Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 188 / Friday, September 29, 2023 / Proposed Rules 67157 

** We based this figure on the average FY 2023 wait times for field offices and hearings office, as well as by averaging both the average FY 2023 wait times for 

field offices and teleservice centers, based on SSA’s current management information data. 

*** This figure does not represent actual costs that SSA is imposing on recipients of Social Security payments to complete this application; rather, these are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents will spend to complete the application. There is no actual charge to respondents to complete the 

application. 

SSA submitted a single new 

Information Collection Request which 

encompasses revisions to information 

collections currently under OMB 

Numbers 0960–0174, 0960–0456, and 

0960–0529) to OMB for the approval of 

the changes due to the proposed rule. 

After approval at the final rule stage, we 

will adjust the figures associated with 

the current OMB numbers for these 

forms to reflect the new burden. We are 

soliciting comments on the burden 

estimate; the need for the information; 

its practical utility; ways to enhance its 

quality, utility, and clarity; and ways to 

minimize the burden on respondents, 

including the use of automated 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. In addition, we are 

specifically seeking comment on 

whether you have any questions or 

suggestions for edits to the forms 

referenced above in the context of this 

proposed regulatory change. If you 

would like to submit comments, please 

send them to the following locations: 

Office of Management and Budget, Attn: 

Desk Officer for SSA, Fax Number: 

202–395–6974, Email address: OIRA_

Submission@omb.eop.gov 

Social Security Administration, OLCA, 

Attn: Reports Clearance Director, Mail 

Stop 3253 Altmeyer, 6401 Security 

Blvd., Baltimore MD 21235, Fax: 410– 

966–2830, Email address: 

OR.Reports.Clearance@ssa.gov 

You can submit comments until 

November 28, 2023, which is 60 days 

after the publication of this notice. 

However, your comments will be most 

useful if you send them to SSA by 

October 30, 2023, which is 30 days after 

publication. To receive a copy of the 

OMB clearance package, contact the 

SSA Reports Clearance Officer using 

any of the above contact methods. We 

prefer to receive comments by email or 

fax. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program No. 96.006, Supplemental Security 

Income) 

List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 416 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Supplemental Security 

Income (SSI). 

The Acting Commissioner of Social 

Security, Kilolo Kijakazi, Ph.D., M.S.W., 

having reviewed and approved this 

document, is delegating the authority to 

electronically sign this document to 

Faye I. Lipsky, who is the primary 

Federal Register Liaison for SSA, for 

purposes of publication in the Federal 

Register. 

Faye I. Lipsky, 

Federal Register Liaison, Office of Legislation 

and Congressional Affairs, Social Security 

Administration. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, we propose to amend 20 CFR 

chapter III, part 416, subpt. K, as set 

forth below: 

PART 416—SUPPLEMENTAL 

SECURITY INCOME FOR THE AGED, 

BLIND, AND DISABLED 

Subpart K—Income 

■ 1. The authority citation for subpart K 

of part 416 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Secs. 702(a)(5), 1602, 1611, 

1612, 1613, 1614(f), 1621, 1631, and 1633 of 

the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 902(a)(5), 

1381a, 1382, 1382a, 1382b, 1382c(f), 1382j, 

1383, and 1383b; sec. 211, Pub. L. 93–66, 87 

Stat. 154 (42 U.S.C. 1382 note). 

■ 2. Amend § 416.1142 by revising 

paragraphs (a) introductory text and 

(a)(6) and (7) and adding paragraph 

(a)(8) to read as follows: 

§ 416.1142 If you live in a public 

assistance household. 

(a) Definition. For purposes of our 

programs, a public assistance household 

is one in which every member receives 

some kind of public incomemaintenance payments. These are 

payments made under— 

* * * * * 

(6) State or local government 

assistance programs based on need (tax 

credits or refunds are not assistance 

based on need); 

(7) U.S. Department of Veterans 

Affairs programs (those payments based 

on need); and 

(8) The Supplemental Nutrition 

Assistance Program (SNAP). 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2023–21550 Filed 9–28–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4191–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Food and Drug Administration 

21 CFR Part 112 

[Docket No. FDA–2017–D–0175] 

Draft Guidance for Industry: Standards 

for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, 

and Holding of Sprouts for Human 

Consumption; and Guidance for 

Industry: Standards for the Growing, 

Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of 

Sprouts for Human Consumption; 

Availability 

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, 

HHS. 

ACTION: Notification of availability. 

SUMMARY: The Food and Drug 

Administration (FDA or we) is 

announcing the availability of two 

guidance documents that will help 

sprout operations subject to FDA’s final 

rule entitled ‘‘Standards for the 

Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and 

Holding of Produce for Human 

Consumption’’ (the Produce Safety 

Rule) understand the topics covered in 

the Produce Safety Rule pertaining to 

personnel qualifications, training, and 

hygienic practices; equipment, tools, 

and buildings; and sampling and testing 

of spent sprout irrigation water (or inprocess sprouts). FDA is issuing a draft 

guidance entitled, ‘‘Draft Guidance for 

Industry: Standards for the Growing, 

Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of 

Sprouts for Human Consumption,’’ 

which revises a currently issued draft 

guidance entitled ‘‘Compliance with 

and Recommendations for 

Implementation of the Standards for the 

Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and 

Holding of Produce for Human 

Consumption for Sprout Operations’’ 

(January 23, 2017) (the January 2017 

draft guidance). In addition, FDA is 

announcing the availability of a final 

guidance entitled ‘‘Guidance for 

Industry: Standards for the Growing, 

Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of 

Sprouts for Human Consumption,’’ 

which finalizes portions of the January 

2017 draft guidance with additional 

clarifications in response to comments. 

DATES: Submit either electronic or 

written comments on the draft revised 

guidance by March 27, 2024 to ensure 

that FDA considers your comment on 

the draft revised guidance before we 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
67158 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 188 / Friday, September 29, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

begin work on the final version of the 

guidance. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on any guidance at any time as follows: 

Electronic Submissions 

Submit electronic comments in the 

following way: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Comments submitted electronically, 

including attachments, to https://

www.regulations.gov will be posted to 

the docket unchanged. Because your 

comment will be made public, you are 

solely responsible for ensuring that your 

comment does not include any 

confidential information that you or a 

third party may not wish to be posted, 

such as medical information, your or 

anyone else’s Social Security number, or 

confidential business information, such 

as a manufacturing process. Please note 

that if you include your name, contact 

information, or other information that 

identifies you in the body of your 

comments, that information will be 

posted on https://www.regulations.gov. 

• If you want to submit a comment 

with confidential information that you 

do not wish to be made available to the 

public, submit the comment as a 

written/paper submission and in the 

manner detailed (see ‘‘Written/Paper 

Submissions’’ and ‘‘Instructions’’). 

Written/Paper Submissions 

Submit written/paper submissions as 

follows: 

• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier (for 

written/paper submissions): Dockets 

Management Staff (HFA–305), Food and 

Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers 

Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. 

• For written/paper comments 

submitted to the Dockets Management 

Staff, FDA will post your comment, as 

well as any attachments, except for 

information submitted, marked and 

identified, as confidential, if submitted 

as detailed in ‘‘Instructions.’’ 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the Docket No. FDA– 

2017–D–0175 for ‘‘Draft Guidance for 

Industry: Standards for the Growing 

Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of 

Sprouts for Human Consumption.’’ 

Received comments will be placed in 

the docket and, except for those 

submitted as ‘‘Confidential 

Submissions,’’ publicly viewable at 

https://www.regulations.gov or at the 

Dockets Management Staff between 9 

a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, 240–402–7500. 

• Confidential Submissions—To 

submit a comment with confidential 

information that you do not wish to be 

made publicly available, submit your 

comments only as a written/paper 

submission. You should submit two 

copies total. One copy will include the 

information you claim to be confidential 

with a heading or cover note that states 

‘‘THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS 

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.’’ We 

will review this copy, including the 

claimed confidential information, in our 

consideration of comments. The second 

copy, which will have the claimed 

confidential information redacted/ 

blacked out, will be available for public 

viewing and posted on https://

www.regulations.gov. Submit both 

copies to the Dockets Management Staff. 

If you do not wish your name and 

contact information to be made publicly 

available, you can provide this 

information on the cover sheet and not 

in the body of your comments and you 

must identify this information as 

‘‘confidential.’’ Any information marked 

as ‘‘confidential’’ will not be disclosed 

except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 

and other applicable disclosure law. For 

more information about FDA’s posting 

of comments to public dockets, see 80 

FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or access 

the information at: https://

www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015- 

09-18/pdf/2015-23389.pdf. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or the 

electronic and written/paper comments 

received, go to https://

www.regulations.gov and insert the 

docket number, found in brackets in the 

heading of this document, into the 

‘‘Search’’ box and follow the prompts 

and/or go to the Dockets Management 

Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, 

Rockville, MD 20852, 240–402–7500. 

You may submit comments on any 

guidance at any time (see 21 CFR 

10.115(g)(5)). 

Submit written requests for single 

copies of the revised draft guidance 

document to the Division of Produce 

Safety, Center for Food Safety and 

Applied Nutrition (HFS–317), Food and 

Drug Administration, 5001 Campus Dr., 

College Park, MD 20740, 240–402–1600. 

Send two self-addressed adhesive labels 

to assist that office in processing your 

requests. See the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section for electronic 

access to the guidance document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Samir Assar, Center for Food Safety and 

Applied Nutrition (HFS–317), Food and 

Drug Administration, 5001 Campus Dr., 

College Park, MD 20740–3835, 240– 

402–1636. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

We are announcing the availability of 

a draft guidance for industry entitled 

‘‘Draft Guidance for Industry: Standards 

for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, 

and Holding of Sprouts for Human 

Consumption.’’ The draft guidance is a 

revision of the January 2017 draft 

guidance entitled ‘‘Draft Guidance for 

Industry: Compliance with and 

Recommendations for Implementation 

of the Standards for the Growing, 

Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of 

Produce for Human Consumption for 

Sprout Operations’’ and contains 

revised information in the sections 

entitled ‘‘Equipment, Tools and 

Buildings’’ (titled ‘‘Buildings, Tools and 

Equipment’’ in the January 2017 draft 

guidance) and ‘‘Sampling and Testing of 

Spent Sprout Irrigation Water (or InProcess sprouts)’’ (sections IV and V, 

respectively, which were sections IV 

and VIII in the January 2017 draft 

guidance) and consolidates information 

on personnel qualifications, training, 

and hygienic practices into a new 

standalone section. FDA is also issuing 

a final guidance entitled ‘‘Guidance for 

Industry: Standards for the Growing, 

Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of 

Sprouts for Human Consumption,’’ that 

finalizes recommendations from the 

January 2017 draft guidance with 

additional clarifications in response to 

comments. Additionally, we have 

revised the titles of both the draft 

guidance and final guidance to make 

them more concise and to promote 

clarity. 

We are issuing these guidance 

documents consistent with our good 

guidance practices regulation (21 CFR 

10.115). The guidance documents do 

not establish any rights for any person 

and are not binding on FDA or the 

public. You can use an alternative 

approach if it satisfies the requirements 

of the applicable statutes and 

regulations. 

In the Federal Register of January 23, 

2017 (82 FR 7751), we made available 

the 2017 draft guidance and gave 

interested parties an opportunity to 

submit comments by July 24, 2017, for 

us to consider before beginning work on 

the final version of the guidance. We 

received several comments on the 

January 2017 draft guidance, and we 

address those comments in the final 

guidance. 

We are issuing revised sections of the 

January 2017 draft guidance for 

additional comment in the draft 

guidance. The draft guidance includes 

revised sections on ‘‘Equipment, Tools 

and Buildings,’’ and ‘‘Sampling and 

Testing of Spent Sprout Irrigation Water 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 188 / Friday, September 29, 2023 / Proposed Rules 67159 

(or In-Process Sprouts)’’, and a new 

section entitled ‘‘Personnel 

Qualifications, Training, and Hygienic 

Practices.’’ We are issuing these sections 

for additional comment for the 

following reasons: 

• Equipment, Tools and Buildings: 

This section has been revised to 

facilitate alignment with the 

recommendations in related guidances. 

• Sampling and Testing of Spent 

Sprout Irrigation Water (or In-Process 

Sprouts): We are reissuing this section 

in draft to receive additional comments 

and feedback from sprouting operations, 

which will inform ongoing FDA 

research on this topic. 

• Personnel Qualifications, Training, 

and Hygienic Practices: In the January 

2017 draft guidance, many of the 

recommendations for personnel 

qualifications, training, and hygienic 

practices were dispersed throughout, 

rather than being consolidated in a 

single section. In the draft guidance, the 

recommendations are consolidated into 

a standalone section entitled ‘‘Personnel 

Qualifications, Training, and Hygienic 

Practices’’ to ensure that we present the 

recommendations comprehensively and 

to facilitate ease of reading. 

We welcome comments on any aspect 

of the draft guidance. We are 

particularly interested in receiving 

information about any testing of spent 

sprout irrigation water or in-process 

sprouts that sprout operations are 

currently doing for non-O157 Shiga 

toxin-producing Escherichia coli 

(STEC), including test kit names (as 

applicable). 

We are finalizing other sections of the 

January 2017 draft guidance with minor 

revisions. Changes to the final guidance 

include: clarifying the recommendations 

regarding the frequency of cleaning and 

sanitizing; providing additional 

recommendations on seed for sprouting, 

including seed treatment and corrective 

actions; removing language on voluntary 

periodic sampling and testing of 

sprouts, and clarifying our expectations 

for corrective actions after an operation 

detects Listeria spp. or Listeria 

monocytogenes in an environmental 

sample. We also received general 

comments that requested we shorten 

and simplify the guidance. As a result, 

we removed section III (‘‘General Sprout 

Production,’’ as it appeared in the 

January 2017 draft guidance) because 

most of the language in this section was 

repeated elsewhere. We also made 

editorial changes to improve clarity and 

removed certain recommendations 

based on impracticality. The final 

guidance consists of the following 

sections: 

• Cleaning and Sanitizing; 

• Agricultural Water in Sprouting 

Operations; 

• Seeds for Sprouting; 

• Environmental Monitoring; and 

• Recordkeeping. 

II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

This guidance contains information 

collection provisions that are subject to 

review by the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501– 

3521). The collections of information in 

21 CFR part 112 have been approved 

under OMB control number 0910–0816. 

III. Electronic Access 

Persons with access to the internet 

may obtain the guidances at https://

www.fda.gov/food/guidance-regulationfood-and-dietary-supplements/ 

guidance-documents-regulatoryinformation-topic-food-and-dietarysupplements, https://www.fda.gov/ 

regulatory-information/search-fdaguidance-documents, or https://

www.regulations.gov. Use the FDA 

website listed in the previous sentence 

to find the most current version of the 

guidance. 

Dated: September 21, 2023. 

Lauren K. Roth, 

Associate Commissioner for Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2023–21294 Filed 9–28–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4164–01–P 

POSTAL SERVICE 

39 CFR Part 111 

Ballot Mail Ancillary Service 

Endorsements 

AGENCY: Postal ServiceTM. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Postal Service is 

proposing to amend Mailing Standards 

of the United States Postal Service, 

Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) to 

remove Change Service Requested, 

Option 1, as an ancillary service 

endorsement option for Ballot Mail. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

October 30, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: Mail or deliver written 

comments to the manager, Product 

Classification, U.S. Postal Service, 475 

L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room 4446, 

Washington, DC 20260–5015. If sending 

comments by email, include the name 

and address of the commenter and send 

to PCFederalRegister@usps.gov, with a 

subject line of ‘‘Ballot Mail Service 

Endorsements’’. Faxed comments are 

not accepted. 

Confidentiality 

All submitted comments and 

attachments are part of the public record 

and subject to disclosure. Do not 

enclose any material in your comments 

that you consider to be confidential or 

inappropriate for public disclosure. 

You may inspect and photocopy all 

written comments, by appointment 

only, at USPS® Headquarters Library, 

475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, 11th Floor 

North, Washington, DC 20260. These 

records are available for review on 

Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m., 

by calling 202–268–2906. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Emily Matyas (202) 826–7157 or Garry 

Rodriguez at (202) 268–7281. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Ancillary 

service endorsements provide an option 

for mailers to instruct the Postal Service 

on how to treat their mail if it is 

determined to be undeliverable-asaddressed and to request address 

correction services. 

The Postal Service is proposing to 

revise subsections 507.1.5.1 and 

507.1.5.3 to remove the ‘‘Change Service 

Requested’’, Option1, ancillary service 

endorsement as an option for Ballot 

Mail items. Change Service Requested, 

Option 1 permits all mailpieces that are 

undeliverable as addressed to be 

disposed of and an address correction 

notice with reason for non-delivery is 

provided to the mailer. The Election and 

Government Mail Services group made 

the policy decision to never allow any 

identifiable Ballot Mail piece that is 

undeliverable as addressed to be 

disposed of by the Postal Service. 

Instead, Ballot Mail that is 

undeliverable as addressed must be 

forwarded to the voter if a Change of 

Address notice is on file or returned to 

the election office that sent the Ballot 

Mail. 

The Postal Service is proposing to 

implement this change effective January 

21, 2024. 

We believe this proposed revision 

will provide customers with a more 

efficient mailing experience. 

Although exempt from the notice and 

comment requirements of the 

Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 

553(b), (c)) regarding proposed 

rulemaking by 39 U.S.C. 410(a), the 

Postal Service invites public comment 

on the following proposed revisions to 

Mailing Standards of the United States 

Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual 

(DMM), incorporated by reference in the 

Code of Federal Regulations. See 39 CFR 

111.1. 

We will publish an appropriate 

amendment to 39 CFR part 111 to reflect 

these changes. 


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