48798 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 153 / Tuesday, August 9, 2011 / Notices 

be made available on the USDA Web 

site at http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/ 

usda/usdahome?contentid=AC21Main.

xml&contentidonly=true. Members of 

the public who wish to make oral 

statements should also inform Dr. 

Schechtman in writing or via e-mail at 

the indicated addresses at least three 

business days before the meeting. On 

August 30, 2011, if time permits, 

reasonable provision will be made for 

oral presentations of no more than five 

minutes each in duration. 

The meeting will be open to the 

public, but space is limited. If you 

would like to attend the meetings, you 

must register by contacting Ms. Dianne 

Fowler at (202) 720–4074, by fax at 

(202) 720–3191 or by e-mail at 

Dianne.fowler@ars.usda.gov at least 7 

days prior to the meeting. Please 

provide your name, title, business 

affiliation, address, telephone, and fax 

number when you register. If you are a 

person with a disability and request 

reasonable accommodations to 

participate in this meeting, please note 

the request in your registration. All 

reasonable accommodation requests are 

managed on a case by case basis. 

Dated: July 29, 2011. 

Catherine E. Woteki, 

Under Secretary, Research, Education and 

Economics. 

[FR Doc. 2011–20121 Filed 8–8–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–03–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food and Nutrition Service 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request—Study of the 

Effectiveness of Efforts To Increase 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

Program Participation Among 

Medicare’s Extra Help Population Pilot 

Projects 

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 

proposed information collection. The 

proposed collection is a new collection 

for the purpose of conducting the Study 

of the Effectiveness of Efforts to Increase 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

Program Participation Among 

Medicare’s Extra Help Population Pilot 

Projects. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before October 11, 2011. 

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, Office of Research and 

Analysis, Food and Nutrition Service/ 

USDA, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 

1014, 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, Alexandria, VA 

22302, Room 1014. 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) 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: Study of the Effectiveness of 

Efforts to Increase Supplemental 

Nutrition Assistance Program 

Participation Among Medicare’s Extra 

Help Population Pilot Projects 

Form Number: Not yet assigned. 

OMB Number: 0584–New. 

Expiration Date: Not yet assigned. 

Type of Request: New collection of 

Information. 

Abstract: The Agriculture, Rural 

Development, Food and Drug 

Administration, and Related Agencies 

Appropriations Act, 2010 (Pub. L. 111– 

80) provides the Food and Nutrition 

Service (FNS) with funds to test the 

effectiveness of pilot projects designed 

to increase elderly participation in the 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

Program (SNAP; formerly known as the 

Food Stamp Program). Historically, 

elderly individuals who are eligible for 

SNAP have the lowest participation 

rates among all demographic groups. 

The pilot projects will attempt to 

increase participation in SNAP among 

beneficiaries of Medicare’s Extra Help 

by using data from Extra Help 

applications that are forwarded to State 

Medicaid offices. Because Extra Help 

and SNAP eligibility requirements do 

not directly correspond, these pilot 

projects will evaluate methods of using 

these Medicaid data to increase SNAP 

participation among Extra Help 

beneficiaries. 

FNS invited State agencies to submit 

grant applications to use data from the 

Extra Help program to reduce the 

barriers to SNAP participation 

experienced by Extra Help applicants. 

FNS is funding three pilot projects to 

address some of these challenges 

through three approaches: (1) Targeted 

outreach in Washington, (2) simplified 

eligibility criteria in Pennsylvania, and 

(3) standardized SNAP benefits in New 

Mexico. 

The overarching goal of the evaluation 

is to understand how the pilot programs 

operated, who they served, and the 

extent to which they generated any 

measurable effects on participation, 

cost, and SNAP benefits. As part of the 

evaluation, FNS will (1) Obtain a 

detailed description of each pilot 

project; (2) obtain a detailed description 

of the implementation process of each 

pilot project; (3) assess the effect of each 

pilot project on SNAP participation 

among the target population; (4) assess 

the effect of each pilot project on SNAP 

benefits; (5) assess the federal, State, 

and local administrative costs of each 

pilot project, including both 

implementation costs and operational 

costs; (6) assess the overall pilot 

experience among SNAP participants 

and non-participants within the target 

group; (7) assess the effect of each pilot 

project on SNAP case and payment 

errors; (8) assess the sustainability of 

each pilot project and the prerequisites 

for statewide expansion, including 

describing administrative barriers that 

may hinder replication of the pilot 

projects, and (9) assess and compare the 

relative promise of alternative models. 

The information collection being 

requested for this project is to address 

the assessment of overall pilot 

experience among SNAP participants 

and eligible non-participants (objective 

6 above). In order to accomplish this, 

the evaluation will solicit feedback from 


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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 153 / Tuesday, August 9, 2011 / Notices 48799 

participants and non-participants 

through a 20-minute telephone survey 

and through 60-minute focus groups in 

order to better understand the client 

experience with SNAP in general and 

the pilot project more specifically. In 

pilot locations, the evaluation will also 

ask about respondents’ impressions of 

the pilot initiative. 

Affected Public: Individuals/ 

Households. 

Respondent Type: SNAP participants 

and eligible non-participants in States 

with a pilot project. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

The total estimated number of sample 

members to the survey is 6,000. This 

includes 1,000 individuals in New 

Mexico, 2,000 in Washington, and 3,000 

in Pennsylvania. The total estimated 

number of respondents to the survey is 

4,803, or 80% of the sample in each 

State (85% of the participant sample 

and 75% of the nonparticipant sample). 

The total estimated number of sample 

members to the focus group is 138. The 

total number of focus group participants 

is 110, or 80% of the focus group 

sample in each State. This includes two 

groups with 10 people each in 

Pennsylvania, five groups with 10 

people each in Washington, and four 

groups with 10 people each in New 

Mexico. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: For the survey, there will 

be one interview per SNAP participant 

or nonparticipant. Participants in the 

focus groups will only participate once. 

The focus group participants in each 

State will be recruited from the survey 

sample in that State. 

Estimated Time per Response: The 

estimated average response time is 20 

minutes for the survey and 60 minutes 

to participate in the focus group. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: The total estimated 

response time is 1,659.25 hours for the 

survey and 111.40 hours for the focus 

groups, for a total of 1,770.65 hours. See 

the table below for estimated total 

annual burden. 

State Respondent type Type of 

instrument 

Estimated 

number of 

respondents 

Frequency 

of 

responses 

Estimated 

total 

annual 

responses 

Time per 

respondent 

(hours) 

Annual 

burden 

hours 

WA ...................... SNAP participants and eligible non-participants.Survey questionnaire.Completed ......... 1,606 1 1,606 0.333 534.80 

Attempted .......... 394 1 394 0.050 19.70 

WA ...................... Eligible non-participants.Focus group ...... Completed ......... 50 1 50 1 50.00 

Attempted .......... 13 1 13 0.050 0.65 

NM ...................... SNAP participants and eligible non-participants.Survey questionnaire.Completed ......... 798 1 798 0.333 265.73 

Attempted .......... 202 1 202 0.050 10.10 

NM ...................... Eligible non-participants.Focus group ...... Completed ......... 40 1 40 1 40.00 

Attempted .......... 10 1 10 0.050 0.50 

PA ....................... SNAP participants and eligible non-participants.Survey questionnaire.Completed ......... 2,399 1 2,399 0.333 798.87 

Attempted .......... 601 1 601 0.050 30.05 

PA ....................... Eligible non-participants.Focus group ...... Completed ......... 20 1 20 1 20.00 

Attempted .......... 5 1 5 0.050 0.25 

Total ............ ............................ ............................ ............................ 6,138 .................. 6,138 .................. 1,770.65 

Dated: July 29, 2011. 

Audrey Rowe, 

Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–20081 Filed 8–8–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–30–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food and Nutrition Service 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request—Characteristics 

and Circumstances of Zero-Income 

SNAP Households 

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 

this proposed information collection. 

This collection is a new collection for 

the Food and Nutrition Service to 

examine the characteristics, 

circumstances, program dynamics, and 

benefit redemption patterns of 

participants whose households reported 

zero gross income in their applications 

for participation in the Supplemental 

Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

DATES: Written comments on this notice 

must be received on or before October 

11, 2011. 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES