Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 13 / Friday, January 19, 2024 / Notices 3633 

1The Thrifty Food Plan, 2021 report and 

supplemental materials are available at: https://

www.fns.usda.gov/cnpp/thrifty-food-plan-2021. 

2The Thrifty Food Plan Cost Estimates for Alaska 

and Hawaii report and supplemental materials are 

available at: https://www.fns.usda.gov/cnpp/tfpakhi. 

ADMINISTRATIVE COMPONENT OF 2024 REIMBURSEMENT RATES

Administrative rates in U.S. dollars, 

adjusted, up or down, to the nearest 

quarter-cent 

All states 

except Alaska 

and Hawaii 

All states 

except Alaska 

and Hawaii 

Alaska Alaska Guam, Hawaii, 

Puerto Rico, 

and Virgin 

Islands 

Guam, Hawaii, 

Puerto Rico, 

and Virgin 

Islands 

Site types Rural or selfprep sites 

All other types 

of sites 

Rural or selfprep sites All other types 

of sites Rural or selfprep sites 

All other types 

of sites 

Breakfast .................................................. 0.2675 0.2125 0.4350 0.3450 0.3500 0.2750

Lunch or Supper ...................................... 0.4925 0.4100 0.8000 0.6625 0.6425 0.5325

Snack ....................................................... 0.1350 0.1050 0.2175 0.1725 0.1750 0.1375

Authority: Sections 9, 13, and 14, 

Richard B. Russell National School 

Lunch Act, 42 U.S.C. 1758, 1761, and 

1762a, respectively. 

Cynthia Long, 

Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–01009 Filed 1–18–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–30–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food and Nutrition Service 

Request for Information: Food Price 

Data for State of Hawaii 

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service 

(FNS), USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and 

Nutrition Service (FNS) requests 

comments from the public—including 

the food industry and research 

community—to help inform future 

policy and decisions about potentially 

updating Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) cost 

estimates for the State of Hawaii. 

Specifically, FNS invites comments and 

ideas about food price data for the State 

of Hawaii—including communities in 

the State outside of the County of 

Honolulu—that may be available, 

potentially accessible to FNS, and of 

sufficient quality, format, sample size, 

and recent period to be used potentially 

by FNS to make cost adjustments for the 

State of Hawaii to the TFP pursuant to 

section 3(u)(2) of the Food and Nutrition 

Act of 2008, as amended. Comments 

must be received on or before March 4, 

2024. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before March 4, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: 

Kevin Meyers Mathieu, Economic 

Advisor, Nutrition Guidance and 

Analysis Division, Center for Nutrition 

Policy and Promotion, Food and 

Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, 

Fourth Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314. 

Comments may also be submitted via 

email to fns.foodplans@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 comments 

received in response to this notice 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 Kevin Meyers 

Mathieu, Economic Advisor, Nutrition 

Guidance and Analysis Division, Center 

for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, 

Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, at 703–946– 

7619. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FNS 

makes this request with the goal of 

maximizing the range of food price data 

specific to communities in the State of 

Hawaii outside of the County of 

Honolulu—that is, the Neighbor 

Islands—that may become accessible to 

the Agency and available for the Agency 

to assess in terms of feasibility to use for 

updating TFP cost estimates in Hawaii. 

Data should be of a similar quality, 

format, and sample size to data used for 

reevaluating the TFP for the mainland 

United States in August 2021 (Thrifty 

Food Plan, 2021, FNS–916) 1 and 

making cost adjustments for Alaska and 

Hawaii in July 2023 (Thrifty Food Plan 

Cost Estimates for Alaska and Hawaii, 

FNS–989).2

The TFP represents a healthy, 

practical, cost-conscious diet for a 

family of four, and its cost forms the 

basis for Supplemental Nutrition 

Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit 

levels. Through a rigorous and 

transparent process, USDA used 

updated food price data to recalculate 

the cost estimates of the TFP for Alaska 

and Hawaii. This update ensured SNAP 

participants in Alaska and Hawaii have 

a data-driven benefit amount that is 

equitable to the benefits provided to 

people living in the 48 contiguous 

States and DC so they can afford 

nutritious food essential for health and 

well-being. 

The updated cost estimates for Alaska 

and Hawaii were calculated in 

alignment with the existing statutory 

and regulatory framework. Namely, TFP 

costs for Alaska and Hawaii were 

calculated by comparing food prices in 

the 48 contiguous States and DC to 

those in Anchorage and Honolulu, 

respectively. The Anchorage TFP cost is 

further adjusted to reflect food prices 

throughout urban and rural areas of the 

State of Alaska, as per statute. In 

contrast, the Honolulu TFP cost, as per 

regulation, is used as the basis for SNAP 

benefits throughout the entire State of 

Hawaii. Evidence suggests that 

Honolulu was originally used because it 

was the only location in the State where 

the Bureau of Labor Statistics routinely 

collected food price information at the 

time. The availability of food price data 

in the State of Hawaii—including 

communities in the State outside of the 

County of Honolulu—of sufficient 

quality, format, sample size, and recent 

period may motivate a reexamination of 

the regulatory language that stipulates 

Honolulu as the basis for the Hawaii 

TFP cost estimate. The features of the 

data may also contribute to potential 

future decisions on a preferred 

methodology that could be used to 

calculate a Hawaii TFP cost using food 

price data from throughout the State of 

Hawaii. 

List of Questions for Commenters 

The Agency requests responses to the 

following questions: 

Question 1: How does the cost of food 

differ between the Island of Oahu (i.e., 

the County of Honolulu) and the 

Neighbor Islands (i.e., all other areas of 

the State of Hawaii)? To what extent are 

any differences in the cost of food 

driven by differences in prices for 

identical foods and beverages versus 

differences in other factors (e.g., regionVerDate Sep<11>2014 18:42 Jan 18, 2024 Jkt 262001 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\19JAN1.SGM 19JAN1

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3634 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 13 / Friday, January 19, 2024 / Notices 

specific food choices and/or 

availability)? 

Question 2: What benefits and/or 

consequences are experienced by SNAP 

participants residing on the Neighbor 

Islands as a result of the Agency’s use 

of food prices in Honolulu as the basis 

for calculating the SNAP maximum 

benefit amounts in the State of Hawaii? 

Question 3: How would the benefits 

and/or consequences described in 

question 2 change if the Agency 

implemented an alternative approach 

for calculating the SNAP maximum 

benefit amount in Hawaii that uses food 

price data from all areas of the State of 

Hawaii? 

Question 4: What data are available 

for the Agency’s use in calculating a 

Hawaii TFP cost that uses food prices 

from throughout the State of Hawaii? 

Question 5: For any data source(s) 

identified under question 4: 

(a) Can these data be used to quantify 

price differences for identical foods and 

beverages as described in question 1? 

(b) To what extent are the data 

representative of the State of Hawaii or 

any specific geographies, regions, and/ 

or communities within the State? Are 

there any areas of the State of Hawaii 

that are not represented in the data? 

(c) Are these data also collected 

outside of the State of Hawaii? If so, 

where? To what extent are the data 

representative of the other locations in 

which they are collected? 

(d) At what level of geographic 

aggregation are the data available (e.g., 

State-level, County-level, store-level)? 

(e) At what unit of analysis are the 

data available? Specifically, do the data 

provide prices for individual Universal 

Product Codes (UPCs, also called 

barcodes) or for categories of foods and 

beverages? If the data are reported at the 

category-level, how were the categories 

constructed? 

(f) Do the data include prices for food 

items that do not have barcodes (e.g., 

fresh fruits, vegetables, bakery items, 

meat, or fish that are sold on a per 

pound, per ounce or per unit basis)? 

(g) What is the sample size of foods 

and beverages (measured using the unit 

of analysis described above) in the data? 

(h) To what extent do the foods and 

beverages included in the data reflect 

the foods and beverages in the TFP 

market basket? Are there any food and 

beverage categories that are excluded 

from or underrepresented in the data? 

(i) By whom are the data collected 

and reported? For example, the data 

might be comprised of households selfreporting food and beverage 

acquisitions, in-store price quotes 

collected by surveyors, or sales records 

maintained by retailers. 

(j) Do the data represent prices quoted 

by the retailer (i.e., sticker price in the 

store) or prices that the consumer 

actually paid (accounting for loyalty 

card discounts, coupons, etc.)? 

(k) What is the sample size of 

reporting units (e.g., number of 

households, number of stores)? 

(l) If the data are collected at the 

household-level (i.e., from a household 

survey) to what extent are the 

households that are included 

representative of the overall population 

in Hawaii? Are sampling weights 

available? 

(m) What store types are represented 

in the data (e.g., grocery stores, mass 

merchandisers, drug stores, club stores, 

convenience stores)? 

(n) When were the data collected? If 

the data are collected on a recurring 

basis, with what frequency are they 

collected? If the data are collected on a 

continuous basis, with what frequency 

are they reported? 

(o) Do the data also include 

information on factors other than food 

prices (e.g., dietary intakes)? 

(p) What quality assurance processes 

have the data undergone? To what 

extent can the Agency and the public 

trust that the data are accurate? For 

example, are units checked for accurate 

conversion to a common unit (e.g., 

packages to ounces) and are outlier 

prices checked for accuracy? 

(q) Have these data been analyzed in 

the past? If so, how? 

(r) Are there any known limitations or 

considerations when using the data? 

(s) Are the data publicly available or 

are they proprietary/restricted access? If 

they are proprietary/restricted access, to 

what extent could the Agency release 

them to the public to enable 

reproduction of any related analyses? 

(t) What is the approximate cost of 

accessing the data? Does data access 

require a contractual agreement or 

access to a specialized data hosting 

platform? 

(u) In what format are the data 

available? Are the data machine 

readable? 

Disclaimers: This is a Request for 

Information (RFI). This is not a Request 

for Proposals or a Request for 

Applications and is not to be construed 

as a commitment by the U.S. 

Government to issue any solicitation or 

Notice of Funding Opportunity, or 

ultimately award a contract or 

assistance agreement based on this RFI, 

or to pay for any information voluntarily 

submitted as a result of this request. The 

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

posts its competitive business 

opportunities on www.grants.gov. It is 

the potential offeror’s/applicant’s 

responsibility to monitor these sites for 

announcements of new opportunities. 

Please note that responding to this RFI 

will not give any advantage to any 

organization or individual in any 

subsequent competition. Responses may 

be used by USDA without restriction or 

limitation, therefore proprietary 

information should not be sent. 

Furthermore, this RFI does not mean 

and should not be construed to suggest 

that FNS will update TFP cost estimates 

for the State of Hawaii in the future. The 

current TFP cost estimate for Hawaii 

was calculated in alignment with the 

existing statutory and regulatory 

framework. Namely, the TFP cost for 

Hawaii was calculated by comparing 

food prices in the 48 contiguous States 

and DC to those in Honolulu. FNS seeks 

information about potentially available 

food price data for the State of Hawaii 

outside of Honolulu to properly assess 

the feasibility of potentially pursuing an 

update to the TFP cost estimate for the 

State of Hawaii that could potentially 

incorporate such food price data should 

such an update be permissible in the 

future. If sufficient food price data 

sources are identified and such data 

were to become available to FNS, the 

Agency would take such information 

into account as it considers the range of 

factors relevant to potentially pursuing 

an update to the TFP cost estimates for 

the State of Hawaii, but identifying food 

price data alone, whether as a result of 

an RFI response or not, is not in and of 

itself determinative for future cost 

estimate updates. 

Collection of Information 

Requirements: This document does not 

impose information collection 

requirements, that is, reporting, 

recordkeeping or third-party disclosure 

requirements. However, this document 

does contain a general solicitation of 

comments in the form of a request for 

information. In accordance with 

implementing regulations of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(PRA), specifically 5 CFR 1320.3(h)(4), 

this general solicitation is exempt from 

the PRA. Facts or opinions submitted in 

response to general solicitations of 

comments from the public, published in 

the Federal Register or other 

publications, regardless of the form or 

format thereof, provided that no person 

is required to supply specific 

information pertaining to the 

commenter other than that necessary for 

self-identification, as a condition of the 

agency’s full consideration, are not 

generally considered information 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 13 / Friday, January 19, 2024 / Notices 3635 

collections and therefore not subject to 

the PRA. 

Cynthia Long, 

Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00997 Filed 1–18–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–30–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Census Bureau 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

Review and Approval; Comment 

Request; Census Household Panel 

Topical 4, Topical 5, and Topical 6 

Operations 

On December 8, 2023, the Department 

of Commerce received clearance from 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) in accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 to 

conduct the second and third Census 

Household Panel topical operations 

(OMB No. 0607–1025, Exp. 6/20/26). 

The Census Household Panel is 

designed to ensure availability of 

frequent data collection for nationwide 

estimates on a variety of topics for a 

variety of subgroups of the population. 

This notice serves to inform of the 

Department’s intent to request clearance 

from OMB to conduct topical operations 

4, 5, and 6. 

Topical surveys 4 and 5 will include 

content from Pew’s National Public 

Opinion Reference Survey and the 

National Center for Health Statistics’ 

Research and Development Survey. 

These are being asked for 

methodological reasons to study the 

representativeness of the originally 

recruited panel members along different 

benchmarked dimensions. Additionally, 

in Topical 4, we ask some questions 

about improving the CHP respondent 

experience. In Topical survey 6, we are 

incorporating a self-administered 

version of the Survey of Income and 

Program Participation (SIPP) roster and 

demographic questions into the Census 

Household Panel to test their usability 

in the field. The Department of 

Commerce will submit the following 

information collection request to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for review and clearance in 

accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, on or after the 

date of publication of this notice. We 

invite the general public and other 

Federal agencies to comment on 

proposed, and continuing information 

collections, which helps us assess the 

impact of our information collection 

requirements and minimize the public’s 

reporting burden. Public comments 

were previously requested via the 

Federal Register on February 6, 2023, 

during a 60-day comment period. This 

notice allows for an additional 30 days 

for public comments. 

Agency: U.S. Census Bureau, 

Commerce. 

Title: Census Household Panel 

Topical 4, Topical 5, and Topical 6 

Operations. 

OMB Control Number: 0607–1025. 

Form Number(s): Not yet determined. 

Type of Request: Request for a 

Revision of a Currently Approved 

Collection. 

Number of Respondents: 11,000 panel 

members. 

Average Hours per Response: 4 hours 

per year (20 minutes for monthly 

collection). 

Burden Hours: 43,956. 

Needs and Uses: The Census 

Household Panel is a probability-based 

nationwide nationally representative 

survey panel designed to test the 

methods to collect data on a variety of 

topics of interest, and for conducting 

experimentation on alternative question 

wording and methodological 

approaches. The goal of the Census 

Household Panel is to ensure 

availability of frequent data collection 

for nationwide estimates on a variety of 

topics and a variety of subgroups of the 

population, meeting standards for 

transparent quality reporting of the 

Federal Statistical Agencies and the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB). 

Panelists and households selected for 

the Panel were recruited from the 

Census Bureau’s gold standard Master 

Address File. This ensures the Panel is 

rooted in this rigorously developed and 

maintained frame and available for 

linkage to administrative records 

securely maintained and curated by the 

Census Bureau. Invitations to complete 

the monthly surveys will be sent via 

email and SMS messages, and for 

experimental purposes, Topical 4 

invitations will include pressure-sealed 

post-cards. Questionnaires will be 

mainly internet self-response. The Panel 

will maintain representativeness by 

allowing respondents who do not use 

the internet to respond via computerassisted telephone interviewing (CATI). 

All panelists will receive an incentive 

for each complete questionnaire. 

Periodic replenishment samples will 

maintain representativeness and 

panelists will be replaced after a period 

of three years. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

Households. 

Frequency: Monthly. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

Legal Authority: Title 13, United 

States Code, Sections 141,182 and 193. 

This information collection request 

may be viewed at www.reginfo.gov. 

Follow the instructions to view the 

Department of Commerce collections 

currently under review by OMB. 

Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be 

submitted within 30 days of the 

publication of this notice on the 

following website www.reginfo.gov/ 

public/do/PRAMain. Find this 

particular information collection by 

selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day 

Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or 

by using the search function and 

entering either the title of the collection 

or the OMB Control Number 0607–1025. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, 

Commerce Department. 

[FR Doc. 2024–01034 Filed 1–18–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–07–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Foreign-Trade Zones Board 

[B–52–2023] 

Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) 46; 

Authorization of Production Activity; 

Patheon Pharmaceuticals Inc.; 

(Pharmaceutical Products); Cincinnati, 

Ohio 

On September 18, 2023, Patheon 

Pharmaceuticals Inc. submitted a 

notification of proposed production 

activity to the FTZ Board for its facility 

within Subzone 46K, in Cincinnati, 

Ohio. 

The notification was processed in 

accordance with the regulations of the 

FTZ Board (15 CFR part 400), including 

notice in the Federal Register inviting 

public comment (88 FR 67230–67231, 

September 29, 2023). On January 16, 

2024, the applicant was notified of the 

FTZ Board’s decision that no further 

review of the activity is warranted at 

this time. The production activity 

described in the notification was 

authorized, subject to the FTZ Act and 

the FTZ Board’s regulations, including 

section 400.14. 

Dated: January 16, 2024. 

Elizabeth Whiteman, 

Executive Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00983 Filed 1–18–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 


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