This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

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Notices Federal Register

48709 

Vol. 74, No. 184 

Thursday, September 24, 2009 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food and Nutrition Service 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request—Performance 

Standards and Reporting for 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

Program Modernization Initiatives 

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 

this proposed information collection. 

This collection is a new collection for 

Performance Standards and Reporting 

for the Supplemental Nutrition 

Assistance Program (SNAP) 

Modernization Initiatives. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before November 23, 

2009. 

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 has 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 the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. 

Comments may be sent to: Steven 

Carlson, Director, Office of Research and 

Analysis, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, 

3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 

22302. Comments may also be 

submitted via fax to the attention of 

Steven Carlson at 703–305–2576 or via 

e-mail to Steve.Carlson@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 1014, 

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 Steven Carlson at 

703–305–2017. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Performance Standards and 

Reporting for Supplemental Nutrition 

Assistance Program Modernization 

Initiatives. 

OMB No.: Not yet assigned. 

Expiration Date: Not yet determined. 

Type of Request: New collection. 

Abstract: The profile of SNAP 

participants has changed to include an 

increasing number of working families, 

resulting in efforts by many States to 

modernize SNAP to improve access 

among eligible households and increase 

operational efficiency, while 

maintaining payment accuracy. In 

addition, there is a trend for government 

services to adopt business procedures 

that promise better service and more 

efficiency. Finally, reduced resources 

and budget constraints are leading many 

States to look for approaches that reduce 

administrative costs while maintaining 

or improving client services. 

Modernization adjusts the traditional 

SNAP administration procedures, and it 

introduces new avenues of access to 

benefits. Section 4116 of the Food, 

Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 

(Pub. L. 110–234) amended Section 11 

of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, 

7 USC 2020, to include a provision for 

FNS to develop standards for 

identifying major operational changes 

and for States to provide any 

information required by the USDA. 

While developing such standards is not 

the focus of this data collection effort, 

the legislation indicates a high federal 

priority placed on understanding and 

measuring efforts to modernize SNAP 

service delivery. 

Modernization creates the 

opportunity for increased efficiency and 

improved service delivery, but it also 

poses potential threats to smooth 

operations. Although States report some 

required measures of SNAP access, 

accuracy, and efficiency to FNS, 

individual States may supplement the 

measures and standards with their own 

efforts to maximize internal 

accountability and efficiency. FNS has 

not set performance requirements for 

most modernization initiatives; hence, 

the Agency has requisitioned this study 

in order to better understand how States 

are assessing performance of their 

modernization initiatives. 

To assess the existing modernization 

activities underway in each State, FNS 

plans to study SNAP performance 

measurement in all 50 States and the 

District of Columbia. Data collection 

will include a survey, telephone and inperson interviews, and administrative 

records collection from State and local 

SNAP offices, and SNAP community 

business and not-for-profit partners. 

Affected Public: State, Local or Tribal 

Government; Businesses or other forprofits; Not-for-profit institutions. 

Respondent groups identified include: 

(1) State and local SNAP offices; (2) 

SNAP community business and not-forprofit partners. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

The total estimated number of 

respondents is 913. This includes: 178 

State and District of Columbia SNAP 

office staff, 400 county and local SNAP 

office staff, and 335 SNAP partners at 

local community organizations and 

businesses. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: The estimated number of 

responses per respondent is one to four, 

depending on the respondent. 

Thirty State and District of Columbia 

SNAP office staff will participate in all 

four responses for this study, including 

the survey, the telephone and in-person 

interviews, and the records collection. 

From the State and District of Columbia 

SNAP offices, 98 staff members will 

participate in everything except the inperson interviews. Twenty staff 


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48710 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 184 / Thursday, September 24, 2009 / Notices 

members will participate in the survey 

and records collection, and 25 staff will 

only participate in in-person interviews 

on site. 

Similarly, 40 county and local SNAP 

office staff will be asked to complete all 

four components of the study. Two 

people at each site, minus the 40 who 

will complete all four study components 

(for a total of 260 respondents) will 

participate in the survey, the telephone 

interview, and the records collection, 

but will not receive the in-person 

interviews. A total of approximately 50 

county and local SNAP office staff will 

participate in in-person interviews only. 

Twenty staff from SNAP partners will 

also be asked to respond to a phone 

interview, to participate in in-person 

interviews, and to provide available 

data records from the past 12 months. 

For SNAP partners, 163 staff members 

will be invited to participate in a 

telephone interview, and those 

participants will also be asked to 

conduct the records collection. Another 

30 SNAP partners will participate in inperson interviews, but not in the other 

study components.. 

Estimated Time per Response: The 

estimated time of response varies from 

10 minutes (0.167 hours) to 4 hours, 

depending on the respondent and type 

of instrument, as shown in the table 

below. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 3184.48 hours. 

ANNUAL BURDEN ESTIMATE

Response category 

Estimated 

number of 

respondents a

Estimated average number 

of hours per 

response b

Estimated total 

hours 

State and District of Columbia SNAP Office Staff 

Survey .......................................................................................................................................... 153 1.37 209.90 

Telephone Interview .................................................................................................................... 128 1.54 197.11 

In-person Interview ...................................................................................................................... 55 1.55 85.17 

Records Collection ....................................................................................................................... 153 1.35 206.49 

Total ...................................................................................................................................... 498 ........................ 698.67 

Local and County SNAP Officials 

Survey .......................................................................................................................................... 350 1.80 630.06 

Telephone Interview .................................................................................................................... 300 1.55 465.03 

In-person Interview ...................................................................................................................... 90 0.63 56.67 

Records Collection ....................................................................................................................... 300 2.02 607.01 

Total ...................................................................................................................................... 1,040 ........................ 1,758.77 

SNAP Partners 

Telephone Interview .................................................................................................................... 264 0.77 201.99 

In-person Interview ...................................................................................................................... 30 1.04 31.34 

Records Collection ....................................................................................................................... 244 2.02 493.17 

Total ...................................................................................................................................... 538 ........................ 727.04 

Grand Total ................................................................................................................... 2,076 ........................ 3,184.48 

aFor this collection, the estimated number of respondents and total annual responses are the same, as all data collection will occur within the 

span of one year. While respondents will be invited to submit no more than one response in each response category (responses annually per respondent is equal to one for each category), individual respondents may be involved in more than one aspect of this collection (so, some respondents may participate in both the survey and the in-person interview). bThis average includes time burden incurred by nonresponders for reviewing the invitation to participate in the collection and informational materials as well as time that responders spend submitting information under each category. 

Dated: September 16, 2009. 

Julia Paradis, 

Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–23123 Filed 9–23–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–30–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food and Nutrition Service 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request—Forms FNS–806– 

A, Claim for Reimbursement (National 

School Lunch and School Breakfast 

Programs), and FNS–806–B, Claim for 

Reimbursement (Special Milk Program 

for Children) 

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 the 

proposed information collections. The 

Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) uses 

the Claims for Reimbursement, FNS– 

806–A and FNS–806–B, to collect data 

to determine the amount of 

reimbursement school food authorities 

participating in the National School 

Lunch Program (NSLP), OMB Number 

0584–0006 Expiration May 31, 2012, 

School Breakfast Program (SBP), OMB 

Number 0584–0012 Expiration May 31, 

2012, and Special Milk Program for 


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