16598 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 57 / Thursday, March 24, 2011 / Notices 

purpose of FRAC is to advise the 

Secretary of Agriculture on regional and 

national research planning and 

coordination of forestry research within 

the Federal and State agencies, forestry 

schools, forest industries, and nongovernmental organizations. The 

Council may fulfill its responsibility to 

consult on a periodic or regular basis on 

apportionment of funds. The Council 

consists of a total of 20 members. The 

Chair, or designated employee, serves as 

the Designated Federal Officer under 

sections 10(e) and (f) of the Federal 

Advisory Act (5 U.S.C. App.). Any 

vacancies on the Council will be filled 

in the manner in which the original 

appointment was made. 

A meeting notice will be published in 

the Federal Register 15 to 45 days 

before a scheduled meeting date. All 

meetings are generally open to the 

public and may include a ‘‘public 

forum’’ that may offer 5–10 minutes for 

participants to present comments to the 

advisory committee. The Chair of the 

given Council ultimately makes the 

decision whether to offer time on the 

agenda for the public to speak to the 

general body. 

Equal opportunity practices will be 

followed in all appointments to the 

advisory committee. To ensure that the 

recommendations of the FRAC have 

taken into account the needs of diverse 

groups served by the Departments, 

membership will, to the extent 

practicable, include individuals with 

demonstrated ability to represent 

minorities, women, and persons with 

disabilities. 

Dated: March 15, 2011. 

Pearlie S. Reed, 

Assistant Secretary for Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2011–6913 Filed 3–23–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food and Nutrition Service 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request—Supplemental 

Nutrition Assistance Program 

Repayment Demand and Program 

Disqualification 

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 

collection is a revision of currently 

approved information collection 

requirements associated with initiating 

collection actions against households 

who have received an overissuance in 

the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

Program (SNAP). 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted on or before May 23, 2011 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 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 that 

were 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 use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. Comments may 

be sent to: Jane Duffield, Chief, State 

Administration Branch, Food and 

Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, 

Room 822, Alexandria, VA 22302. 

Comments may also be submitted via 

fax to the attention of Jane Duffield at 

703–305–0928 or via e-mail to 

Jane.Duffield@fns.usda.gov. Comments 

will also be accepted through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to 

http://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 during 

regular business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 

p.m. Monday through Friday) at 3101 

Park Center Drive, Room 822, 

Alexandria, Virginia 22302. All 

responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for Office of Management and Budget 

approval. All comments will be a matter 

of public record. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

copies of this information collection 

should be directed to Christine Daffan at 

703–305–2473. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Supplemental Nutrition 

Assistance Program Repayment Demand 

and Program Disqualification. 

OMB Number: 0584–0492. 

Form Number: None. 

Expiration Date: July 31, 2011. 

Type of Request: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Abstract: Section 13(b) of the Food 

and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended 

(7 U.S.C. 2022(b)), and Supplemental 

Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) 

regulations at 7 CFR 273.18 require 

State agencies to initiate collection 

action against households that have 

been overissued benefits. To initiate 

collection action, State agencies must 

provide an affected household with 

written notification informing the 

household of the claim and demanding 

repayment. This process is automated in 

most State agencies. For initiating 

collection action on an overissuance, we 

are increasing the estimated annual 

reporting and recordkeeping burden for 

State agencies and households from 

111,200 hours to 137,584 hours. The 

reason for the increase is to reflect the 

higher number of claims that were 

established in fiscal year (FY) 2009. 

Note that for recipient claims, this 

Federal Register notice only covers the 

reporting and recordkeeping burden for 

initiating collection action. The burden 

associated with reporting collections 

and other claims management 

information on the FNS–209 report is 

covered under currently approved OMB 

number 0584–0069 expiration date 

8/31/2012. The burden associated with 

referring delinquent claims and 

receiving collections through the 

Treasury Offset Program is covered 

under currently approved OMB number 

0584–0446 expiration date 2/28/2013. 

SNAP regulations at 7 CFR 273.16 

require State agencies to investigate any 

case of suspected fraud and, where 

applicable, make an intentional Program 

violation (IPV) determination either 

administratively or judicially. Examples 

of notifications and activity involved in 

the IPV process include: 

• The State agency providing written 

notification informing an individual 

suspected of committing an IPV of an 

impending administrative 

disqualification hearing or court action; 

• An individual opting to accept the 

disqualification and waiving the right to 

an administrative disqualification 

hearing or court action by signing either 

a waiver to an administrative 

disqualification hearing or a 

disqualification consent agreement in 

cases of deferred adjudication; and 

• Once a determination is made 

regarding an IPV, the State agency sends 

notification to the affected individual of 

the action taken on the administrative 

disqualification hearing or court 

decision. 

Despite an increase in SNAP 

participation, IPV activity has only 

increased slightly. We are increasing the 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 57 / Thursday, March 24, 2011 / Notices 16599 

household annual reporting burden for 

the activities related to IPV 

disqualifications from 2,348 hours to 

2,710 hours. 

The States’ annual reporting burden 

for the activities related to IPV 

disqualifications and hearing notices 

has increased from 13,340 hours to 

15,381 hours. The States’ annual 

recordkeeping burden for the IPV 

related activities increased from 2,942 

hours to 3,396 hours. These increases 

are due to Program changes as a result 

of an increased number of SNAP 

households that States have reported as 

disqualified. 

One of the factors used by a State 

agency to determine the appropriate 

disqualification penalty to assign to an 

individual is whether or not the 

individual was found to have 

committed any prior IPVs. The way that 

State agencies determine this is by 

accessing and checking the Electronic 

Disqualified Recipient System (eDRS), 

which is an automated system 

developed by FNS that contains records 

of disqualifications in every State. State 

agencies are responsible for updating 

the system and checking it to determine 

the appropriate length of each 

disqualification. An estimate of the 

annual burden associated with the eDRS 

process reflects an increase from 5,563 

hours to 7,967 hours per year. 

Summary of Estimated Burden 

The net aggregate change from the 

currently approved burden of 135,393 

hours to the proposed annual burden for 

this collection of 167,038 hours is an 

increase of 31,645 hours. For initiating 

collection action on an overissuance, we 

are increasing the estimated annual 

burden for State agencies and 

households from 111,200 hours to 

137,584 hours to reflect the higher 

number of claims established in FY 

2009. The IPV-related State agency and 

household annual reporting and 

recordkeeping burden has increased 

from 18,630 hours to 21,487 hours to 

reflect the higher number of 

disqualifications. An estimate of the 

annual burden associated with the eDRS 

process reflects a total increase from 

5,563 hours to 7,967 hours per year. 

Adjustments have been made to the 

burden to include requirements not 

previously identified, burden identified 

incorrectly, and corrections made in the 

calculations of the number of responses 

and hours per response. 

Affected Public: State, Local and 

Tribal government (SA); Individual/ 

Households (I/H). 

Respondent Type: SNAP participants. 

SA Reporting Burden 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

53. 

Estimate Total Number of Responses 

per Respondent: 17,015.77. 

Estimated Total Annual Responses: 

901,836. 

Estimated Time per Response: 

0.12760. 

Estimated Total Annual Reporting 

Burden: 115,071.418. 

SA Recordkeeping Burden 

Estimated Number of Recordkeepers: 

53. 

Estimated Total Records per 

Recordkeeper: 14,902.77. 

Annual Records: 789,794 + 53 

Recordkeepers = 789,847. 

Estimated Average # of Hours per 

Response: 0.03333. 

Estimated Total Recordkeeping 

Hours: 26,326.20. 

I/H Reporting Burden 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

687,922. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 1.19333. 

Total Number of Annual Responses: 

820,917.96. 

Estimated Time per Response: 

0.03123. 

Estimated Total Annual Reporting 

Burden: 25,640.36. 

Grand Total Burden Reporting and 

Recordkeeping Burden: 167,037. 

Dated: March 18, 2011. 

Julia Paradis, 

Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–6950 Filed 3–23–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–30–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food and Nutrition Service 

Special Supplemental Nutrition 

Program for Women, Infants and 

Children (WIC): Income Eligibility 

Guidelines 

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department announces 

adjusted income eligibility guidelines to 

be used by State agencies in 

determining the income eligibility of 

persons applying to participate in the 

Special Supplemental Nutrition 

Program for Women, Infants and 

Children Program (WIC). These income 

eligibility guidelines are to be used in 

conjunction with the WIC Regulations. 

DATES: Effective Date: July 1, 2011. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Anne Bartholomew, Branch Chief, 

Policy Branch, Supplemental Food 

Programs Division, FNS, USDA, 3101 

Park Center Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 

22302, (703) 305–2746. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Order 12866 

This notice is exempt from review by 

the Office of Management and Budget 

under Executive Order 12866. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

This action is not a rule as defined by 

the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 

601–612) and thus is exempt from the 

provisions of this Act. 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

This notice does not contain reporting 

or recordkeeping requirements subject 

to approval by the Office of 

Management and Budget in accordance 

with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507). 

Executive Order 12372 

This program is listed in the Catalog 

of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Programs under No. 10.557, and is 

subject to the provisions of Executive 

Order 12372, which requires 

intergovernmental consultation with 

State and local officials (7 CFR part 

3015, Subpart V, 48 FR 29114, June 24, 

1983, and 49 FR 22676, May 31, 1984). 

Description 

Section 17(d)(2)(A) of the Child 

Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended (42 

U.S.C. 1786(d)(2)(A)) requires the 

Secretary of Agriculture to establish 

income criteria to be used with 

nutritional risk criteria in determining a 

person’s eligibility for participation in 

the WIC Program. The law provides that 

persons will be income eligible for the 

WIC Program only if they are members 

of families that satisfy the income 

standard prescribed for reduced-price 

school meals under section 9(b) of the 

Richard B. Russell National School 

Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)). Under 

section 9(b), the income limit for 

reduced-price school meals is 185 

percent of the Federal poverty 

guidelines, as adjusted. 

Section 9(b) also requires that these 

guidelines be revised annually to reflect 

changes in the Consumer Price Index. 

The annual revision for 2011/2012 was 

published by the Department of Health 

and Human Services (HHS) at 76 FR 

3637, January 20, 2011. The guidelines 

published by HHS are referred to as the 

poverty guidelines. Section 246.7(d)(1) 

of the WIC regulations (Title 7, Code of 

Federal Regulations) specifies that State 

agencies may prescribe income 

guidelines either equaling the income 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES