meals.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. The purpose of this new collection is to collect qualitative and quantitative stakeholder feedback through meetings, focus groups, interviews, other stakeholder interactions and surveys, as well as requests for administrative data, as part of the planning process for FNS regulatory actions, the semi- annual Regulatory Agenda, research studies, outreach, training and the development of guidance.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This is a new collection focusing on Operational Challenges in Child Nutrition Programs and will utilize survey instruments for school years (SY) 2023-2024, SY 2024-2025, and SY 2025-2026. The studies encompassed under this information collection will collect data from institutions administering and operating Child Nutrition Programs such as State agencies, School Food Authorities (SFAs) and Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) Sponsors, including information on emerging and ongoing operational challenges facing Child Nutrition Program operators.