This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

90547 

Vol. 89, No. 222 

Monday, November 18, 2024 

1 Interim rule: SNAP Employment and Training 

Program Monitoring, Oversight and Reporting 

Measures (https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/fr032416). 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food and Nutrition Service 

7 CFR Parts 271 and 273 

[FNS–2016–0037] 

RIN 0584–AE33 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

Program (SNAP): Employment and 

Training Program Monitoring, 

Oversight and Reporting Measures 

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service 

(FNS), USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The final rule implements the 

employment and training (E&T) 

provisions of the Agricultural Act of 

2014. This section provided the 

Department additional oversight 

authority of State agencies’ 

administration of the Supplemental 

Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) 

E&T program; required the Department 

to develop reporting measures and 

required State agencies to report 

outcome data to the Department. It also 

required the Department to monitor and 

assess State agencies’ effectiveness of 

E&T programs and provided the 

Department with the authority to 

require State agencies to make 

improvements to their programs as 

necessary. Finally, State agencies are 

required to submit reports on the impact 

of certain E&T components, and in 

certain States, the E&T services 

provided to able-bodied adults without 

dependents (ABAWDs). The final rule 

will strengthen the E&T program 

through the collection of information to 

determine the overall effectiveness of 

the E&T program in reaching the goal of 

assisting participants in obtaining the 

skills necessary to obtain and retain 

employment. 

DATES: 

Effective date: This rule will become 

effective January 17, 2025. 

Implementation date: State agencies 

must implement all provisions of this 

rule no later than October 1, 2025. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Marcie Foster, Food and Nutrition 

Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

1320 Braddock Place, 5th Floor, 

Alexandria, VA 22314, Marcie.Foster@

usda.gov. Phone: (703) 305–2930. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

List of Acronyms or Abbreviations Used 

in This Supplementary Discussion 

In the discussion of the provisions in 

this rule, the following acronyms or 

abbreviations stand in for certain words 

or phrases: 

Phrase Acronym, abbreviation or 

symbol 

Able-bodied Adults without Dependents ....................................................................................................................... ABAWDs 

Code of Federal Regulations ......................................................................................................................................... CFR 

Employment and Training .............................................................................................................................................. E&T 

Federal Register ............................................................................................................................................................ FR 

Federal Fiscal Year ....................................................................................................................................................... FFY 

Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended ............................................................................................................... The Act 

Food and Nutrition Service ............................................................................................................................................ FNS 

Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture .......................................................................................................... Secretary 

Section (when referring to Federal Regulations) .......................................................................................................... §

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ................................................................................................................. SNAP 

U.S. Department of Agriculture ..................................................................................................................................... The Department 

U.S. Department of Labor ............................................................................................................................................. DOL 

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act ................................................................................................................... WIOA 

Summary Overview 

The final rule implements the E&T 

provisions of section 4022(a)(2) of the 

Agricultural Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113– 

79). The Department published an 

interim final rule (IFR) on March 24, 

2016 (81 FR 15613), that became 

effective May 23, 2016, and received 43 

comments, 36 of which were 

substantive. 

After the release of the IFR the 

Department conducted various activities 

to provide guidance to State agencies on 

the implementation of the reporting 

measures. These activities included 

release of an implementation memo, 

two-part series of questions and answers 

and a webinar.1

The final rule incorporates changes 

from the interim final rule that includes 

specifying the information the 

Department will use in assessing the 

effectiveness of State’s E&T programs; 

adding educational reporting measures 

for attainment of a credential or 

certificate and measurable skill gains; 

reporting of employment and earnings 

measures and educational measures by 

distinct participant characteristics, such 

as by race and/or ethnicity; and adding 

reporting measures for States operating 

mandatory E&T programs. The final rule 

also changes the due date of the State 

agency’s submission of the E&T Annual 

Report from January 1 to April 15. 

The final rule establishes information 

sources that the Food and Nutrition 

Service (FNS) will use for assessing the 

effectiveness of E&T programs in 

preparing E&T participants for 

employment, including skill attainment 

and employment retention. The rule 

specifies the authority of FNS to require 

a State agency to modify its SNAP E&T 

State Plan to improve outcomes if 

determined through an assessment that 

the E&T outcomes are inadequate. 


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90548 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 222 / Monday, November 18, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

The final rule requires State agencies 

to identify an outcome reporting 

measure for every component that is 

designed to serve at least 100 

participants a year in annual E&T State 

Plan. 

The final rule also requires State 

agencies to submit an E&T Annual 

Report by April 15 each year that 

contains the following: 

• Employment and earnings reporting 

measures that consist of four 

consecutive quarters of data from the 

two previous Federal Fiscal Years 

(FFY); 

• Educational reporting measures that 

consist of data from the FFY ending the 

preceding September 30th; 

• Employment and earnings reporting 

measures and educational reporting 

measures for each of the seven (7) 

participant characteristics; 

• States that serve mandatory E&T 

participants will report on the number 

of SNAP participants required to 

participate in E&T and referred to E&T 

and the number and percentage of 

SNAP participants that were deemed 

ineligible for SNAP benefits due to 

failure to comply with E&T 

requirements; 

• Number and percentage of E&T 

participants for the FFY ending the 

preceding September 30th by nine (9) 

participant characteristics; 

• Component measures identified in 

the States’ E&T State Plan for 

components that are designed to serve at 

least 100 participants a year; and 

• States that have committed to 

offering at-risk ABAWDs, defined as an 

able-bodied adult without dependents 

who are at risk of losing SNAP 

eligibility due to time-limited 

participation, a slot in a qualifying 

activity and received an additional 

allocation of funds will report on: 

Æ The monthly average number of 

individuals in the State who meet the 

conditions of an at-risk ABAWD: 

Æ The number of individuals the State 

offers a position in a work program or 

workfare program; 

Æ The monthly average number of 

individuals who participate in such 

programs; and 

Æ A description of the types of 

employment and training programs the 

State agency offered to at-risk ABAWDs 

and the availability of those programs 

throughout the State. 

The final rule specifies that State 

agencies may be required to submit the 

E&T Annual Report in a standardized 

format specified by FNS. 

The final rule will also reinstate 

regulatory language in 7 CFR 273.24(a) 

for the definition of a workfare program 

for the purposes of meeting the ABAWD 

work requirement. This definition was 

inadvertently removed during a prior 

rulemaking. 

The Department would note that this 

final rule does not address any changes 

to ABAWD work requirements as a 

result of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 

2023 (Pub. L. 118–5). Those changes 

will be addressed through separate 

rulemaking. 

The Department discusses the 

changes from the interim final rule, as 

well as a summary of comments and 

explanation of each of the final 

regulatory changes in more detail below. 

Summary of Changes From Interim 

Final Rule 

• The interim final rule codified the 

authority of FNS to require a State 

agency to modify its E&T State Plan to 

improve outcomes. The final rule 

includes language that specifies the 

information sources that FNS will 

utilize in assessing the effectiveness of 

a State’s E&T program. 

• The interim final rule specified a 

January 1 due date for State agencies’ 

submission of the E&T Annual Report. 

The final rule changes that due date to 

April 15. 

• The interim final rule established a 

reporting measure for the completion of 

an educational, training, work 

experience or on-the-job training 

component. The final rule removes and 

replaces this measure with two 

educational measures aligned with 

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 

Act (Pub. L. 113–128) (WIOA) programs, 

for attainment of a credential or 

certificate, and measurable skill gains. 

• The interim final rule required State 

agencies to disaggregate each of the 

reporting measures by four (4) key 

participant characteristics, e.g., of the 

100 E&T participants in unsubsidized 

employment in the second quarter after 

completion of participation in E&T, 90 

had the characteristic of a mandatory 

E&T participant. The final rule modifies 

this disaggregation by requiring the 

reporting of the employment, earnings, 

and educational measures for each of 

the key participant characteristics, e.g., 

of the 90 mandatory E&T participants 

who completed participation in E&T, 60 

mandatory E&T participants are in 

unsubsidized employment in the second 

quarter after completion of participation 

in E&T. The final rule also introduces 

three (3) additional key participant 

characteristics, race and/or ethnicity 

and mandatory E&T participants 

deemed ineligible due to failure to 

comply with mandatory E&T. 

• The interim final rule required State 

agencies to report the number and 

percentage of all E&T participants that 

participated during the reporting fiscal 

year by seven (7)participant 

characteristics, such as gender, age, etc. 

The final rule is modifying this 

requirement by adding race and/or 

ethnicity to the participant 

characteristics. 

Summary of Comments and 

Explanation of Revisions 

FNS received thirty-six (36) relevant 

and non-duplicative comments. Thirty 

comments came from advocacy 

organizations and six comments from 

State SNAP agencies or State Workforce 

agencies. Generally, the comments were 

supportive of the interim final rule and 

believed that the reporting measures 

would greatly improve employment and 

training efforts in States. However, 

many of the supporters made 

recommendations for improvement or 

sought clarification of specific 

provisions. 

General Comments 

Many commenters raised general or 

cross-cutting issues about the overall 

impact of the interim final rule. We 

address these issues in this section, 

followed by comments on each section 

of the interim final rule. 

A. Additional Reporting Requirements 

Twenty-seven (27) commenters, while 

supportive of the interim final rule, 

believed that additional reporting 

requirements should be added to 

adequately evaluate the effectiveness of 

and need for change to States’ E&T 

programs, specifically for States that 

serve mandatory E&T participants. 

Commenters urged that additional 

reporting measures be added to capture 

the following: 

• The number and percentage of 

individuals required to participate in 

E&T; 

• The number and percentage who 

were exempted from participation in 

E&T; 

• The number and percentage who 

were sanctioned before participating in 

E&T; and 

• The number and percentage of 

those who were sanctioned after 

beginning participation in E&T. 

Some commenters further suggested 

that States should be required to report 

on the sanctioned individuals’ 

employment information and the 

number and percentage of individuals 

exempted from participation by 

exemption reason, noting exemptions as 

an important outcome in shaping an 

effective E&T program and remedying 

ineffective practices. In addition, one 

commenter proposed that States should 

report on the employment rates in the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 222 / Monday, November 18, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 90549 

2Churn in SNAP is defined as when a household 

exits SNAP and then re-enters the program within 

4 months. (Understanding the Rates, Causes, and 

Costs in Churning in the SNAP Program, November 

2014). 

3Training and Employment Guidance Letter 

No.10–16, Change 3 issued September June 11, 

2024 (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/ 

advisories/TEGL/2023/TEGL%2010-16

%20Change%203/TEGL%2010- 

16%2C%20Change%203.pdf. 

second and fourth quarters after SNAP 

recipients are mandated to participate 

and suggested that States should be 

required to report on the number of 

mandatory E&T participants who 

receive a SNAP E&T assessment, as well 

as the number of those mandated to 

participate who are later found to be 

exempt. Three of the commenters urged 

that the final rule require States to 

report on the number of individuals 

who are assigned to SNAP E&T; the 

activity component to which they are 

assigned; and the number and 

percentage of individuals assigned to an 

activity who are sanctioned by the type 

of activity. 

The Department appreciates the 

comments and agrees that to assess the 

effectiveness of a State’s E&T program, 

particularly those that serve mandatory 

E&T participants, sanction data for those 

that fail to comply with E&T 

requirements is an important factor. For 

this reason, the Department added 

additional reporting requirements for 

States that serve mandatory E&T 

participants in the E&T Program 

Activity Report (FNS–583) (OMB 

Control No. 0584–0064; expiration date: 

06/30/2027) through the final rule, 

Employment and Training 

Opportunities in the Supplemental 

Nutrition Assistance Program, 

published January 5, 2021 (‘‘2021 final 

rule’’, 86 FR 358). As required in the 

2021 final rule, the Department will 

collect via the FNS–583 report the 

number of SNAP applicants and 

participants required to participate in 

E&T by the State agency and, of those 

applicants and participants, the number 

who began participation in an E&T 

program, the number who began 

participating in an E&T component, and 

the number of mandatory E&T 

participants who were deemed 

ineligible for failure to comply with E&T 

requirements. This FNS–583 data is 

capturing every time an individual is 

subject to mandatory participation in 

E&T and the resulting actions. This 

results in a duplicated count if an 

individual has multiple certification 

periods and is subject to mandatory 

participation in E&T at each of those 

certification periods in a reporting fiscal 

year. The FNS–583 report also collects 

individual participation data and 

component participation. 

To complement and enhance the 

FNS–583 data, in this final rule, the 

Department is modifying the regulation 

at 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(iv) by adding to 

the E&T Annual Report for States that 

serve mandatory E&T participants the 

reporting of the unduplicated number of 

SNAP participants who were required to 

participate in E&T, the unduplicated 

number of those individuals who were 

referred to E&T and the unduplicated 

number and percentages of SNAP 

participants who were deemed 

ineligible for failure to comply with E&T 

requirements. The Department is adding 

these reporting elements to analyze the 

churn 2 of SNAP E&T participants as 

well as the difference in the number of 

individuals required to participate and 

referred to E&T. This change is 

responsive to the comments received 

through the IFR. The Department 

believes the data from the FNS–583 

report and the E&T Annual Report, as 

well as information collected through 

management evaluations, will provide 

FNS and State agencies information to 

assess the effectiveness of a mandatory 

E&T program. 

However, the Department does not 

believe that the other suggested 

reporting requirements, such as 

sanctioned individuals’ employment 

information or the employment rates in 

the second or fourth quarters after being 

sanctioned, are necessary due to other 

changes being included for mandatory 

E&T programs, e.g. employment and 

earnings measures for participants 

deemed ineligible due to failure to 

comply with E&T, and believes that the 

additional burden these measures 

would place on State agencies 

outweighs their benefit in the overall 

determination of effectiveness of E&T 

programs. The Department is not 

addressing these suggested additional 

reporting requirements in this final rule. 

B. Definitions 

Eleven commenters stated that the 

interim final rule failed to define 

‘‘completion of participation in E&T’’, 

with nine of the commenters noting that 

the final rule should clarify that 

completion of participation in E&T has 

the same meaning as ‘‘exit’’ used in 

WIOA programs. One commenter asked 

if, for States that serve mandatory E&T 

participants, completion of participation 

in E&T correlates with becoming exempt 

from work registration for reasons others 

than employment. One commenter 

asked if completion of participation in 

E&T includes a person who (1) 

participates but leaves an assignment 

before meeting all obligations of the 

assignment while remaining a SNAP 

participant; (2) leaves a component after 

becoming ineligible for SNAP; or (3) 

finds unsubsidized employment during 

component participation. 

The Department appreciates the 

comments and agrees that for clarity and 

consistency the term ‘‘completion of 

participation in E&T’’ should be defined 

in the regulations. For the purposes of 

capturing the reporting measures of 

employment and earnings, completion 

of participation in E&T is defined as an 

E&T participant who has not received 

any E&T services for at least 90 days 

with no plans for future services, as 

discussed in the SNAP E&T Program 

Monitoring, Oversight and Reporting 

Measures Questions and Answer, Part II, 

released May 15, 2017. This timeframe 

and definition align with the definition 

of ‘‘exit’’ in WIOA programs as provided 

in Training and Employment Guidance 

Letter No.10–16, Change 3.3 The 

Department clarifies that for States 

serving mandatory E&T participants, 

completion of participation in E&T does 

not in any way relate to participants 

becoming exempt from work registration 

for reasons other than employment, 

unless an E&T participant stops 

participating in E&T as a direct result of 

the exemption status. Thus, completion 

of participation in E&T could include 

participants who leave an assignment 

before meeting all the obligations of the 

assignment while remaining a SNAP 

recipient, or participants who leave a 

component when becoming ineligible 

for SNAP or for participants who find 

unsubsidized employment during 

component participation, if those 

individuals do not receive any E&T 

services for at least 90 days. Under 7 

CFR 271.2 the Department is codifying 

the definition of ‘‘completion of 

participation in E&T’’ to mean that an 

E&T participant has not received any 

E&T services for at least 90 days and no 

future services are planned. 

Twenty-five commenters noted that 

the Department defines an ‘‘E&T 

participant,’’ for the purposes of 

reporting, as an individual who is 

placed in and begins an E&T 

component. The commenters stated that 

this definition fails to adequately 

capture many individuals in SNAP who 

are required to participate in E&T 

activities and that the regulation as 

written would not capture the outcomes 

of SNAP participants who are required 

to participate in E&T but are 

disqualified before they begin an E&T 

component. 

The Department appreciates the 

comments and agrees that the definition 

of an ‘‘E&T participant,’’ for the 


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90550 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 222 / Monday, November 18, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

4SNAP E&T Outcome Reporting Interim Final 

Rule Questions and Answers Part II, issued May 15, 

2017 (https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/ 

files/snap/Clarification-SNAP-EandT-OutcomeReporting-PartII.pdf). 

5Webinar: SNAP E&T Outcome Reporting 

Requirements, August 23, 2017 (https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP-PeKxdEd0). 

purposes of reporting, discussed in the 

interim final rule would exclude those 

individuals who were deemed ineligible 

for SNAP before they were placed in an 

E&T component. The interim final rule 

did not add the definition of an E&T 

participant. This determination of when 

an individual could be considered an 

E&T participant for reporting purposes, 

as discussed in the interim final rule 

preamble, was based on an existing 

definition under 7 CFR 271.2 for 

‘‘placed in an employment and training 

(E&T) program’’, which provided that a 

State agency may count a person as 

‘‘placed’’ in an E&T program when the 

individual commences a component. As 

a result of the changes to the E&T 

program made through the Agricultural 

Improvement Act of 2018, the 2021 final 

rule made several changes to definitions 

under 7 CFR 271.2. The changes in the 

2021 final rule modified definitions of 

an E&T program and E&T mandatory 

participant, added definitions for an 

E&T participant and an E&T voluntary 

participant, and removed the definition 

of ‘‘placed in an employment and 

training (E&T) program.’’ An ‘‘E&T 

program’’ is defined as a program 

operated by each State agency 

consisting of case management and one 

or more E&T components. The 

definition for an ‘‘E&T participant’’ is an 

individual who meets the definition of 

a mandatory or voluntary E&T 

participant. Because these definitions 

do not explicitly establish at what point 

an individual becomes an E&T 

participant for reporting on the E&T 

Program Activity Report (FNS–583) or 

E&T Annual Report, the Department is 

modifying the definition of an E&T 

participant under 7 CFR 271.2 to state 

that an ‘‘E&T participant’’ means an 

individual who meets the definition of 

a mandatory or voluntary E&T 

participant who is referred to E&T and 

begins at least one part of an E&T 

program, including orientation, 

assessment, case management services 

or a component. Because the purpose of 

the reporting measures is to measure the 

impact of the E&T services that an 

individual receives, the Department is 

not including mandatory E&T 

participants who do not appear for E&T 

services in the definition of an E&T 

participant. However, the modified 

definition will include individuals who 

do begin an E&T program including 

orientation, assessment, case 

management services, who were 

previously not being captured. 

Therefore, the Department is addressing 

in this final rule a modification to the 

definition of an ‘‘E&T participant’’ 

under 7 CFR 271.2. 

One commenter suggested that the 

term ‘‘former E&T participant’’ be 

defined. The Department appreciates 

the comment and agrees that because 

the interim final rule under 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(17) included the term former 

participant as one group of participants 

in the reporting measures that this term 

should be defined. Former participants 

are included in these measures to 

capture those individuals who began 

participation in an E&T program but 

who discontinued participation because 

they are no longer receiving SNAP 

benefits due to reasons such as failure 

to recertify. The Department is defining 

under 7 CFR 271.2 the term ‘‘former 

E&T participant’’ to mean an individual 

who is no longer participating in E&T 

services because the individual is no 

longer receiving SNAP benefits. 

One commenter requested definitions 

for both the numerators and 

denominators for each of the reporting 

measures. The Department appreciates 

the comment and would note that the 

Department issued guidance 4 through 

the SNAP E&T Outcome Reporting 

Interim Final Rule Questions and 

Answers Part II that was issued May 15, 

2017, that provided such definitions 

and does not believe it necessary to 

define in regulations. For the measures 

of unsubsidized employment in the 

second or fourth after ‘‘completion of 

participation in E&T’’ the denominator 

includes those E&T participants who 

have completed participation, defined 

as not receiving services for 90 days, 

and the numerator consists of those 

participants who completed 

participation in E&T and have earned 

income in the second or fourth quarters 

after completion of participation in E&T. 

As these measures are generally aligned 

with measures in the WIOA program the 

Department wishes to retain some level 

of flexibility to accommodate changes 

that may be instituted in the WIOA 

programs. The Department is not 

including numerator and denominator 

definitions for these reporting measures 

in this final rule. 

C. Delay Implementation 

Two commenters noted that the 

interim final rule requires States to start 

collecting complex data elements and 

that State agencies would need to 

evaluate the system changes, regulatory 

changes and new directives they would 

need to implement to comply with the 

new reporting requirements. One 

commenter noted that the State agency 

would need to seek State statutory 

changes to access employment and wage 

outcomes through quarterly wage 

reporting or the National Directory of 

New Hires. The commenters 

recommended that the implementation 

of the reporting measures be delayed to 

improve the quality, utility, and clarity 

of the information to be collected. 

The Department recognizes that the 

introduction of outcome reporting 

measures might require changes to 

States’ data systems. However, the 

Department was statutorily required to 

issue an interim final rule implementing 

the provisions of section 4022 (c) of the 

Act within 18 months of enactment. The 

Department actively worked with State 

agencies to implement these provisions 

by conducting readiness assessments 

during FFY 2016 and FFY 2017 and 

offering grants for data systems annually 

beginning with FFY 2017. The 

Department also conducted a webinar 

for State agencies that included 

representatives from the Department of 

Labor on the use of quarterly wage 

record data.5 Because State agencies 

already collect participant 

characteristics, such as race and/or 

ethnicity for the SNAP program and 

some State agencies report educational 

measures such as attainment of 

credential or certificate for educational 

components in their E&T State Plans, 

the Department believes that most State 

agencies will be ready to implement 

these changes in the final rule. 

However, the Department is delaying 

implementation of all the provisions of 

this final rule until October 1, 2025, in 

order to allow States sufficient time to 

make necessary changes to implement 

the final rule and to ensure that the first 

Annual Report under the final rule will 

be comprehensive of all provisions. 

D. Annual Report Timeframe 

One commenter stated that the 

preamble for the interim final rule 

provided each measure under 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(17) would be reported using the 

most recent data available during the 

reporting period. The commenter stated 

that the final rule should clarify that 

different measures will be reported for 

individuals in different time periods. 

The Department appreciates the 

comment and acknowledges that 

different measures contained within a 

State’s annual report may consist of 

information from different time periods, 

due to the lag time for measures such as 

employment and earnings; therefore, the 

Department is modifying the regulatory 


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6SNAP E&T Outcome Reporting Interim Final 

Rule Questions and Answers Part II, issued May 15, 

2017 (https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/ 

files/snap/Clarification-SNAP-EandT-OutcomeReporting-PartII.pdf). 

7E&T State Plan Handbook (https://

www.fns.usda.gov/snap-et/state-plan-handbook). 

8SNAP E&T Program Toolkit (https://

www.fns.usda.gov/snap-et/toolkit). 

text in 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17) to indicate the 

time period to be reported for each 

section of the annual report. Due to the 

lag time in the employment and 

earnings reporting measures, as well as 

the lag time in the availability of 

quarterly wage records, for these 

measures State agencies will be required 

to report four (4) consecutive quarters of 

data from the two previous FFYs. This 

is consistent with the timeframe 

reported in annual reports as specified 

in guidance issued through the SNAP 

E&T Outcome Reporting 

Requirements—Questions and Answers 

(Q&A) Part II. The Department is aware 

that these lag times create a challenge 

for State agencies to provide four (4) 

quarters of data by the required January 

1 due date of the annual report. To 

address this challenge the Department is 

modifying the due date of the Annual 

Report to April 15 under 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(17). For educational measures 

added in this final rule for obtainment 

of a credential or certificate and 

measurable skill gains, State agencies 

will report on data from the previous 

FFY. State agencies will report 

participant characteristics for those E&T 

participants served in the E&T program 

from the previous FFY, consistent with 

guidance 6 issued under the IFR. 

E. County-Administered E&T Programs 

Two commenters stated that, for 

States with county-administered SNAP 

E&T programs, there should be a 

requirement that every county track and 

provide the same data to the State 

agency. They state that without this 

requirement the data will lack 

continuity and comparability between 

locations and the reports that the State 

agency provides to the Department will 

be incomplete. The Department 

appreciates the comment and would 

note that section 16(h)(5) of the Food 

and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended 

(‘‘the Act’’), places the responsibility 

with the State agency for establishing 

component measures that will serve at 

least 100 individuals a year as well and 

for submitting the E&T Annual Report. 

In addition, section 11(a)(2) of the Act 

states that the responsibility of the 

agency of State government shall not be 

affected by whether the program is 

operated on a State-administered or 

county-administered basis. It is 

therefore the responsibility of the State 

agency to ensure that data is being 

tracked consistently, whether in a Stateadministered or county-administered 

program. The Department is not 

including additional requirements for 

county-administered SNAP E&T 

programs in this final rule. 

F. E&T 100 Percent Grants 

One commenter noted that language 

included in the preamble to the interim 

final rule states that the Department 

retains the authority to consider 

outcome data as part of the scope of the 

impact for a State’s E&T program when 

evaluating requests for additional 100 

percent funds. The commenter stated 

that the April 2016 SNAP E&T State 

Plan Handbook did not discuss the use 

of outcome data for these reviews and 

that the final rule should address 

whether the Department intends to use 

outcome data when reviewing 

additional funds requests and if so, how 

the Department envisions this working 

when outcome data will not be available 

until the out-years. 

The Department appreciates the 

comments and clarifies that the 2021 

final rule implemented changes to the 

Department’s process for reallocating 

unobligated or unexpended Federal E&T 

100 percent funds to other State 

agencies requesting additional E&T 

funds, codified under 7 CFR 

273.7(d)(1)(iii)(E). This change was 

necessitated by requirements at section 

16(h)(1)(C) of the Act, as amended by 

the Agricultural Improvement Act of 

2018, that introduced priorities for the 

reallocation of funds, including the 

requirement that the Department 

determines that the requests funded 

have the most demonstrable impact on 

the ability of participants to find and 

retain employment that leads to 

increased household income and 

reduced reliance on public assistance. 

The Department has provided guidance 

in the revised 2022 E&T State Plan 

Handbook 7 and E&T Toolkit 8 regarding 

the inclusion of information in State 

agencies’ requests for additional funds 

demonstrating that the planned use of 

the funds has a demonstrable impact on 

the ability of participants to find and 

retain employment that increases the 

household income. The rule under 7 

CFR 273.7(d)(1)(iii) provides that in 

making reallocations the Department 

will consider, among other things, 

whether the employment and training 

programs and activities for which the 

State agency is requesting reallocated 

funds have the ‘‘most demonstrable 

impact on the ability of participants to 

find and retain employment that leads 

to increased household income and 

reduced reliance on public assistance.’’ 

The Department must also consider the 

size of the request relative to the State 

agency’s E&T spending in prior years, 

the specificity of the State’s plan for 

spending the reallocated funds, and the 

quality of the program and scope of 

impact for the State’s E&T program. The 

Department considers the information 

provided by the State agency in their 

request as well as all performance data, 

including outcome data such as the 

reporting measures from prior E&T 

Annual Reports and E&T Program 

Activity reports, to fall within the 

factors already delineated in 7 CFR 

273.7(d)(1)(iii). Therefore, it is not 

necessary to make a change in this final 

rule. 

One commenter noted that State 

system interfaces currently do not allow 

for the automated collection of 

employment and earnings data. The 

commenter asked if the Department 

would provide funding to support State 

system infrastructure costs for ongoing 

support or system enhancements and if 

State agencies can direct Department 

funds for system costs to other agencies 

responsible for the interfacing system. 

The Department notes that State 

agencies can use the E&T 100 percent 

Federal grant and 50 percent 

administrative funds to develop or 

enhance information management 

systems used for collecting and 

reporting E&T data. State agencies 

choosing to use their E&T funds, 

whether the 100 percent Federal grant 

or the 50 percent administrative funds, 

for system development or 

modifications should include the 

anticipated costs of data collection in 

the estimated operating cost within their 

annual E&T State Plan. Additionally, 

the Department periodically makes 

available additional grant opportunities, 

such as through E&T Data and Technical 

Assistance Grants, which are intended 

to support the development of State 

SNAP E&T data collection and reporting 

systems. Since the ability to use those 

funds for information management 

systems already exists, it is not 

necessary to specify available funds in 

this final rule. 

Reporting Measures 

Section 4022(a)(2) of the Agricultural 

Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113–79) amended 

section 16(h)(5)(B)(i) and (ii) of the Act 

to require the Department to develop, in 

consultation with the Department of 

Labor (DOL), reporting measures that 

identify improvements in the skills, 

training, education, or work experience 

of members of households participating 

in SNAP. The measures were to be 


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90552 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 222 / Monday, November 18, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

based on common measures of 

performance for Federal workforce 

programs and include additional 

indicators that reflect the challenges 

facing the types of members of 

households participating in SNAP who 

participate in a specific E&T 

component. In the interim final rule, the 

Department, after consultation with 

DOL, established under 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(17)(i)–(iv) that State agencies 

would report annual outcome data 

based on measures that were similar to 

the performance indicators for the core 

programs in the WIOA, but that 

reflected the intent of the Act, and the 

unique characteristics of the SNAP E&T 

program and its participants. Those 

reporting measures included: 

• The number and percentage of E&T 

participants and former participants 

who are in unsubsidized employment 

during the second quarter after 

completion of participation in E&T; 

• The number and percentage of E&T 

participants and former participants 

who are in unsubsidized employment 

during the fourth quarter after 

completion of participation in E&T; 

• The median quarterly earnings of 

all the E&T participants and former 

participants who are in unsubsidized 

employment during the second quarter 

after completion of participation in E&T; 

and 

• The total number and percentage of 

participants that completed a training, 

educational, work experience or on-thejob training component. 

G. Data Sources, Methodology and 

Method of Collection 

Regarding the measures required 

under 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(i) through (iv) 

one commenter asked if States are 

required to report on participants who 

enter E&T during the fiscal year or on 

individuals under certification in the 

fiscal year that enter and participate in 

E&T. The Department is clarifying that 

for the reporting measures of 

employment and earnings, due to the 

nature of these measures, State agencies 

are reporting on those E&T participants 

from the previous two FFYs who were 

referred to E&T, began at least one part 

of an E&T program including case 

management services or a component, 

and had obtained employment six 

months (second quarter) or one year 

(fourth quarter) after completion of 

participation in E&T. Therefore, the 

Department is modifying the regulatory 

text at 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(i) to indicate 

that for the reporting measures of 

employment and earnings State agencies 

shall report four (4) consecutive quarters 

of data from the two previous FFYs 

ending the preceding September 30. 

One commenter noted that the E&T 

State Plan Handbook issued by the 

Department in April 2016 included 

options for data sources for reporting 

measures and State reporting measures 

not discussed in the interim final rule, 

including the use of sampling. The 

commenter stated that the final rule 

should identify the data sources that 

States may use to meet the reporting 

requirements. Another commenter had 

questions regarding the use of sampling 

as a data source. They asked if States 

that choose to use sampling for Stateand Federal-reported outcomes will 

report both outcomes for the same 

sample of 500 cases, or does the 

Department expect the sample of 500 

cases for State reported outcomes to be 

different than the sample of 500 cases 

for the reporting measures. The 

commenter also asked if States are 

required to report outcome data in the 

E&T State Plan or does the E&T plan 

contain a description of the reporting 

measures that will be reported for that 

fiscal year. Another commenter asked if 

there is a required source of data or 

methodology for calculating median 

earnings. 

The Department appreciates the 

comments and notes that FNS issued 

guidance in the SNAP E&T State Plan 

Handbook in April 2016 and most 

recently updated May 2022 which 

specified that State agencies would 

determine the data source and the 

collection methodology it would use to 

gather the information needed for the 

annual report. The Department 

expressed that its preference was for 

State agencies to use administrative data 

and provided a list of sources they may 

consider using. These sources included 

Quarterly Wage Records (QWR) 

available through State’s 

Unemployment Insurance (UI) program, 

the National Directory of New Hires, 

State’s management information 

systems, manual follow-up or follow-up 

surveys of E&T participants. This 

guidance also indicated that State 

agencies may use sampling as a data 

collection methodology, rather than 

tracking all E&T participants. The 

Department recognized that given the 

variation in State’s E&T programs, 

including their data collection and 

tracking procedures, State agencies were 

in the best position to determine the 

appropriate data source and collection 

methodology to employ. However, for 

the reporting measures of employment 

and earnings, the Department indicated 

that the preferred source of data was 

QWR but understood that State agencies 

needed lead time to negotiate data 

agreements, or in some cases require 

State regulatory or statutory changes 

granting them access to such data. For 

that reason, the Department indicated 

while State agencies moved toward the 

goal of using QWR for employment and 

earnings data, they could utilize any of 

the sources. State agencies indicate in 

their annual E&T State Plan the data 

sources they intend to use for reporting 

measures and component measures. For 

calculating the median quarterly wages 

in the second quarter after completion 

of participation in E&T, the 

methodology State agencies should 

employ is to arrange all individual 

quarterly earnings for participants in 

numerical order, from smallest to 

largest, and identify the wage that is in 

the middle of that list. Regarding the use 

of sampling, State agencies have 

discretion as to whether they employ 

different samples for reporting measures 

and State component measures, given 

that the nature and timeframe of the 

measures may differ. States choosing to 

use sampling as a collection 

methodology must also include details 

regarding the sample design in the E&T 

State Plan. The regulations under 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(6)(xviii) specifies that in the 

annual E&T State Plan State agencies 

will provide a component measure for 

every component that is expected to 

include 100 or more participants, and 

those measures will be reported in the 

annual report specified in paragraph 

(c)(17). To maintain flexibility to 

account for variations among States, the 

Department is not changing in the final 

rule the data sources or collection 

methodology States may employ for the 

annual report. 

One commenter noted that UI QWR 

data does not capture all earnings, such 

as out of State, Federal or informal 

employment. The commenter asked if it 

was feasible for the Department to 

collect data on employment or to match 

nationally on behalf of States against the 

State submission of participants who 

completed an E&T program. Another 

commenter noted that the final rule 

should provide an option for States to 

request that the Department calculate 

performance measures related to 

employment and earnings using the 

Department’s access to national 

quarterly wage record data or National 

Directory of New Hires. They indicated 

that such an option would relieve States 

of some of the burden imposed on the 

State to perform such measures and 

calculations, ensure standardized 

measurement standards for States 

participating in such an option, and 

provide the Department a more robust 

platform to assess the E&T program. The 

commenter stressed this as an option 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 222 / Monday, November 18, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 90553 

9The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 

of 2009 (ARRA) suspended the time limit for 

individuals subject to the work requirements under 

section 6(o)(2) of the Food and Nutrition Act, unless 

the individual did not comply with requirements of 

a program offered by a State agency. This provision 

under ARRA expired at the end of FFY 2011. 

and would not support making this 

approach mandatory. One commenter 

stated that the Department should allow 

the use of automated data exchanges 

and State wage information to identify 

the employment status and quarterly 

wages of former E&T participants. They 

noted that they have observed that 

within the first year of reinstating the 

ABAWD work requirement in their 

State,9 E&T vendors reported that the 

actual employment rate for SNAP 

participants is significantly higher than 

the 37% employment rate identified by 

the State’s data. The commenter noted 

that former E&T participants rarely 

verify their new employment status after 

reporting it since there is no incentive 

for them to do so and they believe that 

it is essential for States to be able to use 

wage matches through such sources as 

Work Number or Equifax to accurate 

report employment outcomes of E&T 

participants. 

The Department acknowledges that 

the quarterly wage record data available 

through State’s UI reporting does not 

capture all earnings, specifically Federal 

employment or the self-employed. As 

previously discussed, the Department is 

not requiring States to use a specific 

data source for the annual report. 

However, the Department believes that 

QWR data is the most reliable and 

efficient source of information 

pertaining to employment and earnings 

of E&T participants and suggest as a best 

practice the use of QWR data. Further, 

it would not be feasible for the 

Department to calculate performance 

measures related to employment and 

earnings because quarterly wage record 

data is not available from a single source 

at a national level, it resides within each 

State agency responsible for UI 

reporting. In addition, this would 

require the Department to collect 

individual case records on every E&T 

participant from each State agency and 

this would impose additional burden on 

State agencies. The Department does not 

collect individual case records in the 

SNAP program, including the SNAP 

E&T program. Therefore, the 

Department is not changing the data 

sources or method for collection in this 

final rule. 

H. Employment and Earnings Measures 

One commenter asked if the fourth 

quarter employment after completion of 

E&T was intended to be a proxy for 

retention. This commenter also asked 

what if the employer or record from 

second and fourth quarters are different. 

The Department understands that the 

fourth quarter employment measure 

could be perceived as being a proxy for 

employment retention. However, the 

measure is a point in time measure and 

is only measuring whether an E&T 

participant is in unsubsidized 

employment twelve months after 

completing participation in E&T. 

Whether the E&T participant was 

included in the second quarter 

employment measure bears no relevance 

to the fourth quarter employment 

measure; therefore, the Department is 

not making a change in the final rule. 

Three commenters stated that the 

timeline for reporting employment and 

earnings measures should consider the 

six-month lag time in the availability of 

quarterly wage records (QWR). They 

noted, for States using QWR 

information, reporting on fourth quarter 

employment after completion of E&T by 

the January 1 due date of the annual 

report would not be possible for any 

group completing components in FFY 

2017 or thereafter. This lag time in the 

availability of the QWR gives States 

little time to perform the matches and 

analysis before the E&T Annual Report 

is due on January 1. 

One commenter stated that the final 

rule should provide information 

addressing how States can request an 

extension or apply for a waiver of the 

requirement for States to submit an 

annual report to the Department on 

January 1 of each year. 

The Department appreciates the 

comments and acknowledges that the 

timeframe of the employment and 

earnings measures as well as the sixmonth lag time in the availability of 

quarterly wage records (QWR) impacts 

State agencies’ abilities to submit an 

E&T Annual Report that consists of four 

(4) quarters of data from only the 

preceding FFY on January 1. Therefore, 

the Department is modifying the 

regulatory text at 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17) to 

change the due date of the annual report 

to April 15. Additionally, the 

Department is modifying 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(17)(i) to reflect that for the 

employment and earnings measures 

State agencies shall submit four (4) 

consecutive quarters of data from the 

two previous FFYs. 

Regarding the quarterly median wage 

measure, one commenter noted that 

because the quarterly wage records 

reflect quarterly earnings and does not 

include a start date or the number of pay 

periods, individuals who are hired midquarter will appear to have lower wages 

than their actual hourly rate. The 

Department appreciates the comment on 

the limitation of quarterly wage records 

to reflect the earnings of participants 

who may obtain employment midquarter. However, the Department was 

required to develop reporting measures, 

in consultation with the Department of 

Labor, that were based on common 

measures of performance for Federal 

workforce programs and the quarterly 

median measure is aligned with WIOA 

programs. The Department believes that, 

to account for the mid-quarter hires, as 

well as to ensure consistency, all States 

would need to modify their collection 

processes to include capturing the start 

date of employment for those 

individuals as well as the wage 

information. In order to ensure 

consistency in the State agencies 

reporting of participant wage 

information, this would require that all 

State agencies, as well as E&T providers 

devote staff time to collect the 

information necessary from the E&T 

participants or employers. This would 

place an undue burden on E&T 

participants and their employers to 

provide participant wage information. 

The Department believes that this 

burden far outweighs the benefits to 

account for those mid-quarter hires, 

therefore, the Department is not 

modifying the regulations regarding the 

quarterly median wage measure in this 

final rule. 

One commenter questioned the 

practical utility of the employment and 

earnings measures and asked if 

employment and earnings six or twelve 

months after E&T participation correlate 

with the impact of the E&T intervention. 

Another commenter noted that the 

employment and earnings measures are 

reliant on systems outside of State 

SNAP agency and requires ongoing 

staffing effort to manually collect and 

compile the information, calling into 

question the effort and validity of such 

measures. The Department appreciates 

the comments and would note that the 

provisions of 4022(a) in the Agricultural 

Act of 2014 charged the Department 

with the responsibility to assess the 

effectiveness of SNAP E&T programs in 

preparing members of households 

participating in SNAP for employment, 

including the acquisition of basic skills 

necessary for employment; and 

increasing the number of household 

members who obtain and retain 

employment subsequent to participation 

in the SNAP E&T program. This section 

further required the Department, in 

consultation with the Department of 

Labor, to develop reporting measures 

that would identify improvements in 

the skills, training, education of SNAP 


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90554 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 222 / Monday, November 18, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

10Training and Employment Guidance Letter 

No.10–16, Change 3 issued September June 11, 

2024 (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/ 

advisories/TEGL/2023/TEGL%2010- 

16%20Change%203/TEGL%2010- 

16%2C%20Change%203.pdf. 

participants and that were based on 

common measures of performance for 

Federal workforce training programs. As 

noted previously, WIOA established 

common measures of performance to 

ensure consistency across all programs 

under WIOA. These common measures 

for employment and earnings specified 

the timeframe of second quarter and 

fourth quarter after exit from a WIOA 

program. The Department believes that 

the adoption of employment and 

earnings measures aligned with 

measures for workforce programs under 

WIOA meets the Department’s 

obligation to assess States for the 

number of individuals who obtain and 

retain employment subsequent to 

participation in E&T programs. The 

Department is not modifying the 

provisions for the employment and 

earnings measures in this final rule. 

One commenter stated that while the 

Department has developed standardized 

reporting measures as required in the 

Act, it has not, at least as stated in the 

guidance provided in the E&T Plan 

Handbook, standardized the methods 

states must employ to collect data on 

those measures. Given that employment 

outcomes are known to differ based on 

the modality of data collection, the 

commenter suggested the final rule 

should address how the Department 

plans to adjust for performance 

differences across States using differing 

data collection methodologies. 

The establishment of reporting 

measures, as provided in section 

16(h)(5)(B) of the Act, was for the 

purpose of identifying improvements in 

the skills, training, education or work 

experience of members of households 

participating in States’ Supplemental 

Nutrition Assistance Programs. The Act 

did not require the Secretary to establish 

reporting measures with performance 

targets or to compare reporting measures 

across State agencies. Therefore, the 

Department is not making changes in 

the final rule in response to this 

comment. 

I. Completion of Education, Training, 

Work Experience or OJT Components 

One commenter stated that the 

reporting measures should also include 

a credential attainment measure 

consistent with the WIOA primary 

indicator on credential attainment. This 

includes measures such as the number 

and percentage of individuals assigned 

to E&T who obtain a recognized 

postsecondary credential, or a 

secondary school diploma or its 

recognized equivalent during 

participation in or within 1 year after 

exit from SNAP E&T. The commenter 

noted that measuring credential 

attainment is an important part of 

measuring skill-building outcomes. The 

Department agrees that the reporting 

measures should include educational 

measures that are aligned with WIOA.10

This includes measures such as 

credential attainment and measurable 

skill gain that are important factors to 

consider in assessing and evaluating the 

effectiveness of a State’s E&T program in 

assisting E&T participants in obtaining 

skills necessary for employment. 

Measurable skill gains provide the 

Department and State agencies with an 

interim progress of participants who are 

enrolled in any educational or training 

program and is triggered by program 

enrollment rather than on completion of 

the program. Both measures are in 

practice by workforce development 

organizations. An analysis of State’s FY 

2021 E&T Annual Reports indicates that 

several State agencies already utilized 

these as component measures. Because 

of these factors, the burden on State 

agencies should be minimal. Therefore, 

the Department is creating two 

educational measures for attainment of 

credential or certificate and measurable 

skill gains under new 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(17)(ii). 

State agencies will be required to 

report the number and percentage of 

E&T participants enrolled during the 

preceding FFY in an educational or 

training program, excluding those in onthe-job training, customized training or 

transitional jobs, who attain a 

recognized post-secondary credential, 

certificate or a secondary school 

diploma, or its recognized equivalent, 

during participation in or upon 

completion of participation in E&T. 

State agencies will also be required to 

report the number and percentage of 

E&T participants who, during the 

preceding FFY, were in an education or 

training program that will lead to a 

recognized postsecondary credential or 

employment and who are achieving 

measurable skill gains, defined as 

documented academic, technical, 

occupational, or other forms of progress, 

towards such a credential or 

employment. This measure is intended 

to capture E&T participants who are 

working towards attainment of a 

credential or employment but may not 

have had sufficient time to achieve the 

intended outcome during the reporting 

fiscal year. In essence, this measure is 

reporting E&T participants’ progress 

toward attainment of a credential or 

employment. Depending on the type of 

education or training program, 

documented progress could consist of 

one of the following: 

• Documented achievement of at least 

one educational functioning level of a 

participant who is receiving instruction 

below the postsecondary education 

level. 

• Documented attainment of a 

secondary school diploma or its 

recognized equivalent. 

• Secondary or postsecondary 

transcript or report card for a sufficient 

number of credit hours that shows a 

participant is meeting the State unit’s 

academic standards. 

• Satisfactory or better progress 

report, towards established milestones, 

such as completion of one year of an 

apprenticeship program or similar 

milestones, from the training provider 

who is providing training. 

• Successful passage of an exam that 

is required for a particular occupation or 

progress in attaining technical or 

occupational skills as evidenced by 

trade-related benchmarks such as 

knowledge-based exams. 

One commenter, commenting on the 

collection of the total number and 

percentage of participants that 

completed an educational, training, 

work experience of on-the job training 

measure, stated that the ability to 

capture completion of components, 

specifically an education or training 

component, is dependent upon a 

manual, individual-level process and 

would pose an undue burden on States 

without clear benefit. They asked what 

the Department hopes to deduce from 

this information. Another commenter 

noted that the ability to capture 

completion of components must be 

imbedded in the E&T case management 

system and would require additional 

system functionality and would further 

require direct reporting by participants 

and data entry by a worker. The 

commenter asked if the Department 

would require verification of 

completion and if documentation of 

completion would be included in 

management evaluations or other 

Federal reviews. One commenter sought 

clarification for the measure of 

completion of an educational, training, 

work experience or on-the-job training 

component. They asked that 

‘‘completion’’ be defined, and a 

clarification of who is included in the 

denominator, if it is all E&T participants 

or only those participating in one of the 

components. One commenter stated that 

for the completion of educational, 

training, work experience or on-the-job 

training components a SNAP client has 

the potential to complete multiple E&T 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 222 / Monday, November 18, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 90555 

11Training and Employment Guidance Letter 

No.10–16, Change 3 issued September June 11, 

2024 ((https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/ 

advisories/TEGL/2023/TEGL%2010- 

16%20Change%203/TEGL%2010- 

16%2C%20Change%203.pdf). 

activities. They stated that the final rule 

should clarify whether States should 

count completion in each of the 

components or just one and if States 

should only be reporting completion in 

one component during the fiscal year, 

clarify, how States should determine the 

completion to be reported. 

The Department acknowledges that 

capturing completion of components 

would necessitate some level of case 

management, whether through a manual 

process or through an automated 

system. However, separate and apart 

from any reporting requirements, 

recording when participants begin and 

complete any activity is a cornerstone of 

an effective employment and training 

program, ensuring participants are 

making progress toward individual 

goals as well as program goals. The 

Department would note at the time of 

the interim final rule, the Department 

established reporting measure for 

completion of an education, training, 

work experience or on-the-job training 

(OJT) component in 7 CFR 

273.17(c)(17)(iv) of the interim final rule 

as a measure that was specific to the 

SNAP E&T program. This was done, 

partly because the Departments of Labor 

and Education were still in the process 

of finalizing their policies for the 

educational common measures of 

credential or certificate attainment and 

measurable skill gains, for the WIOA 

programs. The Department is not aware 

of other Federal agencies incorporating 

similar completion measures, and after 

reconsideration the Department does 

not believe ‘‘completion’’ is a 

meaningful measure. Therefore, 

considering the comments, the 

Department is removing the completion 

of education, training, work experience 

and on-the-job training reporting 

measure under 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(iv) 

and replacing with two educational 

measures for attainment of credential or 

certificate and measurable skill gains 

under new 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(ii). 

J. Alignment of Measures With WIOA 

Three commenters recommended that 

the Department fully align the proposed 

measures and reporting requirements 

with those established in WIOA and the 

final WIOA regulations to improve 

service integration and support 

evaluation of outcomes across programs. 

One of the commenters further stated 

that the Department should give States 

that choose to integrate services across 

the WIOA and SNAP E&T programs the 

option of using the common periods of 

participation with common exit used in 

WIOA programs. The Department 

appreciates the recommendation to fully 

align measures with those established in 

the WIOA programs. The measures in 

the interim final rule were closely 

aligned but not identical to those 

measures in WIOA. Some of the 

variation was attributable to differences 

in the frequency of reporting and 

difference in data needs. At the time of 

the interim final rule the Department 

did not include educational measures 

that aligned with WIOA, partly because 

the Departments of Labor and Education 

were still in the process of finalizing 

their policy. The Department 

encourages and applauds coordination 

and collaboration between WIOA and 

SNAP E&T to serve E&T participants. 

WIOA guidance states that common exit 

occurs when a participant, enrolled in 

multiple DOL-administered partner 

programs, has not received services 

from any DOL-administered program in 

which the participant is enrolled, to 

which the common exit policy applies, 

for at least 90 days, and no future 

services are planned.11 In SNAP E&T an 

individual’s eligibility for SNAP E&T 

services is directly tied to their 

eligibility and receipt of SNAP benefits, 

this means that an individual’s 

participation in SNAP E&T ends when 

they are no longer receiving SNAP 

benefits. The Department believes that it 

would place an undue burden on State 

agencies to apply the common exit 

principle for those individuals who may 

be co-enrolled in SNAP E&T and WIOA 

programs. Therefore, the Department is 

not making this change in this final rule. 

One commenter, while supportive of 

aligning reporting requirements between 

E&T and WIOA programs, suggested 

that the interim final rule should 

provide additional implementation time 

to allow States to align those standards. 

The commenter noted that SNAP E&T 

programs and WIOA programs are 

administered by different State agencies 

and have differences in vendors, 

outcome data tracking systems, 

eligibility and participant tracking 

systems. The commenter believed 

additional time is necessary to link the 

various systems and to align the 

reporting requirements. The Department 

appreciates the comment and 

acknowledges that State agencies need 

additional time to implement measures 

that are aligned with WIOA. Therefore, 

the Department will delay 

implementation of the educational 

reporting measures specified under the 

new 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(ii) until October 

1, 2025. 

K. Performance Standards 

One commenter asked if the 

Department intended to apply 

performance standards for outcome 

measures of employment, earnings and 

completion of education, training, work 

experience or on-the-job training. The 

Department would like to clarify that 

the provisions of section 16(h)(5)(A) of 

the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as 

amended by the Agricultural Act of 

2014, required the Department to assess 

the effectiveness of States’ E&T 

programs in preparing members of 

households participating in SNAP for 

employment, including the acquisition 

of basic skills necessary for 

employment, and in increasing the 

number of household members who 

obtain and retain employment after 

participation in SNAP E&T and to 

implement reporting measures to assist 

in making the determination of 

effectiveness. It was not the intent of the 

Department to apply performance 

standards or targets, or to compare the 

effectiveness of one State’s E&T program 

to other States due to State flexibility in 

the design of their E&T program, such 

as the participants targeted for services, 

services to be delivered and the areas of 

the State for services, as well as the 

differences in labor markets and 

targeted occupations. 

Disaggregated Characteristics of E&T 

Participants in Reporting Measures 

Section 16(h)(5)(B)(ii) of the Act, as 

amended by the Agricultural Act of 

2014, requires that the reporting 

measures developed by the Department 

include additional indicators that reflect 

the challenges facing the types of 

members of households participating in 

SNAP who participate in a specific 

employment and training component. In 

the interim final rule, the Department 

identified three participant 

characteristics that it believed were the 

most important to understand the 

challenges to employment faced by 

SNAP E&T participants and former 

participants who are included in the 

reporting measures. Those 

characteristics included whether the 

participants were voluntary or 

mandatory participants; participants 

who had received a high school degree 

(or GED) prior to being provided with 

E&T services; and were able-bodied 

adults without dependents (ABAWDs). 

The interim final rule required States to 

report the number and percentage of 

E&T participants reported in each of the 

reporting measures, a disaggregation of 

the number, and percentage of those 

participants and former participants by 

each of the three characteristics. 


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In the interim final rule, the 

disaggregated characteristics for the 

reporting measures, such as 

employment in the second or fourth 

quarters after completion of 

participation in E&T, reflect the 

composition of the outcome group. For 

example, the number of individuals in 

unsubsidized employment in the second 

or fourth quarter after completion of 

participation in E&T who are voluntary 

participants. The denominator is the 

number of individuals in unsubsidized 

employment in the second or fourth 

quarter after completion of participation 

in E&T and the numerator is the number 

of individuals who met one of the three 

characteristics. 

Two commenters requested the 

Department clarify that the 

disaggregated characteristics in the 

interim final rule require reporting the 

outcomes of the disaggregated groups, 

not simply of the composition of the 

group that is used to determine these 

outcomes. The denominator would then 

be the total amount of individuals who 

meet the characteristic, and the 

numerator would be the number of 

individuals who meet that characteristic 

who are in unsubsidized employment in 

the second or fourth quarter after 

completion of participation in E&T. For 

example, the number and percentage of 

all voluntary participants in 

unsubsidized employment during 

quarter two after completion of E&T 

participation. One of the commenters 

noted that reporting employment, 

earnings and credential attainment 

outcomes for subpopulations will 

provide valuable information on the 

effectiveness of different SNAP E&T 

strategies. 

The Department agrees that the 

disaggregated characteristics for the 

reporting measures, such as 

employment in the second or fourth 

quarters after completion of 

participation in E&T, should reflect the 

outcome observed for each 

characteristic, rather than the 

composition of the outcome group. The 

Department further agrees that this 

change would provide valuable 

information on the effectiveness of 

SNAP E&T observed by each participant 

characteristic. As a result, the 

Department is modifying the regulation 

for the disaggregated characteristics of 

the reporting measures to reflect the 

outcomes observed by each 

characteristic under renumbered 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(17)(iii). 

One commenter stated that 

individuals assigned to but not 

participating in E&T should be treated 

as a subpopulation for reporting 

purposes, just as are voluntary or 

mandatory participants, and 

participants achieving or not achieving 

a high school degree or its equivalent. 

The Department appreciates the 

suggestion that individuals assigned to 

but not participating in E&T should be 

treated as a subpopulation for reporting 

purposes. We agree that this is an 

important factor in evaluating the 

effectiveness of an E&T program, and 

the Department has recently modified 

the E&T Program Activity Report (FNS– 

583) to capture additional reporting 

elements for States that serve mandatory 

E&T participants through the 2021 final 

rule. The Department believes the role 

of outcome measures is to measure the 

impact of interventions received by 

participants, so covering individuals 

who never participated in E&T is not 

helpful for those outcome measures. 

However, the Department agrees that 

outcome measures should reflect those 

individuals who were required to 

participate in E&T, referred to E&T, 

began participating in an E&T program 

but who were subsequently deemed 

ineligible for SNAP due to failure to 

comply with E&T requirements. The 

Department believes that it is 

appropriate and would add value to add 

a characteristic for mandatory E&T 

participants who are deemed ineligible 

for SNAP due to a failure to comply 

with E&T requirements and therefore 

are adding this as a new characteristic 

under 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(iii). 

The Department remains committed 

in our efforts to advance racial equity 

and support for underserved 

communities, as demonstrated in 

Executive Order 13985 and the USDA 

Equity Plan. The Department is adding 

race and/or ethnicity of E&T 

participants as additional participant 

characteristics to be reported by State 

agencies. This is outlined in the race/ 

ethnicity data collection requirements 

in 7 CFR 272.6(g). As the regulations at 

7 CFR 272.6(g) and (h) require State 

agencies to collect race and ethnicity 

data on participating households and 

report the data to FNS, the Department 

does not believe reporting measures by 

race and/or ethnicity will cause any 

additional burden on the part of the 

State agencies. The Department will use 

the participant characteristic 

information collected through the E&T 

Annual Reports, such as the race and 

ethnicity data, in conjunction with other 

data of SNAP participants to better 

understand and help identify potential 

equity concerns at various stages of the 

SNAP E&T service delivery process. 

This information will be used by the 

Department in assessing State’s 

effectiveness of the E&T program in 

meeting the needs of all E&T 

participants. 

State Component Measures 

Section 4022(a)(2) of the Agricultural 

Act of 2014 amended section 

16(h)(5)(B)(ii) of the Act to require each 

State agency to identify in its annual 

E&T State Plan appropriate reporting 

measures for each proposed component 

that serves a threshold of at least 100 

participants a year. The State agencies 

are then required to report on those 

measures in their E&T Annual Reports 

to the Department. This section of the 

Act provided several measures that 

State agencies could consider, such as 

the percentage and number of program 

participants who received E&T services 

and are in unsubsidized employment 

subsequent to the receipt of those 

services. Other examples include State 

agency-developed measures of a 

participant’s interim progress toward 

achieving goals of a specific component 

and the number and percentage of 

program participants who are meeting 

program requirements in a component 

of the State agency’s E&T program. 

Section 16(h)(5)(C)(iii) also charged the 

Department with the oversight 

responsibility to ensure that reporting 

measures are appropriate to identify 

improvements in skills, training, work 

and experience for participants in an 

E&T program component. The interim 

final rule established under 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(6)(xviii) the requirement that 

State agencies include in the E&T State 

Plan a reporting measure for every 

component that is expected to include 

100 or more participants and include 

those measures in the E&T Annual 

Report. The rule included the list of 

suggested measures specified in the Act 

that State agencies could consider 

adopting. The Department chose a 

threshold of 100 participants a year to 

be consistent with the minimum 

specified in the Act. The Department 

would clarify that the intent of 

component measures is to measure the 

effectiveness of the intervention 

provided through the component so the 

ideal measure would be closely tied to 

the time of the intervention. For 

example, an appropriate measure for 

supervised job search is to measure E&T 

participant’s attainment of unsubsidized 

employment upon completion of the 

component. To fulfill the Department’s 

oversight responsibility, the Department 

will work with State agencies through 

the State Plan approval process to 

ensure that the State identified 

measures approved in the State Plan are 

appropriate for each component. 

One commenter noted that the interim 

final rule allows States to establish their 


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own component reporting measures 

subject to the Department’s review and 

approval as part of the SNAP E&T State 

Plan review process. However, the rule 

is silent on the criteria by which 

component measures will be approved. 

The commenter suggests that the final 

rule provide that the Department will 

presumptively approve State component 

measures which are chosen from those 

measures suggested in the regulations 

and set forth the criteria under which 

the Department will deem other 

proposed measures appropriate. One 

commenter stated that, given the 

flexibility in determining state-designed 

reporting measures for components 

provided in the Act and interim final 

rule, it is essential that the Department 

defer to the States when reviewing and 

approving reporting measures in E&T 

State Plans. The commenter noted that 

with less than 100 days between the 

effective date of the interim final rule 

and the date the State’s FFY 2017 E&T 

plans were due, the States are best 

situated to determine how they can 

effectively collect and report data with 

very little time to plan. One commenter 

stated that the final rule should describe 

what flexibility will be provided to 

change or adjust reporting measures for 

individual components after approval as 

part of the annual SNAP E&T Plan, and 

if a change is approved what measures 

the State will be required to include in 

the annual report. 

The Department agrees that State 

agencies are best suited to determine an 

appropriate component measure that 

they can collect effectively and 

efficiently. The primary criteria for a 

component measure are that the 

measure be an outcome-based measure 

and not a process measure. The measure 

should be relevant to the given 

component and should be closely tied to 

the time of when the component was 

utilized for participants. For example, a 

measure of a measurable skill gains 

would not be applicable for a 

supervised job search component. The 

regulations under 7 CFR 273.7(c)(8) 

provide that if a State agency modifies 

or alters the nature or location of its 

components or the number or 

characteristics of persons served, a State 

Plan amendment must be submitted to 

the appropriate FNS Regional Office for 

approval at least 30 days prior to the 

planned implementation. This 

requirement extends to any proposed 

change in a component measure. If the 

proposed change is approved the State 

agency would be required to include the 

revised measure in that year’s E&T 

Annual Report. 

One commenter stated that the SNAP 

E&T Handbook published by the 

Department on April 25, 2016, appears 

to include requirements for county-level 

reporting measures for State supervised, 

county administered States, while the 

interim rule does not. They stated they 

do not believe that the statute provides 

the Department the authority to require 

measures below the State level because 

section 4022(a)(2) states that the 

Secretary will monitor E&T programs 

‘‘carried out by State agencies’’ and 

‘‘shall develop State reporting 

measures.’’ They do not believe that 

county-administered States should be 

held to additional reporting 

requirements that are not required of 

State-administered programs. The 

commenter proposed that the final rule 

specifically preclude county-level 

measurement. The commenter 

recommended that in the absence of 

such a prohibition, the Department 

should also provide information to 

address whether county-level reporting 

measurements were considered when 

the Department estimated States’ 

administrative burden in complying 

with the requirements outlined in the 

interim rule. 

The Department would like to clarify 

that the table of components offered by 

each county included in the April 2016 

E&T State Plan Handbook was provided 

as an option that county-administered 

States may use in completing the E&T 

State Plan. It was not intended to 

indicate that additional reporting 

requirements were placed on countyadministered programs. Rather, it was 

intended to assist State agencies in 

compiling the data collected from their 

counties. That optional table has since 

been modified to remove reporting 

measures by county. Further, the 

Department notes that section 11(a)(2) of 

the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as 

amended, specifies that the 

responsibility of the agency of State 

government shall not be affected by 

whether the program is operated on a 

State-administered or countyadministered basis. Thus, the Act 

specifically places the responsibility 

with the State agency for establishing 

component measures in the annual E&T 

State Plan and reporting of those 

measures in the annual report. 

Twenty (20) commenters 

recommended that States should be 

required to report employment in the 

second and fourth quarters after 

completion of E&T and the median 

quarterly earnings in the second quarter 

for any component that is expected to 

include 100 or more participants, in 

addition to any State measures. Three of 

the commenters further stated that 

States should be required to report the 

completion of any component. The 

commenters stated that such 

information at the component level will 

allow States to assess the effectiveness 

of various approaches and redirect 

resources toward components with the 

greatest likelihood of helping SNAP 

participants improve their 

employability. 

The Department appreciates the 

comments but notes that section 

(16)(h)(5)(B)(iii) of the Act provides 

flexibility in identifying appropriate 

reporting measures for every component 

that serves at least 100 participants a 

year in the annual E&T State Plans, with 

the Department’s approval. The interim 

final rule under 7 CFR 273.7(c)(6)(xviii) 

provided several examples of measures 

that State agencies could choose, such 

as the number of program participants 

that obtain unsubsidized employment 

subsequent to receipt of the component. 

States also can identify other measures 

in addition to the examples provided in 

the regulation. The Department would 

note that the intent of individual 

component measures is to measure the 

impact of a particular component. The 

Department does not believe that 

outcome measures of the E&T program, 

such as the reporting measures for 

employment and earnings six or twelve 

months after an individual’s 

participation in an E&T program, which 

could consist of multiple components 

would be useful in measuring the 

effectiveness of a single component. 

However, the Department encourages 

State agencies to consider the full range 

of measures, including those measures 

that would provide an interim 

benchmark for participant’s progress 

toward achieving goals of a specific 

component. 

One commenter stated that the final 

rule should address how the States are 

to be required to track component 

completion after a person is no longer 

a SNAP recipient. The commenter 

explained that currently there is no 

requirement in place for individuals to 

report their employment or training 

status upon completing a SNAP E&T 

component and that it would be very 

costly and difficult to obtain this 

information. The Department wishes to 

clarify that SNAP regulations do not 

require States to track component 

completion after a person is no longer 

a SNAP recipient. Under 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(6)(xviii) States have the 

discretion to identify an appropriate 

component measure. 

One commenter noted States would 

need additional time to develop 

evaluation plans and establish effective 

collaboration with E&T vendors and 

other stakeholders to develop a 

comprehensive evaluation plan for each 


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12SNAP E&T Outcome Reporting Interim Final 

Rule: Questions and Answers Part II. 

proposed component serving at least 

100 participants a year. They indicated 

that adequate planning and 

development time would ensure that 

collected data accurately measure 

intended outcomes. The commenter 

recommended delaying the 

implementation of reporting 

requirements. The Department 

appreciates the comment and 

acknowledges that adequate planning 

and development time is essential for 

ensuring accurate data collection 

procedures. The interim final 

regulations were published in the 

Federal Register on March 24, 2016, 

effective May 23, 2016, and States were 

required to identify component 

measures for components that served at 

least 100 participants annually in the 

FY 2017 E&T State Plan. While the 

Department realizes this only allowed 

States approximately six months to 

establish data collection procedures for 

component measures, guidance was 

issued in the Supplemental Nutrition 

Assistance Program—section 4022 of the 

Agricultural Act of 2014—Questions 

and Answer (Part I), issued July 26, 

2016, that indicated that the Department 

would work with individual States as 

needed to allow additional lead time for 

the States to finalize reporting measures 

and data sources. 

In conclusion, the Department 

codifies the regulatory text in 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(6)(xviii) as indicated in the 

interim final rule. 

E&T Participant Characteristics 

Section 16(h)(5)(C) of the Act, as 

amended by the Agricultural Act of 

2014, charges the Department with the 

responsibility for conducting oversight 

of State E&T program activities and lists 

four specific oversight activities. One of 

the activities includes ensuring that 

program activities are appropriate to 

meet the needs of the individuals 

referred by the State agency to an E&T 

program component. Additionally, as 

stated previously, section 16(h)(5)(B)(ii) 

of the Act required that reporting 

measures include additional indicators 

that reflect the challenges facing the 

types of members of households 

participating in SNAP who participate 

in a specific E&T component. Because 

the SNAP work registrant population, 

like the general SNAP population, is 

very diverse and faces a myriad of 

challenges to employment, such as 

measurable educational attainment, the 

Department believed that to have a 

better understanding of the effectiveness 

of SNAP E&T it must have a more 

complete picture of the population that 

is being served in E&T. For that reason, 

in the interim final rule the Department 

required State agencies to report the 

number and percentage of all E&T 

participants on seven characteristics. 

Those participant characteristics 

included the participants who: 

• Are voluntary vs. mandatory; 

• Have achieved a high school degree 

(or GED) prior to being provided with 

E&T services; 

• Are ABAWDs; 

• Speak English as a second language; 

• Are male vs. female; and 

• Belong in the following age ranges: 

16–17, 18–35, 36–49, 50–59, 60 or older. 

One commenter stated that it is 

unlikely that the six participant 

characteristics information would be 

useful in understanding the 

effectiveness of E&T programs, absent 

an effective way to establish 

relationship between participant 

characteristics, assignments, and 

outcomes. The commenter further stated 

that the Department did not have 

specific statutory authority to require 

reporting of participant characteristics 

and suggested more useful information 

on participant characteristics and the 

availability of appropriate assignments 

could be more efficiently obtained 

through specific research studies. 

Another commenter stated that the 

collection of reliable educational levels 

is problematic, and the utility of 

collecting is unclear. The commenter 

stated that SNAP eligibility systems do 

not collect educational attainment or an 

indicator for ‘‘speaks English as a 

second language’’ and that it’s unclear 

what FNS intends to do with this 

information. The commenter also stated 

that the language of ‘‘prior to being 

provided with E&T services’’ is unclear 

and asked if SNAP E&T funds must be 

used to pay for the full cost of a service 

to be considered ‘‘provided’’ and how 

this applies to referrals to E&T. 

The Department appreciates the 

comments but disagrees that participant 

characteristics are not useful in 

understanding the effectiveness of E&T 

programs. Based on widely reported 

research and data, women, minorities 

and individuals with lower education 

levels face additional obstacles to 

employment and lower earnings. To 

understand the overall effectiveness of a 

program it is important to consider the 

demographics of the population that is 

receiving the services, as well as the 

challenges that face participants that 

have less than a high school diploma or 

equivalency prior to participation in 

E&T or participants that speak English 

as a second language. The Department 

further disagrees that the Department 

does not have the statutory authority to 

require reporting of participant 

characteristics. Section 16(h)(5)(B)(ii) of 

the Act provided broad discretion to the 

Department in creating reporting 

metrics by requiring the inclusion of 

additional indicators that reflect the 

challenges facing the types of members 

of households participating in SNAP 

E&T. Additionally, the Act charges the 

Department with oversight 

responsibility for ensuring that program 

activities are appropriate to meet the 

needs of the individuals referred by the 

State agency to an E&T program 

component. The inclusion of reporting 

participant characteristics was in direct 

response to this requirement specified 

in the Act, so the Department is 

retaining the participant characteristics 

reporting and as described earlier, 

adding race and/or ethnicity as a 

participant characteristic. 

The interim final rule at 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(17)(v) required States to 

include in the annual report the number 

and percentage of E&T participants who 

met the characteristic of having 

obtained a high school diploma (or 

GED) prior to being provided with E&T 

services. The Department agrees with 

the comment that the term ‘‘prior to 

being provided with E&T services’’ is 

unclear. For that reason, to add clarity, 

the Department is modifying the 

regulatory language in 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(17)(v) for this characteristic to 

read ‘‘E&T participants who obtained 

high school diploma and equivalency 

prior to referral to E&T.’’ 

One commenter asked for the 

participant characteristic of education 

attainment prior to participation in E&T, 

for States not already tracking this 

information, how are States expected to 

capture data for anyone that participates 

in FFY 2017 or after. The Department 

appreciates the comment and notes that 

the Department allowed State agencies 

who were not already collecting 

participant’s educational attainment 

prior to participation in E&T in their 

automated systems to report that 

characteristic as ‘‘unknown,’’ until such 

time as the State agency could modify 

their collection procedures to capture 

this characteristic. Given the guidance, 

it is not necessary to make this change 

in the final rule. 

Two commenters inquired how 

participants should be reported if the 

characteristic, such as ABAWD status, 

changes multiple times during a 

reporting year. The Department issued 

guidance in the SNAP E&T Outcome 

Reporting Interim Final Rule: Questions 

and Answers Part II 12 on May 15, 2017, 

that State agencies should capture and 

report on a participant’s characteristic at 


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13Fiscal Year 2023 State Management Evaluation 

Target Areas (https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/fiscalyear-2023-state-management-evaluation-targetareas). 

the time the individual begins an E&T 

program within the reported fiscal year. 

No change is required in this final rule. 

One commenter noted that all 

references to high school degree or GED 

should be replaced with ‘‘high school 

diploma or equivalency.’’ The 

commenter stated that GED is a 

trademarked name and is only one of 

several types of high school equivalency 

exams being used. The Department 

appreciates the suggestion and is 

therefore providing a change in the 

regulatory language under the 

renumbered 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(iii)(F) 

and 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(v)(C) to 

reference high school diploma or 

equivalency. 

Monitoring, Evaluating and Assessing 

State’s E&T Programs 

The Agricultural Act of 2014 

amended section 16(h)(5)(A) of the Act 

to require the Department to monitor 

and assess the effectiveness of E&T 

programs carried out by State agencies 

in preparing members of households 

participating in SNAP for employment, 

including the acquisition of basic skills 

necessary for employment, and 

increasing the number of household 

members who obtain and retain 

employment subsequent to participation 

in E&T. The Act also established in 

section 16(h)(5)(C)(i)–(iii) of the Act 

specific Department oversight activities 

of E&T programs, that included 

ensuring: 

• Compliance with Federal E&T 

program rules and regulations; 

• That program activities are 

appropriate to meet the needs of the 

individuals referred by the State agency 

to an E&T program component; 

• That reporting measures are 

appropriate to identify improvements in 

skills, training, work, and experience for 

participants in an E&T program 

component. 

Section 16(h)(5)(C)(iv) of the Act also 

specified Department oversight 

responsibilities for evaluating the 

compliance of States that receive an 

additional allocation for ensuring the 

availability of work opportunities for 

ABAWDs. This section provided the 

Department the authority to require any 

information from these States that were 

determined appropriate for evaluating 

compliance. This included requiring a 

report by the States on the number of 

individuals meeting ABAWD criteria; 

the number offered a work opportunity; 

the number who participated in such 

opportunities; and a description of the 

types of opportunities available 

throughout the State. 

Section 16(h)(5)(E) of the Act, as 

amended by the Agricultural Act of 

2014, gives the Department the 

authority to require a State agency to 

make modifications to the State’s E&T 

State Plan to improve outcomes if the 

Department determines that the E&T 

outcomes are inadequate. 

The SNAP regulations at 7 CFR 

275.3(a) already requires FNS to 

conduct management evaluations (ME) 

reviews of targeted areas of SNAP 

program areas each year, including E&T. 

FNS identifies target areas each year 

based upon a number of considerations, 

including recent policy changes, risk to 

Federal funds and risk to program 

access. For example, FNS may identify 

program access as an area that the 

regional offices are required to review in 

every State, and nutrition education as 

an area to be reviewed on an at-risk 

basis, as necessary. This affords FNS 

maximum flexibility to target resources 

to those current areas of vulnerability or 

agency priorities. 

In previous years, FNS has not 

required its regional offices to perform 

an ME of each State’s E&T program. FNS 

has required its regional offices to 

review E&T programs in States that 

operate third-party partner programs, or 

that have combined Federal and nonFederal budgets over a certain 

threshold. As part of its general 

monitoring and oversight 

responsibilities, FNS will meet the 

requirement of the Act by continuing to 

perform MEs of States’ E&T programs 

but will also continue to establish in 

guidance which target areas to focus 

attention each year.13

In addition, under existing authority 

FNS is required to review and approve 

State agencies’ E&T plans and budgets. 

Through this process, FNS ensures that 

individual components are structured to 

meet the needs of participants and that 

the reporting measures for individual 

components with more than 100 

projected participants required by this 

rule are appropriate to measure the 

impact of the components on 

participants. 

The interim final rule under 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(16) established that FNS may 

require a State agency to make 

modifications to its SNAP E&T State 

Plan to improve outcomes if FNS 

determines that the E&T outcomes are 

inadequate. 

Two commenters provided remarks 

on the Department’s monitoring, 

evaluating, and assessing of States’ E&T 

programs. One commenter stated that 

they were concerned the rule discussed 

consequences for inadequate 

performance without any indication as 

to how performance expectations would 

be set and what would be considered 

inadequate. Another commenter stated 

that the final rule should address how 

the Department would monitor State 

E&T programs, assess their 

effectiveness, and determine that the 

State agencies’ E&T outcomes are 

inadequate. The commenter asked what 

standards the Department will use to 

determine differential performances 

across States. 

The Department appreciates the 

comments. As stated previously, section 

16(h)(5)(A) of the Act charges the 

Department with the responsibility to 

assess the effectiveness of E&T programs 

in preparing members of SNAP 

households for employment, including 

the acquisition of skills necessary for 

employment, and increasing the number 

of household members who obtain and 

retain employment subsequent to 

participation in E&T programs. Section 

16(h)(5)(C) of the Act also requires the 

Department to evaluate State agencies’ 

E&T programs on a periodic basis to 

ensure compliance with Federal E&T 

program rules and regulations; that 

program activities are appropriate to 

meet the needs of individuals referred 

by the State agency to an E&T program; 

and that reporting measures are 

appropriate to identify improvements in 

skills, training, work experience for 

participants in an employment and 

training program component. As 

mentioned previously, the interim final 

rule under 7 CFR 273.7(c)(16) 

established that FNS may require a State 

agency to make modifications to its 

SNAP E&T State Plan to improve 

outcomes if FNS determines that the 

E&T outcomes were inadequate. When 

the Department’s oversight 

responsibilities for the assessment of 

effectiveness of E&T programs is 

considered, the Department believes 

that the term ‘outcomes’ may be 

mistakenly assumed to refer only to the 

reporting measures rather than to 

outcomes of the overall assessment of 

E&T programs’ effectiveness. The 

reporting measures from the E&T 

Annual Report are just one tool the 

Department will utilize to assess the 

effectiveness of a State agency’s E&T 

program. Other information the 

Department will also use includes, but 

is not limited to, E&T State Plans, E&T 

Program Activity Reports (FNS–583), 

and ME reviews. Because State agencies 

have great flexibility in the design of 

their E&T program, in terms of targeted 

population, location of services, range of 

components, as well as differing labor 


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markets, the Department does not 

intend to set a benchmark or a threshold 

for inadequate performance but will 

rather assess and evaluate each State 

agency, taking into consideration 

attributes of a State’s E&T program. As 

discussed further in this section the 

Department is developing a framework 

for assessing State’s E&T programs. The 

attributes of a State’s E&T program, such 

as targeted populations and differing 

labor markets is considered within the 

design of the framework. The 

Department does not believe it 

necessary to include these attributes in 

the regulations. However, to provide 

transparency and clarity, the 

Department is modifying the regulatory 

text at 7 CFR 273.7(c)(16) to include the 

sources of information the Department 

will use to determine the effectiveness 

of a State’s E&T program, such as E&T 

State Plans, ME reviews, E&T Program 

Activity Reports, E&T Annual Reports 

and other factors the Department 

determines appropriate to the 

assessment. The Department is also 

amending this section to stipulate FNS’ 

responsibility to assess that program 

activities are appropriate to meet the 

needs of individuals referred by the 

State agency to an E&T program. 

One commenter stated they 

appreciated that the Department would 

consider unemployment rates together 

with other important factors when 

looking at the unique challenges SNAP 

E&T participants face. The commenter 

encouraged the Department to consider 

a broad array of labor market indicators, 

including the Bureau of Labor Statistics 

alternative measures of labor market 

underutilization. They noted that labor 

market demand, not only a mismatch of 

skills to available jobs, is a key driver 

of the unemployment and 

underemployment problems many 

SNAP participants face. One commenter 

stated that it is critical that any attempt 

to use long-term data to determine the 

efficacy of an E&T program take into 

consideration any external influences 

that may have an impact on the job 

retention of an E&T participant but is 

not caused by the overall effectiveness 

of the training services received from an 

E&T vendor. This caution will ensure 

that States, stakeholders, and advocates 

are focusing on variables that are within 

the control of the E&T program, and not 

those that are outside the program’s 

control. The Department appreciates the 

comments and agrees that when 

evaluating the effectiveness of State’s 

E&T programs, external factors, such as 

the alternative measures of labor market 

underutilization, are important to 

consider when looking at the challenges 

SNAP E&T participants face. As 

previously mentioned, the Department 

is adding regulatory text to 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(16) to clarify the information 

the Department will use in evaluating 

the effectiveness of States’ E&T 

programs. 

Currently, under 7 CFR 273.7(c)(16), 

FNS may require a State agency to make 

modifications to its SNAP E&T State 

Plan to improve outcomes if FNS 

determines that the E&T outcomes were 

inadequate. FNS will evaluate the 

effectiveness of SNAP E&T programs in 

several categories, such as intentional 

program design, integrated eligibility, 

deliberate program operations, and 

meaningful outcomes. FNS is amending 

7 CFR 273.7(c)(16) to reflect these 

considerations. FNS will develop a 

framework with more detail which will 

be issued in guidance but anticipates 

each assessment category will contain 

various factors that may influence how 

effective programs are administered. For 

example, under deliberate program 

operations, factors may include 

component availability, component 

utilization, and whether the 

components offered are appropriate to 

meets the needs of the State’s targeted 

population. One factor alone will not 

indicate whether a State’s program is 

effective, but all the factors when 

viewed in their totality will provide a 

roadmap for needed areas of 

improvement. This assessment is not 

intended to provide a benchmark or 

performance target. Nor is the 

assessment intended to compare one 

State’s E&T program against another. 

Rather, when determining effectiveness, 

FNS will consider whether the State’s 

E&T program is designed and 

implemented with the purpose of 

meeting the needs of SNAP participants 

and assisting participants in gaining the 

skills necessary to obtain and retain 

employment. 

If through this effectiveness 

assessment of a State’s E&T program, 

which includes, but is not limited to 

information collected through ME 

reviews and corrective action plans, and 

program activity reports, the State is 

found to have inadequate outcomes, 

such as inappropriate components for 

the targeted population the State serves 

in E&T, FNS will provide technical 

assistance to the State agency and make 

recommendations for modifications to 

the State’s E&T State Plan. Depending 

upon the impact of the inadequate 

outcome on E&T participants, such as a 

high rate of individuals being deemed 

ineligible for SNAP benefits due to 

failure to comply with E&T 

requirements, FNS may require State 

agencies to amend their plan within that 

FFY. For other instances the State 

agency may be required to make the 

necessary modifications no later than in 

the E&T State Plan submitted for the 

next FFY. E&T State Plans are due at 

least 45 days before the start of a FFY 

as provided under 7 CFR 273.7(c)(8). 

The Department is modifying the 

regulation under 7 CFR 273.7(c)(16) to 

clarify that the modifications must be 

made before FNS will approve State 

E&T Plans. 

As a consequence for a State agency’s 

failure to modify their E&T State Plan 

according to the recommendations by 

FNS to improve the effectiveness of the 

State’s E&T program, FNS will employ 

the current authorities provided in the 

regulations under 7 CFR 272.2(e) to 

deny the State agency’s E&T plan and 

under 7 CFR 273.7(d)(1)(ii)(B) that states 

a State agency’s receipt of its 100 

percent Federal E&T grant is contingent 

on FNS’ approval of the State agency’s 

E&T plan. This regulation further 

stipulates that non-receipt of an E&T 

grant does not release a State agency 

from its responsibility to design and 

operate an E&T program. Additionally, 

FNS will follow the procedure provided 

under 7 CFR 276.4 regarding suspension 

and disallowance of administrative 

funds due to FNS determination of the 

efficiency and effectiveness of State 

agencies administration of SNAP. Under 

this process, FNS will provide advance 

warning to the State agency that their 

failure to modify their E&T State Plan 

can result in FNS rescinding the prior 

approval of the State agency’s E&T State 

Plan and the State agency may be at risk 

of having administrative funds, 

including the 100 percent E&T Federal 

grant and E&T 50 percent 

reimbursement funds, suspended or 

disallowed until the State comes into 

compliance. 

Procedural Matters 

Executive Order 12866, 13563, and 

14094 

Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 

14094 direct agencies to assess all costs 

and benefits of available regulatory 

alternatives and, if regulation is 

necessary, to select regulatory 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health and safety 

effects, distributive impacts, and 

equity). Executive Order 13563 

emphasizes the importance of 

quantifying both costs and benefits, of 

reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, 

and of promoting flexibility. 

This final rule has been determined to 

be significant under Executive Order 

12866, as amended by Executive Order 


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14094, and was reviewed by the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) in 

conformance with Executive Order 

12866. 

Summary of Total Cost Impacts 

A regulatory impact analysis must be 

prepared for regulatory actions that are 

significant as defined by section 3(f)(1) 

of E.O. 12866, as amended by E.O. 

14904. This final rule does not meet the 

definition of significant under section 

3(f)(1) of E.O. 12866, as amended, and 

therefore the Department has prepared 

an economic summary of the rule, rather 

than a regulatory impact analysis. 

This final rule makes changes to the 

interim final rule (IFR) published by the 

Department on March 24, 2016, and 

made effective May 23, 2016. The 

Department expects several of the final 

rule provisions to impact FNS or State 

administrative costs. This final rule is 

not expected to impact SNAP 

participants’ benefit levels and is 

expected to minimally impact 

household burden. For this economic 

analysis, the Department compares the 

final rule’s costs and savings to a preIFR baseline of burden costs, in addition 

to the currently approved information 

collection request (ICR) which already 

incorporates activities of the IFR since 

it was updated in 2022 (OMB #0584– 

0614, approved from December 29, 

2022, through December 31, 2025). As 

such, comparisons to the current ICR 

indicate changes in burden caused by 

the final rule compared to the IFR. 

The following provisions are expected 

to have measurable impacts: 

Final rule provisions that are 

unchanged from the interim final rule 

(IFR): These provisions represent a 

change from the pre-IFR baseline, but no 

change from the burden hours estimated 

under the IFR’s provisions and the 

currently approved ICR. 

• 7 CFR 273.7(c)(6)(xviii) requires 

State agencies to identify component 

measures in their E&T Plans. 

• 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(i)(A)–(C) 

requires State agencies to report on 

employment and earnings measures in 

an E&T Annual Report, renumbered in 

this final rule. 

• 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(vi) requires State 

agencies to report the component 

measures identified in its E&T Plan, 

renumbered in this final rule. 

• 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(vii) requires 

ABAWD pledge States that have 

received additional allocation funds to 

report information regarding the use of 

those funds, renumbered in this final 

rule. 

• 7 CFR 272.1(f) mandates E&T 

Annual Report recordkeeping 

requirements. 

Final rule provisions that are revised 

or newly added: These provisions 

represent a change from the pre-IFR 

baseline and from the burden hours 

estimated under the IFR’s provisions in 

the currently approved ICR. 

• 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(ii)(A)–(B) 

requires State agencies to report on 

educational measures in an E&T Annual 

Report. 

• 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(iii) requires 

State agencies to report on seven 

participant characteristics, a change 

from the four characteristics required in 

the IFR, for the employment and 

earnings measures and educational 

measures in 273.7(c)(17)(i) through (ii). 

• 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(v) modifies the 

reporting requirements for E&T 

participant characteristics established 

by the IFR to include race and/or 

ethnicity. 

• 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(iv) removes the 

IFR requirement for State agencies to 

report measures on completion of 

education, training, work experience, 

and on-the-job training. Additionally, 

the final rule adds required reporting for 

State agencies that serve mandatory E&T 

participants, which was not included in 

the IFR. 

Below, table 1 provides a summary of 

the total effects of all provisions in the 

final rule, compared to the pre-IFR 

baseline. The Baseline column shows 

the annual costs for each final rule 

provision, prior to implementation of 

the IFR. The columns with FY headers 

show the effects of the final rule in that 

specific fiscal year. FY 2026 is the first 

implementation year and the first year 

in which the discount rate is applied. 

As noted previously, there are no 

anticipated impacts on SNAP benefit 

payments to households (transfers) and 

nominal burden-related costs to SNAP 

households. The cost for State agencies 

to conduct ongoing E&T program 

reporting and recordkeeping over five 

years (FY 2026 through FY 2030) is 

$4.33 million. The cost for Federal 

(FNS) staff to review and analyze the 

E&T outcome data provided by State 

agencies over five years is about 

$50,100. The total combined cost to 

State and Federal governments over five 

years, compared to pre-IFR policy, is 

approximately $4.38 million. All costs, 

except for those in discounted cost 

impact rows of table 1, are adjusted 

annually for inflation using the 

Consumer Price Index for Uban Wage 

Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI–W) 

fiscal year-over-fiscal year projections 

from OMB’s Economic Assumptions for 

the FY 2025 Midsession Update. 

TABLE 1—SUMMARY OF TOTAL COST IMPACTS, COMPARED TO PRE-IFR BASELINE * 

[Adjusted annually for inflation **] 

Pre-IFR 

Baseline: *** FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030 5-Year total 

Costs Due to State Agency Burden (in 000s): 

Identifying State component measures ............................................... $0 $8.8 $9.1 $9.3 $9.5 $9.7 $46.3 

Reporting employment and earnings measures .................................. 0 265.4 271.5 277.8 284.2 290.7 1,389.5 

Reporting State component measures ................................................ 0 88.5 90.5 92.6 94.7 96.9 463.2 

Additional reporting for ABAWD pledge States ................................... 0 8.3 8.5 8.7 8.9 9.1 43.7 

E&T Annual Report recordkeeping ...................................................... 0 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 23.2 

Reporting educational measures ......................................................... 0 353.9 362.0 370.4 378.9 387.6 1,852.7 

Reporting 7 participant characteristics for measures .......................... 0 44.2 45.3 46.3 47.4 48.4 231.6 

Reporting E&T participant characteristics ........................................... 0 44.2 45.3 46.3 47.4 48.4 231.6 

Mandatory E&T program reporting ...................................................... 0 8.3 8.5 8.7 8.9 9.1 43.7 

Total .............................................................................................. 0 826.2 845.2 864.6 884.5 904.8 4,325.5 

Discounted Cost Impact (in 000s): 

7 percent .............................................................................................. 0 768.4 768.4 768.4 768.4 768.4 3,841.9 

3 percent .............................................................................................. 0 801.4 801.4 801.4 801.4 801.4 4,007.1 

Costs Due to Federal Burden (in 000s): 

Reviewing and analyzing E&T outcome data ...................................... $0 9.6 9.8 10.0 10.2 10.5 50.1 

Discounted Cost Impact: 

7 percent .............................................................................................. $0 8.9 8.9 8.9 8.9 8.9 44.5 

3 percent .............................................................................................. 0 9.3 9.3 9.3 9.3 9.3 46.4 

* Totals may not sum due to rounding. 


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14Based on a $57.92 median hourly wage for 

Computer and Information Systems Managers (11– 

3021) in May 2023 and multiplied by 1.33 for a 

fully loaded wage of $77.03. Base wage derived 

from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage 

Statistics data (found here: https://www.bls.gov/oes/ 

current/naics4_999200.htm#11-0000) and inflated 

using OMB’s FY 2025 Mid-Session CPI–W 

projections in future years. 

15 Due to the uncertainties around States’ 

decisions to use their E&T grants to fully fund 

implementation of this rule, the Department cannot 

quantify costs to the Federal government with more 

specificity. 

16Based on a $57.92 median hourly wage for 

Computer and Information Systems Managers (11– 

3021) in May 2023 and multiplied by 1.33 for a 

fully loaded wage of $77.03. Base wage derived 

from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage 

Statistics data (found here: https://www.bls.gov/oes/ 

current/naics4_999200.htm#11-0000). 

** Estimates (excluding those in the discounted cost impact rows) were adjusted for inflation using BLS’ CPI–W, from the Office of Management and Budget’s Economic Assumptions in the FY 2025 Midsession Update. 

*** Prior to the IFR taking effect on May 23, 2016. 

The final rule’s provisions will result 

in substantial benefits for FNS, State 

SNAP E&T programs, and SNAP E&T 

participants. Currently, research on the 

effects of SNAP E&T is limited and 

participant outcomes have not been 

quantified on a large scale. The 

improved reporting requirements 

finalized in this rule will allow FNS and 

State agencies to better measure and 

monitor the effectiveness of E&T 

programs and strategically improve 

those programs. FNS can use these data 

to assess which practices work well in 

SNAP E&T and share those best 

practices across State agencies. The final 

rule also allows FNS to require State 

agencies to modify their E&T State Plan 

if the data show inadequate outcomes in 

their E&T program. By improving E&T 

programs, participants will be better 

prepared for employment by acquiring 

the necessary skills to obtain and retain 

employment upon completion of E&T. 

FNS expects State agencies will not 

incur implementation costs in excess of 

those incurred as a result of the IFR. The 

implementation costs associated with 

this final rule include one-time costs for 

developing new or modifying existing 

data collection systems for E&T 

programs. FNS expects State agencies 

will incur a small increase in recurring 

burden costs in excess of those incurred 

as a result of the IFR. We estimate an 

increase of 740 total hours from the 

burden hours included in the currently 

approved ICR due to the addition of 

reporting on educational measures and 

State agencies that serve mandatory E&T 

participants. As a result, annual State 

E&T reporting and recordkeeping will 

cost an additional $61,764 per year in 

FY 2026 dollars,14 compared to the 

estimated costs in the current ICR. 

However, the Department acknowledges 

that there are uncertainties which could 

affect State burden (see Uncertainties 

section). Compared to a pre-IFR 

baseline, ongoing State agency burden 

as a result of the final rule are estimated 

to be approximately 186.8 hours per 

State, or 9,899 total hours annually. 

The Department funds SNAP E&T 

programs through E&T grants and 

additional grants for State agencies that 

pledge to serve all individuals who are 

subject to the SNAP work requirement 

for able-bodied adults without 

dependents (ABAWDs) and are at-risk of 

losing eligibility due to time-limited 

participation. The Department allocates 

these funds annually to State agencies 

based on the percentage of work 

registrants and time-limited participants 

in each State. State agencies may use 

their 100-percent federally funded E&T 

grants to pay for all costs associated 

with the implementation of this final 

rule. As such, the Department estimates 

the net cost to State agencies for these 

activities will be $0. However, the 

Federal government will provide 50- 

percent reimbursement for 

administrative costs that exceed the 

State agencies’ E&T grants.15

State Agency Implementation Costs 

State agencies may find it necessary to 

implement system modifications to 

report on new measures that were not 

required in the IFR, including 

educational measures and mandatory 

E&T program measures. However, the 

Department estimates the new measures 

will not add to the overall 

implementation burden costs associated 

with the IFR included in the currently 

approved ICR (see table 2, below). This 

assumes that State agencies would rely 

on government entities with which they 

already have data matching or sharing 

agreements, but may need to renegotiate 

those agreements, such as with State 

Unemployment Insurance agencies for 

the matching of quarterly wage records, 

as well as other existing sources to 

obtain administrative data, including 

SNAP eligibility systems. The 

Department acknowledges that the 

actual number of hours to implement 

this final rule will vary by State agency 

(see Uncertainties section). 

According to the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics data at time of analysis, the 

fully loaded median hourly rate for 

functions performed by State agency 

workers for SNAP is $77.03 in 2023 

dollars.16 Using this hourly rate and 

CPI–W projections from OMB to adjust 

for inflation, the one-time 

implementation costs associated with 

all provisions in the final rule, in 

comparison to the pre-IFR baseline, will 

total an estimated $2.3 million in FY 

2026. 

TABLE 2—IMPLEMENTATION COSTS

[In FY2026 dollars] 

Number of respondents Hours per 

response 

Total annual 

burden hours 

(IFR) 

Total annual 

burden hours 

(final rule) 

Difference 

(IFR¥final rule) 

Total 

start-up costs 

53 ..................................................................... 520 27,560 27,560 0 $2,300,278 

State Agency Ongoing Costs and 

Savings 

The Department notes that States will 

be permitted to cover the burden-related 

costs associated with this final rule with 

100-percent federally funded E&T 

grants. Therefore, the Department does 

not expect State agencies to directly 

incur ongoing costs because of the final 

rule. All costs in this section are in FY 

2026 dollars and are expected to 

increase annually due to inflation. 

Provisions that are unchanged from 

the interim final rule (IFR) to the final 

rule: Burden hours identified in this 

section are included in the currently 

approved ICR and are unchanged by the 

final rule. Costs noted in this section are 

relative to the pre-IFR baseline. 

Identifying State component measures 

in E&T State Plan. State agencies are 


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17The estimation of 10 ABAWD pledge States is 

based on the average number of participating States 

prior to the COVID–19 Public Health Emergency. 

18Based on fully loaded wage (multiplied by 

1.33) in FY 2024. Hourly wage rates available here: 

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/payleave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2024/DCB_

h.pdf. 

required to identify in their E&T State 

Plan an outcome reporting measure for 

every component that serves at least 100 

participants annually. Each State SNAP 

agency is estimated to spend two hours 

annually to identify component 

measures (106 total hours, annually), 

with a total annual cost of $8,847. There 

is no change in burden hours from the 

currently approved ICR. 

Reporting employment and earnings 

measures. State agencies are required to 

report on employment and earnings 

measures for E&T participants and 

former participants in their E&T Annual 

Report. Fifty-three State agencies are 

expected to spend 60 hours annually to 

report these measures (3,180 total hours, 

annually), with a total annual cost of 

$265,417. There is no change in burden 

hours from the currently approved ICR. 

Reporting State component measures: 

State agencies are required to report 

component measures for E&T 

components serving at least 100 

participants a year. Each State agency is 

expected to spend 20 hours per year on 

this requirement (1,060 total burden 

hours, annually), with a total annual 

cost of $88,472. There is no change in 

burden hours from the currently 

approved ICR. 

Additional reporting for ABAWD 

pledge States. State agencies that have 

committed to offering at-risk ABAWDs 

participation in a qualifying activity and 

have received additional funds are 

required to report on the use of those 

funds. Ten State agencies 17 are each 

expected to spend 10 hours on this 

requirement (100 total hours, annually), 

with a total annual cost of $8,346. There 

is no change in burden hours from the 

currently approved ICR. 

Recordkeeping for E&T Annual 

Report: State agencies are required to 

conduct recordkeeping for the E&T 

Annual Report. Each State agency is 

expected to spend one hour on this task 

per year (53 total hours, annually), with 

a total annual cost of $4,424. There is 

no change in burden hours from the 

currently approved ICR. 

Provisions that are revised or new in 

the final rule: Costs and savings 

identified in this section differ from 

those caused by the IFR, which are 

included in the currently approved ICR. 

Costs and savings in this section are 

discussed relative to the currently 

approved ICR and the pre-IFR baseline. 

New requirement to report 

educational measures, replacing 

requirement to report E&T annual 

measures in IFR. State agencies will be 

required to report on new educational 

measures for attainment of a credential 

or certificate and measurable skill gains 

for all E&T participants enrolled in 

education or training programs. These 

measures align with Workforce 

Innovation and Opportunity Act 

(WIOA) programs and replace the 

previous reporting measures in the IFR 

that required State agencies to report on 

completion of education, training, work 

experience, and on-the-job training. 

Each of the 53 State agencies are 

expected to spend 80 hours annually 

reporting these measures (4,240 total 

hours, annually) with a total annual cost 

of $353,889. Because the reporting 

requirements that are being replaced 

represent 3,600 total burden hours in 

the currently approved ICR, this change 

in the final rule results in a net increase 

of 640 annual burden hours and a net 

annual cost increase of $53,417. 

Modified requirement to report 

participant characteristics for reporting 

measures. State agencies are required to 

report on four participant characteristics 

for each employment, earnings and 

educational measures under the IFR. 

The final rule adds three additional 

participant characteristics for the 

reporting measures: race and/or 

ethnicity, and mandatory E&T 

participants deemed ineligible due to 

failure to comply with mandatory E&T. 

Each State agency is expected to spend 

10 hours annually on this requirement 

(530 total burden hours, annually), with 

a total annual cost of $44,236. The 

requirement to report on four 

participant characteristics, which has 

become seven characteristics in this 

final rule, was previously included with 

another requirement in the IFR (See 

Modified requirement to report E&T 

participant characteristics, in the next 

paragraph of this section). That 

requirement was approved for a total of 

1,060 burden hours in the currently 

approved ICR. The 530 total burden 

hours for this requirement were 

transferred from those 1,060 burden 

hours and do not reflect new burden 

hours. 

Modified requirement to report E&T 

participant characteristics. The final 

rule is adding race and/or ethnicity to 

the list of E&T participant 

characteristics that State agencies are 

required to report as established in the 

IFR. Each of the 53 State agencies are 

expected to spend 10 hours annually on 

this requirement, with a total cost of 

$44,236 annually. State agencies were 

previously expected to spend 20 hours 

on this requirement under the currently 

approved ICR because it included the 

required reporting on four participant 

characteristics for reporting measures. 

However, this participant characteristics 

reporting requirement has been 

modified to seven participant 

characteristics and renumbered in the 

final rule (see Modified requirement to 

report seven participant characteristics 

for reporting measures in this section). 

Ten of the allotted 20 burden hours for 

this provision were transferred to the 

seven participant characteristics 

reporting requirement. Therefore, this 

modified requirement does not result in 

an overall change in annual burden 

hours compared to the currently 

approved ICR. 

New requirement for mandatory E&T 

program reporting. State agencies that 

serve mandatory E&T participants will 

be required to report on the number of 

SNAP participants who were required to 

participate in E&T and were referred to 

E&T, and the number and percentages of 

SNAP participants who were deemed 

ineligible for failure to comply with E&T 

requirements. This is a new provision 

that was not included in the IFR. Each 

State agency that serves mandatory E&T 

participants is expected to spend 10 

hours implementing this new 

requirement. On average, 10 State 

agencies serve mandatory E&T 

participants (resulting in 100 total 

burden hours, annually), with a total 

annual cost of $8,346. 

Annual Federal Government Cost 

FNS National Office employees must 

review and analyze the outcome data 

provided by State agencies as required 

by this final rule. An FNS National 

Office analyst at a GS–13 Step 5 level is 

expected to spend two hours to review 

each of the 53 State agencies’ outcome 

data once per year for a total annual cost 

of $9,480, compared to the pre-IFR 

baseline.18 It is also estimated that an 

FNS National Office analyst at the GS– 

14 Step 1 level will spend one hour 

reviewing and approving the 

information, for a total annual cost of 

$93.25. The combined Federal costs 

associated with FNS review and 

analysis of E&T outcome data is $9,573 

in FY 2026 dollars. The final rule does 

not cause a change in Federal burden 

hours compared to the currently 

approved ICR. 

Annual Household Administrative 

Burden 

The Department estimates that 

household burden due to the final rule 

will be minimal. A small number of E&T 

participants may face additional 


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reporting burden due to the need to 

contact these individuals to track 

outcomes. However, the Department 

expects State agencies to bear the 

primary burden of tracking and 

reporting E&T outcomes. The final rule 

does not cause a change in annual 

household administrative burden 

compared to the currently approved 

ICR. 

Uncertainties 

There is considerable variation in the 

size and scope of States’ E&T programs. 

There is also significant variation in the 

structure and functionality of SNAP 

E&T data systems and State SNAP 

eligibility systems. This variability 

makes it difficult to anticipate the 

changes that State agencies might need 

to make to collect and report the 

required outcome data. For these 

estimates, the Department assumed that 

State agencies use a combination of 

methods to collect data, including using 

existing automated systems data, 

collecting new data, and collecting data 

for a sample of participants. Although 

the exact methods State agencies use 

could affect the cost, the Department 

expects that the total cost of the final 

rule will be minimal. 

Additionally, there is uncertainty 

regarding how State agencies will fund 

costs associated with State agency 

burden hours in this final rule. State 

agencies will be able to use their 100- 

percent federally funded E&T grants to 

pay for all costs associated with this 

rule, so the Department anticipates that 

the net cost to State agencies will be $0. 

However, State agencies may choose not 

to use their E&T grant funds or to use 

only a portion of the funds, in which 

case they would incur administrative 

expenses. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 

U.S.C. 601–612) requires Agencies to 

analyze the impact of rulemaking on 

small entities and consider alternatives 

that would minimize any significant 

impacts on a substantial number of 

small entities. Pursuant to that review, 

it has been certified that this rule would 

not have a significant impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

This final rule would not have an 

impact on small entities because the 

provisions of this final rule apply to 

State agencies, which are not small 

entities as defined by the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act. 

Congressional Review Act 

Pursuant to the Congressional Review 

Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs 

designated this rule as meeting the 

criteria in 5 U.S.C. 804(2). 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

Title II of the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public 

Law 104–4, establishes requirements for 

Federal agencies to assess the effects of 

their regulatory actions on State, local 

and Tribal governments and the private 

sector. Under section 202 of the UMRA, 

the Department generally must prepare 

a written statement, including a cost 

benefit analysis, for proposed and final 

rules with ‘‘Federal mandates’’ that may 

result in expenditures by State, local or 

tribal governments, in the aggregate, or 

the private sector, of $100 million or 

more in any one year. When such a 

statement is needed for a rule, section 

205 of the UMRA generally requires the 

Department to identify and consider a 

reasonable number of regulatory 

alternatives and adopt the most cost 

effective or least burdensome alternative 

that achieves the objectives of the rule. 

This final rule does not contain 

Federal mandates (under the regulatory 

provisions of Title II of the UMRA) for 

State, local and tribal governments, or 

the private sector of $100 million or 

more in any one year. Thus, the rule is 

not subject to the requirements of 

sections 202 and 205 of the UMRA. 

Executive Order 12372 

This Supplemental Nutrition 

Assistance Program is listed in the 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

under Number 10.551 and is subject to 

Executive Order 12372, which requires 

intergovernmental consultation with 

State and local officials. (See 2 CFR 

chapter IV.) 

Federalism Summary Impact Statement 

Executive Order 13132 requires 

Federal agencies to consider the impact 

of their regulatory actions on State and 

local governments. Where such actions 

have federalism implications, agencies 

are directed to provide a statement for 

inclusion in the preamble to the 

regulations describing the agency’s 

considerations in terms of the three 

categories called for under section 

(6)(b)(2)(B) of Executive Order 13132. 

The Department has considered the 

impact of this rule on State and local 

governments and has determined that 

this rule does not have federalism 

implications. Therefore, under section 

6(b) of the Executive Order, a federalism 

summary is not required. 

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 

Reform 

This final rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform. This rule is intended to 

have preemptive effect with respect to 

any State or local laws, regulations, or 

policies which conflict with its 

provisions, or which would otherwise 

impede its full and timely 

implementation. This rule is not 

intended to have retroactive effect 

unless so specified in the Effective Dates 

section of the final rule. Prior to any 

judicial challenge to the provisions of 

the final rule, all applicable 

administrative procedures must be 

exhausted. 

Civil Rights Impact Analysis 

FNS has reviewed the final rule, in 

accordance with the Department 

Regulation 4300–004, ‘‘Civil Rights 

Impact Analysis’’ to identify and 

address any major civil rights impacts 

the final rule might have on minorities, 

women, and persons with disabilities. 

FNS specifically prohibits the State and 

local government agencies that 

administer the Program from engaging 

in actions that discriminate based on 

race, color national origin, sex 

(including gender identity and sexual 

orientation), religious creed, age, 

disability, and political beliefs. SNAP’s 

nondiscrimination regulation can be 

found at 7 CFR 272.6(a). The final rule 

does not change these requirements. 

The final rule will require State agencies 

to collect and report outcome data on 

SNAP E&T programs and will not 

change work requirements or impact the 

population subject to work 

requirements. FNS will provide 

implementation guidance to State 

agencies through webinars or policy 

meetings for State agencies requesting 

technical assistance. FNS will also assist 

State agencies in improving the 

collection and analysis of State E&T 

data systems. FNS will provide 

information to program stakeholders, 

including State agencies and the general 

public, using a variety of 

communication methods: in-person, 

written and electronic, including 

ensuring that program information is 

generally available in multiple 

languages, and new materials on FNS’ 

websites are compliant with section 508 

of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. 

Executive Order 13175 

Executive Order 13175 requires 

Federal agencies to consult and 

coordinate with Tribes on a 

government-to-government basis on 

policies that have Tribal implications, 

including regulations, legislative 

comments or proposed legislation, and 

other policy statements or actions that 

have substantial direct effects on one or 

more Indian Tribes, on the relationship 


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between the Federal Government and 

Indian Tribes, or on the distribution of 

power and responsibilities between the 

Federal Government and Indian Tribes. 

This rule will not have substantial 

direct effects on one or more Indian 

Tribes, on the relationship between the 

Federal Government and Indian Tribes, 

or on the distribution of power and 

responsibilities between the Federal 

Government and Indian Tribes. Thus, 

Executive Order 13175 does not apply 

to this action. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. Chap. 35; 5 CFR 1320) 

requires the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) approve all collections of 

information by a Federal agency before 

they can be implemented. Respondents 

are not required to respond to any 

collection of information unless it 

displays a current valid OMB control 

number. 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, this final rule 

will contain information collections that 

are subject to review and approval by 

the Office of Management and Budget; 

therefore, FNS is submitting for public 

comment the changes in the information 

collection burden that would result 

from adoption of the proposals in this 

final rule. 

Comments on this final rule must be 

received by January 17, 2025. 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 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. 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for OMB approval. All comments will 

also become a matter of public record. 

Title: SNAP: Employment and 

Training Program Performance 

Measurement, Monitoring and 

Reporting Requirements 

OMB Number: 0584–0614. 

Form Number: Not Applicable. 

Expiration Date: December 31, 2025. 

Type of Request: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Abstract: As required by the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. 3507(d)), FNS is submitting this 

information collection to OMB for its 

review and approval. The final rule will 

require State agencies to collect and 

report annually on: (1) the number and 

percentage of all E&T participants who 

are in unsubsidized employment during 

the second and fourth quarters after 

completion of participation in E&T; (2) 

Median quarterly wages of the E&T 

participants who are in unsubsidized 

employment during the second quarter 

after completion of participation in E&T; 

(3) educational measures for attainment 

of credential or certificates and 

measurable skill gains for all E&T 

participants enrolled in education or 

training programs; (4) employment, 

earnings and educational measures for 

each of seven unique participant 

characteristics; (5) certain unique 

characteristics of all E&T participants 

that participate in E&T during the 

preceding Federal fiscal year. 

The final rule also requires State 

agencies to identify in the annual E&T 

State Plan appropriate reporting 

measures for each proposed component 

that is projected to serve a threshold of 

at least 100 participants a year and 

report on those measures in the E&T 

Annual Report. Additionally, the final 

rule requires that State agencies that 

have committed to offering all ABAWDs 

at risk of losing eligibility due to timelimited participation a slot in a 

qualifying activity and have received an 

additional allocation of funds, to report 

information regarding the use of those 

funds. 

The information collection for the 

SNAP E&T Performance Measurement, 

Monitoring and Reporting Requirements 

is currently approved under OMB 

Control No. 0584–0614, expiration date 

December 31, 2025. The changes made 

to this information collection because of 

the final rule is described below. Once 

OMB approves the information 

collection request associated with this 

final rulemaking activity, the agency 

will publish a separate notice in the 

Federal Register announcing OMB 

approval. 

Change from Interim Final Rule: The 

interim final rule established a reporting 

measure for the completion of an 

educational, training, work experience 

or on-the-job training component under 

7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(iv). The final rule 

removes and replaces this measure with 

two educational measures under the 

renumbered 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(ii). 

The interim final rule required State 

agencies to disaggregate each of the 

reporting measures by four key 

participant characteristics under 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(17)(vi). The final rule removes 

this disaggregation requirement and 

under the renumbered 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(17)(iii) requires the State 

agencies to report the reporting 

measures of employment, earnings and 

educational measures for each of the key 

participant characteristics, including 

two additional key participant 

characteristics for race and/or ethnicity 

and mandatory E&T participants 

deemed ineligible due to failure to 

comply with mandatory E&T. 

The interim final rule required State 

agencies to report the number and 

percentage of all E&T participants that 

participated during the reporting fiscal 

year for seven (7) participant 

characteristics under 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(17)(v). The final rule modifies 

this requirement by adding race and/or 

ethnicity to the participant 

characteristics to be reported. 

The final rule under 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(17)(iv) adds additional 

reporting requirements for State 

agencies that serve mandatory E&T 

participants. 

The Department received some 

comments on the cost and hour burden, 

as well as comments related to the 

underlying policy. One commenter 

noted that the regulations require 

several data elements that some State 

agencies currently do not collect that 

may require system implementation 

costs, including one-time capital costs, 

additional reporting costs for collecting 

and creating the required reporting 

measures and ongoing costs for 

operating and maintaining those system. 

The commenter suggested that the final 

regulations should explain how the 

Department determined that the interim 

rule did not meet the $100 million 

threshold that would subject the 

regulation to the Federal Unfunded 

Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). The 

commenter also suggested that the final 

regulations should state the amount of 

additional funds the Department would 

make available to States to pay for these 

implementation costs. The Department 

appreciates the comment and would 

note that in determining the cost to 

implement the Department considered 

the analysis conducted of FY 2013 State 

agency E&T State Plans that indicated 

that thirty-six State agencies tracked the 

number of E&T participants that enter 

employment. The Department 

anticipated that some of the system 

implementation costs, including the 

one-time capital costs and the ongoing 

costs for collecting and reporting, could 

be paid for using the existing Federal 

grant funds States receive to operate 

E&T and that State funds in excess of 


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19https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_

999200.htm#11-0000. 

those grant funds are reimbursed at a 50 

percent rate by the Federal government. 

One State agency believed, based on 

their experience, that the burden 

estimate for rule implementation was 

underestimated by the Department. 

They noted that they had recently 

completely redesigned their E&T data 

system that resulted in 14,577 hours of 

contractor time and 9,400 hours of State 

agency staff time totaling approximately 

$1.5 million. The commenter estimated 

that modifications to implement the 

new reporting requirements would 

require at least 4,000 hours of contractor 

time and 2,600 hours of State staff for 

an estimated cost of approximately 

$546,000. The commenter believes that 

other States would likely need to invest 

a similar amount of time and money to 

comply with the new reporting 

requirements. The Department 

appreciates the commenter’s experience 

in redesigning their E&T data system, 

the Department does not believe that 

this same experience would be borne by 

other State agencies, due to the different 

size and complexity of States’ E&T 

programs. In determining the initial 

reporting and recordkeeping burden 

estimate, the Department relied on the 

analysis that indicated thirty-six State 

agencies had identified reporting 

measures and collected outcome data 

and that the remaining States would 

need to develop systems to collect and 

report the required data. The 

Department considered that in the first 

year that the interim final rule was 

published, State agencies would need to 

develop E&T data collection systems, 

modify existing system, or build 

interfaces between SNAP eligibility and 

SNAP E&T data collection systems. 

Several of the measures, such as 

employment, earnings, characteristics of 

E&T participants, State agencies could 

use a variety of sources to obtain 

administrative data, such as SNAP 

eligibility systems. The Department also 

anticipates that some State agencies 

would rely on government entities with 

which they already had agreements and 

would need to renegotiate those 

agreements, such as with State’s UI 

agencies for the matching of quarterly 

wage records. 

One State agency stated that they 

estimated that ongoing reporting and 

maintenance would total 1,500 hours 

and that the Department’s estimated 

burden of 231 hours is far below what 

States would need to spend in ongoing 

maintenance efforts. This State agency 

also stated that the burden for reporting 

participants who complete an 

educational or training program six 

months after completing the E&T 

program was underestimated by the 

Department. The commenter noted that 

they do not currently track completion 

of education or training programs, and 

this would require a manual process to 

contact participants six months after 

completing the E&T program. They 

estimate that this manual process would 

result in approximately 2,600 staff hours 

to collect a single data element and that 

this is not an efficient use of resources. 

The State agency acknowledged that the 

State’s quarterly wage records could be 

used to report participant’s employment 

and earnings after completion. However, 

they noted that not all individuals have 

wage information in this data source 

and that discrepancies in the Federal 

Employer Identification Number and 

self-employment contribute to the 

largest portion of unavailable wage 

matches for approximately 20 percent of 

participants. For those cases, the 

commenter estimates that a manual 

process to gather quarterly earnings 

information would result in 

approximately 750 hours of staff time. 

Lastly, the State agency noted that they 

estimate the overall burden to collect 

and report the required information 

would be approximately 3,600 hours 

annually. They do not believe that this 

is an efficient use of resource for their 

State E&T program. The Department 

appreciates the comments and 

experience of this State agency. The 

Department again relied on the basis 

that a vast majority of State agencies 

already tracked E&T participants for 

various outcome measures, including 

obtainment of employment. The 

Department assumed that State agencies 

could use a combination of methods to 

collect the data including existing 

automated systems data, new data 

collection, and some contact with SNAP 

E&T participants. Further, the 

Department assumed that manual 

processes, such as contacting E&T 

participants would be minimal. As 

stated previously, given the variations of 

State’s E&T programs, the Department 

does not believe the experience of this 

one State agency would equate into a 

similar experience by all State agencies. 

Respondents: State, local or Tribal 

governments. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

53. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: One response per year for 

each State agency that administers the 

SNAP E&T program. State agencies will 

be required to report their outcome data 

annually. 

Estimated Total Annual Responses: 

53. 

Estimated Time per Respondent: 

25.32. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours on Respondents: 9,899. 

Estimated Hourly Wage Rate (FullyLoaded): $75.25. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost 

on Respondents: $762,519.97. 

According to the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics as of May 2023, for 

Occupational Group (11–3021),19 has an 

hourly mean wage for functions 

performed by State agency workers for 

the SNAP program are estimated at 

$57.92 median hourly wage per staff. 

Including 33% for fringe benefits the 

fully loaded hourly rate per staff is 

estimated at $77.03 ($57.92 * 33% = 

$19.11 + $57.92). 

ESTIMATED INITIAL REPORTING AND RECORDKEEPING BURDEN HOURS

Description of activity Number of 

respondents 

Total 

annual 

responses 

Number of 

burden hours 

per response 

Total 

burden 

hours 

One-time capital start-up and operating and maintenance costs ............................. 53 53 520 27,560 


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FNS SNAP ET REPORTING

MEASURES

REPORTING

ESTIMATE (OMB CONTROL

N

O. 0584–0614) FINAL

RULE

Respondent category Type of respondent Instruments Form Number of respondents Frequency of response Total annual responses Hours per response Annual burden (hours) Hourly wage rate (fully loaded) Total annual cost of respondent burden 

A B C D E F G = E × F H I = G × H J K = I × J 

State/Local/Tribal Government. State Agency Staff ........ Identifying State component meas- ures in E&T State Plan under 7 

CFR 273.7(c)(6)(xviii).

Not Applicable .. 53.00 1.00 53.00 2 106.00 $77.03 $8,165.18 

State/Local/Tribal Government. State Agency Staff ........ Reporting of employment and earnings measures under renumbered 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(17)(i)(A)–(C).

Not Applicable .. 53.00 1.00 53.00 60 3,180.00 77.03 244,955.40 

State/Local/Tribal Government. State Agency Staff ........ ** NEW ** Reporting of Edu- cational measures under renumbered 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(ii)(A)– 

(B).

Not Applicable .. 53.00 1.00 53.00 80 4,240.00 77.03 326,607.20 

State/Local/Tribal Government. State Agency Staff ........ ** REMOVED ** Reporting of SNAP E&T Annual report completion of education, training, 

work experience or OJT under ‘‘old’’ 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(iv).

Not Applicable .. 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 77.03 0.00 

State/Local/Tribal Government. State Agency Staff ........ ** REVISED ** Reporting of Em- ployment and Earnings Measures and Educational Measures 

for 7 Participant Characteristics under renumbered 7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(iii).

Not Applicable .. 53.00 1.00 53.00 10 530.00 77.03 40,825.90 

State/Local/Tribal Government. State Agency Staff ........ ** New ** Mandatory E&T Pro- gram Reporting under 7 CFR 

273.7(c)(iv).

Not Applicable .. 10.00 1.00 10.00 10 100.00 77.03 7,703.00 

State/Local/Tribal Government. State Agency Staff ........ ** REVISED ** Reporting of E&T Participant Characteristics under 

7 CFR 273.7(c)(17)(v).

Not Applicable .. 53.00 1.00 53.00 10 530.00 77.03 40,825.90 

State/Local/Tribal Government. State Agency Staff ........ Reporting of State Component Measures under renumbered 7 

CFR 273.7(c)(17)(vi).

Not Applicable .. 53.00 1.00 53.00 20.00 1,060.00 77.03 81,651.80 

State/Local/Tribal Government. State Agency Staff ........ ABAWD Pledge States Additional Reporting under renumbered 7 

CFR 273.7(c)(17)(vii).

Not Applicable .. 10.00 1.00 10.00 10.00 100.00 77.03 7,703.00 

State Agency Reporting Burden Total ........................................................................................................ 53.00 6.38 338.00 29.13 9,846.00 77.03 758,437.38 

FNS SNAP ET REPORTING

MEASURES

RECORDKEEPING

ESTIMATE (OMB CONTROL

N

O. 0584–0614) FINAL

RULE

Respondent category Type of respondent Instruments Form Number of respondents Frequency of response Total annual responses Hours per response Annual burden (hours) Hourly wage rate Total annual cost of respondent burden 

A B C D E F G = E × F H I = G × H J K = I × J 

State/Local/Tribal Government. State Agency Staff ........ SNAP E&T Annual Report record- keeping requirements under 7 

CFR 272.1(f).

Not Applicable .. 53.00 1.00 53.00 1.00 53.00 $77.03 $4,082.59 


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FNS SNAP ET REPORTING MEASURES ICR BURDEN ESTIMATE SUMMARY (OMB CONTROL NO. 0584–0614) FINAL RULE

Number of 

respondents 

Frequency of 

response 

Total annual 

responses 

Hours per 

response 

Annual burden 

(hours) 

Hourly wage 

rate 

Total annual 

cost of 

respondent 

burden 

A B C = A × B D E = C × D F G = E × F 

Total Reporting Burden .............. 53.00 6.38 338.00 29.13 9,846.00 $77.03 $758,437.38 

Total Recordkeeping Burden ..... 53.00 1.00 53.00 1.00 53.00 77.03 4,082.59 

Total Burden for #0584–0614 .... 53.00 7.38 391.00 25.32 9,899.00 77.03 762,519.97 

Effect of State Agencies: The 

Department has estimated that the effect 

of State agencies will be two-fold. First 

a one-time capital cost for developing 

new or modifying existing data 

collection systems. And second, an 

annual reporting burden for collecting 

and reporting data for the required E&T 

Annual Report. States may also incur 

annual operating and maintenance costs 

for their data collection systems. 

Prior to Implementation: In the first 

year that the final rule is published, 

States may need to modify E&T data 

systems, or their processes for data 

collection relating to collecting 

educational reporting measures. 

E-Government Act Compliance 

The Department is committed to 

complying with the E-Government Act, 

2002 to promote the use of the internet 

and other information technologies to 

provide increased opportunities for 

citizen access to Government 

information and services, and for other 

purposes. 

List of Subjects 

7 CFR Part 271 

Administrative practice and 

procedures, Food stamps, Grant 

programs-social programs. 

7 CFR Part 273 

Administrative practice and 

procedures, Food stamps, Grant 

programs-social programs, Penalties, 

Reporting and recordkeeping. 

Accordingly, 7 CFR parts 271 and 273 

are amended to read as follows: 

■ 1. The authority citation for parts 271 

and 273 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 2011–2036. 

PART 271—GENERAL INFORMATION 

AND DEFINITIONS 

■ 2. Amend § 271.2 by: 

■ a. Adding in alphabetical order a 

definition for ‘‘Completion of 

participation in E&T’’; 

■ b. Revising the definition of 

‘‘Employment and Training (E&T) 

participant’’; 

■ c. Adding in alphabetical order a 

definition for ‘‘Former E&T participant’’. 

The additions and revisions read as 

follows: 

§ 271.2 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

Completion of participation in E&T 

means that an E&T participant has not 

received any E&T services for at least 90 

days and no future services are planned. 

* * * * * 

Employment and Training (E&T) 

participant means an individual who 

meets the definition of a mandatory or 

voluntary participant who is referred to 

E&T and begins at least one part of an 

E&T program, including orientation, 

assessment, case management services 

or a component. 

* * * * * 

Former E&T participant means an 

individual who is no longer 

participating in E&T services because 

the individual is no longer receiving 

SNAP benefits. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Amend § 271.8 by adding an entry 

in the table for ‘‘273.7(c)(17)’’ in 

numerical order to read as follows: 

§ 271.8 Information collection/ 

recordkeeping—OMB assigned control 

numbers. 

7 CFR section where 

requirements are described 

Current OMB 

Control No. 

* * * * * 

273.7(c)(17) .......................... 0584–0614 

* * * * * 

PART 273—CERTIFICATION OF 

ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLDS 

■ 4. Amend § 273.7 by revising 

paragraphs (c)(6)(xvii) and (c)(16) and 

(17) to read as follows: 

§ 273.7 Work provisions. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(6) * * * 

(xviii) For each component that is 

expected to include 100 or more 

participants, reporting measures that the 

State will collect and include in the 

annual report in paragraph (c)(17) of 

this section. Such measures may 

include: 

(A) The percentage and number of 

program participants who received E&T 

services and are in unsubsidized 

employment subsequent to the receipt 

of those services; 

(B) The percentage and number of 

participants who obtain a recognized 

credential, a registered apprenticeship, 

or a regular secondary school diploma 

(or its recognized equivalent), while 

participating in, or within 1 year after 

receiving E&T services; 

(C) The percentage and number of 

participants who are in an education or 

training program that is intended to lead 

to a recognized credential, a registered 

apprenticeship an on-the-job training 

program, a regular secondary school 

diploma (or its recognized equivalent), 

or unsubsidized employment; 

(D) Measures developed to assess the 

skills acquisition of E&T program 

participants that reflect the goals of the 

specific components including the 

percentage and number of participants 

who are meeting program requirements 

or are gaining skills likely to lead to 

employment; and 

(E) Other indicators approved by FNS 

in the E&T State Plan; and 

* * * * * 

(16) FNS will assess the effectiveness 

of E&T programs in preparing E&T 

participants for employment, including 

obtaining of necessary skills and 

increasing the number of E&T 

participants who obtain and retain 

employment upon completion of 

participation in E&T. FNS will also 

assess that program activities are 

appropriate to meet the needs of 

individuals referred by the State agency 

to an E&T program. FNS may use all 

available information, including but not 

limited to, E&T State Plans, E&T 

Program Activity Reports, Annual 

Reports, and Management Evaluations. 

Based on this information, FNS will 

assess an E&T program’s effectiveness 

across various categories including, but 

not limited to, intentional program 


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design, integrated eligibility, deliberate 

program operations and meaningful 

outcomes. 

(i) FNS may require a State agency to 

make modifications to its SNAP E&T 

plan to improve outcomes if FNS 

determines that the E&T outcomes are 

inadequate. FNS will consider these 

modifications in determining whether to 

approve a State’s E&T plan. 

(ii) [Reserved] 

(17) The State agency shall submit an 

annual E&T report by April 15 each year 

that contains the following: 

(i) Employment and Earnings 

Reporting Measures: State agencies shall 

report four consecutive quarters of data 

from the two previous Federal fiscal 

years ending the preceding September 

30 for the following measures: 

(A) The number and percentage of 

E&T participants and former 

participants who are in unsubsidized 

employment during the second quarter 

after completion of participation in E&T. 

(B) Median quarterly earnings of the 

E&T participants and former 

participants who are in unsubsidized 

employment during the second quarter 

after completion of participation in E&T. 

(C) The number and percentage of 

E&T participants and former 

participants who are in unsubsidized 

employment during the fourth quarter 

after completion of participation in E&T. 

(ii) Educational Reporting Measures: 

State agencies shall report data for the 

Federal fiscal year ending the preceding 

September 30 for the following 

measures: 

(A) Attainment of a credential or 

certificate. The number and percentage 

of E&T participants enrolled in an 

education or training program, 

excluding those in on-the-job training, 

customized training or transitional jobs, 

who attain a recognized postsecondary 

credential, certificate or a secondary 

school diploma, or its recognized 

equivalent, during participation in or 

upon completion of participation in 

E&T. 

(B) Measurable skill gains. The 

number and percentage of E&T 

participants who, during the preceding 

Federal fiscal year, are in an education 

or training program that leads to a 

recognized postsecondary credential or 

employment and who are achieving 

measurable skill gains, defined as 

documented academic, technical, 

occupational, or other forms of progress, 

towards such a credential or 

employment. 

(iii) State agencies shall report the 

employment and earnings measures 

specified in paragraphs (c)(17)(i)(A) 

through (C) and educational measures 

specified in paragraphs (c)(17)(ii)(A) 

and (B) for each of following participant 

characteristics: 

(A) By Race and/or Ethnicity; 

(B) Voluntary E&T Participants; 

(C) Mandatory E&T Participants; 

(D) Mandatory E&T Participants 

deemed ineligible due to failure to 

comply with mandatory E&T; 

(E) E&T Participants who obtained 

high school diploma or equivalency 

prior to participation in E&T; and 

(F) ABAWDs. 

(iv) State agencies that serve 

mandatory E&T participants shall report 

for the Federal fiscal year ending the 

preceding September 30 the following: 

(A) the unduplicated number of SNAP 

participants who were required to 

participate in E&T; 

(B) of those required to participate the 

unduplicated number and percentage 

referred to E&T; and 

(C) the unduplicated number and 

percentage of SNAP participants that 

were determined ineligible for failure to 

comply with E&T requirements. 

(v) The number and percentage of 

E&T participants for the Federal fiscal 

year ending the preceding September 30 

who: 

(A) Are voluntary E&T participants; 

(B) Are mandatory E&T participants; 

(C) Have received a high school 

diploma or equivalent prior to being 

provided with E&T services; 

(D) Are ABAWDs; 

(E) Are English language learners; 

(F) By Gender identity; 

(G) Are within each of the following 

age ranges: 16–17, 18–35, 36–49, 50–59, 

60 or older; and 

(H) By Race and/or Ethnicity 

(vi) Reports for the measures 

identified in a State’s E&T plan related 

to components that are designed to 

serve at least 100 participants a year; 

and 

(vii) States that have committed to 

offering all at-risk ABAWDs 

participation in a qualifying activity and 

have received an additional allocation 

of funds as specified in paragraph (d)(3) 

of this section shall include: 

(A) The monthly average number of 

individuals in the State who meet the 

conditions in paragraph (d)(3)(i) of this 

section; 

(B) The monthly average number of 

individuals to whom the State offers a 

position in a program described in 

§ 273.24(a)(3) and (4); 

(C) The monthly average number of 

individuals who participate in such 

programs; and 

(D) A description of the types of 

employment and training programs the 

State agency offered to at risk ABAWDs 

and the availability of those programs 

throughout the State. 

(viii) States may be required to submit 

the annual report in a standardized 

format based upon guidance issued by 

FNS. 

* * * * * 

■ 5. Amend § 273.24 by adding 

paragraph (a)(4) to read as follows: 

§ 273.24 Time limit for able-bodied adults. 

(a) * * * 

(4) Workfare program means: 

(i) A program under § 273.7(m); or 

(ii) A comparable program established 

by a State or political subdivision of a 

State. 

* * * * * 

Tameka Owens, 

Acting Administrator and Assistant 

Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–26809 Filed 11–15–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–30–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 1220 

[Doc. No. AMS–LP–23–0079] 

Soybean Promotion and Research: 

Adjustments to Representation on the 

United Soybean Board 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This final rule adjusts the 

number of members on the United 

Soybean Board (Board) to reflect 

changes in production levels that have 

occurred since the Board was last 

reapportioned in 2021. As required by 

the Soybean Promotion, Research, and 

Consumer Information Act (Act), 

membership on the Board is reviewed 

every 3-years and adjustments are made 

accordingly. These adjustments 

decrease Board membership for the 

State of North Dakota from four 

members to three members and increase 

Board membership for the State of New 

York from one member to two members, 

thus the total number of Board members 

will remain at 77. These changes will be 

reflected in the Soybean Promotion and 

Research Order (Order) and become 

effective with the Secretary of 

Agriculture’s (Secretary) appointments 

for terms in 2025. 

DATES: This final rule is effective as of 

December 18, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jason Julian, Research and Promotion 

Division, at (202) 731–2149; or by email 

at jason.julian@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1