Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 146 / Monday, July 30, 2018 / Notices 36515 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20250–9410. 

Fax: (202) 690–7442. 

Email: program.intake@usda.gov. 

Persons with disabilities who require 

alternative means for communication 

(Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.), 

should contact USDA’s TARGET Center 

at (202) 720–2600 (voice and TDD). 

Done at Washington, DC. 

Paul Kiecker, 

Acting Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16197 Filed 7–27–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food and Nutrition Service 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Evaluation of Technology 

Modernization for SNAP Benefit 

Redemption Through Online 

Transactions for the USDA Food and 

Nutrition Service 

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service 

(FNS), USDA. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

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 to 

test the feasibility of online purchasing 

for SNAP through Evaluation of 

Technology Modernization for SNAP 

Benefit Redemption through Online 

Transactions for the USDA. The final 

report will synthesize findings across 

pilots and detailed appendix chapters 

will integrate implementation and 

integrity evaluation findings for each 

pilot. This collection includes in-depth 

interviews with key informants, 

including SNAP online retailers and 

their web service providers, the 

designated third-party processor for the 

pilots, EBT processors, and State 

Agency EBT coordinators; and 

preparation and transmission of data 

from retailers and their web service 

providers, EBT processors, the thirdparty processor, and state SNAP 

agencies. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before September 28, 

2018. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: 

Eric Williams, Food and Nutrition 

Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

3101 Park Center Drive, Room 1014, 

Alexandria, VA 22302. Comments may 

also be submitted via fax to the attention 

of Eric Williams at 703–305–2576 or via 

email to Eric.Williams@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 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 Eric Williams at 

703–305–2576. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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. 

Title: Evaluation of Technology 

Modernization for SNAP Benefit 

Redemption through Online 

Transactions for the USDA Food and 

Nutrition Service. 

OMB Number: Not Yet Assigned. 

Expiration Date: Not Yet Determined. 

Type of Request: New collection. 

Abstract: The Supplemental Nutrition 

Assistance Program (SNAP) offers 

nutrition assistance to low-income 

individuals and families and provides 

economic benefits to communities. The 

Agricultural Act of 2014 (Farm Bill) 

mandated the Online Purchasing Pilots 

to test the feasibility and implications of 

allowing retail food stores to accept 

SNAP benefits through online 

transactions. Prior to the pilots, SNAP 

benefits could only be redeemed in 

person. The Farm Bill provided FNS 

and its stakeholders an opportunity to 

begin modernizing benefit redemption 

through online purchasing for SNAP. 

For customers using SNAP, online 

shopping may increase access to healthy 

and affordable foods, save time, and 

reduce other barriers to better nutrition. 

Current participating retailers can offer 

online shopping, and online merchants 

can gain the opportunity to serve SNAP 

customers. For program integrity, online 

shopping represents opportunities to 

identify suspicious behavior, but also 

new ways that benefit misuse and fraud 

may occur. 

To test the feasibility of online 

purchasing for SNAP, FNS established 

eight online purchasing pilots and 

requested volunteers on September 15, 

2016 (OMB Control No.: 0584–0606, 

expiration date 3/31/2019) for the 

Evaluation of Technology 

Modernization for SNAP Benefit 

Redemption through Online 

Transactions (Evaluation of Online 

Purchasing Pilots). Through this 

evaluation, FNS seeks to learn how the 

pilots operate, the implementation 

challenges and lessons learned, the 

characteristics of SNAP online 

customers, the risks and benefits of 

online purchasing for the integrity of 

SNAP, and the requirements for 

expansion. 

Through the Evaluation of Online 

Purchasing Pilots, the research team 

will address FNS’ two interrelated 

objectives: the analyses of the pilots’ (1) 

implementation and (2) integrity. 

Implementation study questions relate 

to: The SNAP online transaction 

approaches; the process, challenges, and 

lessons of implementation; the 

characteristics of SNAP households that 

shop online; and the level of effort for 

stakeholders (e.g., retailers, states, EBT 

processors). Integrity study questions 

focus on: Delivery patterns and their 

relationship to customer addresses and 

retailer locations; customer profiles and 

their relationship to EBT cards and 

SNAP households; customer shopping 

patterns; and problems such as refunds 

and cart abandonment. To meet these 

two overarching objectives, the research 

team will collect and analyze qualitative 

data from key informants and 

quantitative administrative data about 

online transactions, retailers, and SNAP 

households that will be provided by 

FNS, retailers, and state SNAP agencies. 

The implementation and integrity 

analyses will inform FNS’ decisions 

about whether and how to make SNAP 

online purchases more widely available, 

and how to ensure that protections 

against abuse remain strong or grow 

stronger. Eight retailers in eight states 

are participating in the pilot, we 

anticipate 100 percent participation. 

Affected Public: State, Local and 

Tribal Agencies; Business-for-profit. 

Respondent Types: The study 

includes in-depth interviews with a 

total of four respondent groups. Three 

are business respondents: (1) Personnel 

from online retailers, including project 

managers, customer service managers, 


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36516 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 146 / Monday, July 30, 2018 / Notices 

staff who handle fulfillment of orders, 

IT personnel or third-party web service 

providers; (2) EBT processor staff; and 

(3) third-party processor staff. The 

fourth state SNAP agency staff, 

including State Agency EBT 

coordinators. Staff from two of these 

respondent groups (retailers or their 

third-party web service providers and 

state SNAP agencies) will also provide 

data files for the quantitative analysis. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

The total estimated number of 

respondents is 177. This includes: 24 

retailer staff who handle the fulfillment, 

shipping, and delivery of EBT customer 

orders; 24 retailer customer service 

managers; 16 retailer IT personnel or 

third-party web service providers; 32 

retailer project managers; 16 retailer 

personnel who completed the pilot 

application; 8 retailer/web provider data 

managers; 8 retailer/web provider staff 

who will prepare and transfer the 

detailed transaction file; 8 retailer/web 

provider staff who will prepare and 

transfer the aggregated file; 6 EBT 

processor managers; 3 third-party 

processor personnel; 16 State agency 

EBT coordinators; 8 State Agency SNAP 

program or data staff. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: The total estimated number 

of responses is 2.232 responses per 

respondent. Retailer personnel 

(personnel who handle the fulfillment, 

shipping, and delivery of EBT customer 

orders, customer service managers, IT 

personnel or third-party web service 

providers, project managers, and 

personnel who completed the pilot 

application) will respond to one inperson interview or one telephone 

interview. Managers for two EBT 

processors will respond to one inperson interview and two telephone 

interviews for a total of three responses 

each. Third-party processor managers 

will respond to one in-person interview 

and two telephone interviews. State 

EBT coordinators will respond to one 

in-person interview. Retailer or web 

provider data managers will participate 

in three meetings to discuss the format 

and transfer of each of two types of files 

(detailed transaction file and aggregated 

file). These respondents will transmit 

detailed and aggregated data files nine 

times. State agency SNAP program or 

data staff will each participate in 

discussion and initial programming of 

the SNAP case record file data transfer 

once and provide eight update files. 

Estimated Total Annual Responses: 

395. 

Estimated Time per Response: 1.6 

hours is the average estimated time per 

participant. However, response times 

varies from 1 hour to 21 hours per 

response and depending on respondent 

group, as shown in the table below. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 37,800 minutes (630 

hours). See the table below for estimated 

total annual burden for each type of 

respondent. 

Respondent 

Estimated 

number respondent 

Responses 

annually per 

respondent 

Total annual 

responses 

Estimated 

average number of hours 

per response 

Estimated total 

hours 

Retailer personnel who handle the fulfillment, shipping, and delivery of EBT 

customer orders ................................................................................................. 24 1.00 24.00 1.00000 24.000 

Retailer customer service managers .................................................................... 24 1.00 24.00 1.00000 24.000 

Retailer IT personnel or third-party web service provider personnel ................... 16 1.00 16.00 1.00000 16.000 

Retailer project managers ..................................................................................... 32 1.00 32.00 1.50000 48.000 

Retailer personnel who completed the pilot application ....................................... 16 1.00 16.00 1.00000 16.000 

Retailer/web provider data managers who will participate in file transfer discussion .................................................................................................................... 8 3.00 24.00 2.00000 48.000 

Retailer/web provider staff who will prepare and transfer the detailed transaction file ........................................................................................................... 8 9.00 72.00 1.00000 72.000 

Retailer/web provider staff who will prepare and transfer the aggregated file ..... 8 9.00 72.00 1.00000 72.000 

Third-Party processor personnel ........................................................................... 3 3.00 9.00 2.00000 18.000 

EBT processor managers ..................................................................................... 6 3.00 18.00 2.00000 36.000 

State agency EBT coordinators ............................................................................ 16 1.00 16.00 1.00000 16.000 

State agency SNAP program/data staff who will participate in file transfer discussion and initial programming ........................................................................ 8 1.00 8.00 21.00000 168.000 

State agency SNAP program/data staff ................................................................ 8 8.00 64.00 1.00000 64.000

Total Reporting Burden .................................................................................. 177 ........................ 395 ........................ 622 

Dated: July 19, 2018. 

Brandon Lipps, 

Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16220 Filed 7–27–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–30–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food and Nutrition Service 

Request for Information: State 

Administrative Expense Allocation 

Formula for Child Nutrition Programs 

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service 

(FNS), USDA. 

ACTION: Notice; request for information. 

SUMMARY: This is a request for 

information from State agencies 

administering Child Nutrition programs 

and State distributing agencies to learn 

about the successes, challenges, and 

needs for the State Administrative 

Expense (hereafter referred to as ‘‘SAE’’) 

allocation formula. It is not a request for 

proposal and does not commit the 

Government to issue a solicitation, make 

an award, or pay any costs associated 

with responding to this announcement. 

All submitted information shall remain 

with the Government and will not be 

returned. All responses will become 

part of the public record and will not be 

held confidential. 

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) 

is seeking information on the SAE 

allocation formula for the Department’s 

oversight and management of Child 

Nutrition Programs (CNP), specifically 

the National School Lunch Program 

(NSLP), School Breakfast Program 

(SBP), Child and Adult Care Food 

Program (CACFP), Special Milk Program 

(SMP) and the Food Distribution 

Program for schools (FDP). To better 

understand the availability and use of 

SAE funds, FNS is requesting 

information from CNP State 

administering agencies, State 

distributing agencies, and CNP affiliate 

associations about SAE allocation, 

reallocation, fund uses, and fund 

restrictions at the State level. 

The objectives of this request for 

information are to: 


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