41938 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 147 / Wednesday, August 4, 2021 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food and Nutrition Service 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Fourth Access, 

Participation, Eligibility, and 

Certification Study Series (APEC IV) 

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service 

(FNS), USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 

notice invites the general public and 

other public agencies to comment on 

this proposed information collection. 

This collection is a Reinstatement, with 

change, of a previously approved 

collection for which approval has 

expired (OMB Number 0584–0530, 

Discontinued: 10/31/2020); for the 

Fourth Access, Participation, Eligibility, 

and Certification Study Series (APEC 

IV). 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before October 4, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: 

Amy Rosenthal, Food and Nutrition 

Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

1320 Braddock Place, 5th floor, 

Alexandria, VA 22314. Comments may 

also be via email to Amy Rosenthal at 

amy.rosenthal@usda.gov. Comments 

will also be accepted through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov, and follow 

the online instructions for submitting 

comments electronically. 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for Office of Management and Budget 

approval. All comments will be a matter 

of public record. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

copies of this information collection 

should be directed to Amy Rosenthal at 

amy.rosenthal@usda.gov, 703–305– 

2245. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Comments 

are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions that were 

used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and (d) ways to minimize 

the burden of the collection of 

information on those who are to 

respond, including use of appropriate 

automated, electronic, mechanical, or 

other technological collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. 

Title: Fourth Access, Participation, 

Eligibility, and Certification Study 

Series (APEC IV). 

Form Number: Not applicable. 

OMB Number: 0584–0530. 

Expiration Date: Not Yet Determined. 

Type of Request: Reinstatement, with 

change, of a previously approved 

collection for which approval has 

expired. 

Abstract: 

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service 

(FNS) depends upon the APEC study 

series to provide reliable, national 

estimates of errors and improper 

payments made to school districts in 

which the National School Lunch 

Program and School Breakfast Program 

are operated. This is the fourth study in 

the APEC series and it will provide the 

required information for school year 

(SY) 2023–2024. 

Program errors fall into three broad 

categories: Certification (determining 

the eligibility of a student for a given 

level of reimbursement), aggregation 

(adding up all the meal counts by 

reimbursement category as they are 

transmitted through the claims process), 

and meal claiming (ensuring that meals 

claimed meet the meal pattern 

requirements). Certification and 

aggregation errors contribute to 

improper payments, while meal 

claiming error is an operational error 

that does not result in an improper 

payment. The majority of improper 

payments in the programs result from 

certification errors, while aggregation 

errors are relatively rare. 

The Payment Integrity Information 

Act of 2019 (PIIA) requires that FNS 

identify and reduce improper payments 

in these programs, including both 

underpayments and overpayments. In 

order to comply with the law, programs 

must have a statistically valid rate of 

improper payment below 10 percent, 

and programs out of compliance with 

PIIA are subject to increased scrutiny 

and reporting requirements. 

Beyond statutory improper payment 

reporting requirements, FNS recognizes 

the human and economic costs of 

program error. For example, 

certification error may result in children 

being certified at a lower or higher level 

than the one for which they qualify; 

aggregation error may cause school 

districts to receive a lower or higher 

reimbursement than they should have 

received; and meal claiming error may 

result in a participant receiving a less 

balanced and nutritious meal than they 

would have if the meal pattern was 

followed. 

Although the APEC II and the 

forthcoming APEC III findings show 

substantial improvement in certain 

types of error since APEC I, there is an 

ongoing need to identify and correct 

sources of program error. 

The specific study objectives of APEC 

IV are: 

• Objective 1: Generate a national 

estimate of the annual amount of 

improper payments in the National 

School Lunch Program and School 

Breakfast Program based on SY 2023– 

2024 by replicating and refining the 

methodology used in prior APEC 

studies. 

• Objective 2: Provide a robust 

examination of the relationship between 

error rates and student (household), 

school, and school food authority (SFA) 

characteristics. 

• Objective 3: Conduct two substudies testing the effect that data 

collection methods have on responses. 

Æ Electronic Application Sub-study: 

Evaluate whether USDA’s online 

application prototype with integrity 

features generates a more accurate and 

complete accounting of household size 

and income compared to other online 

application types and paper 

applications. 

Æ Mode Effect Sub-Study: Assess the 

effect of in-person versus telephone 

interviews on responses to the 

household survey. 

Consistent with methodology used in 

the previous studies in the APEC series, 

we will collect data to address the study 

objectives using a multistage–clustered 

sample design, which will include: 

• A nationally representative sample 

of SFAs in the contiguous 48 states and 

the District of Columbia; 

• A stratified sample of schools 

within each SFA; and 

• A random sample of students 

(households) within each sampled 

school that applied for free and 

reduced-price meals, were categorically 

eligible for free meals, or were directly 

certified for free meals. 

APEC IV will collect data to measure 

certification, aggregation, and meal 

claiming errors via in-person visits to 

SFAs and schools and surveys of SFA 

directors and households. Data 

collection will include (a) abstraction 

from income eligibility applications and 

categorical eligibility records; (b) 

abstraction of meal count and claiming 

records from SFAs, schools, States, and 

FNS administrative data; (c) an online 

survey of SFA directors; (d) meal 

observations in schools; and (e) a 

telephone survey of households. 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 147 / Wednesday, August 4, 2021 / Notices 41939 

The analysis plan includes the 

following components: (a) Calculating 

error rates; (b) estimating improper 

payments; (c) comparisons to previous 

APEC estimates (APEC I, II, III); and (d) 

quantitative analyses to identify factors 

associated with errors. The calculation 

of estimates from APEC IV will include 

the incidence of error, the total dollar 

amount of error, and the dollar based 

error rate. The comparisons to prior 

APEC studies will include tests for 

significant changes over time. The 

quantitative analyses will examine the 

sources and causes of errors with a 

focus on identifying strategies for 

reducing errors. 

Affected Public: Individuals/ 

Households and State, Local, or Tribal 

Governments. Respondent groups 

identified include: (1) Child Nutrition 

State agencies, (2) SFAs, (3) schools, 

and (4) parents/guardians of sampled 

students that are either certified to 

receive a free or reduced price meal or 

who applied for but were denied 

benefits in SY 2023–24. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

The estimated number of respondents is 

13,068. This includes 5,210 responses 

and 7,858 non-responses. The number 

of unique respondents expected to 

provide data for this study are 4,112 

households and 1,098 State and Local 

Governments (44 State Agencies, 295 

SFAs, and 759 schools). 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: All respondents will be 

asked to respond to each specific data 

collection activity only once. The 

overall average number of responses per 

respondent across the entire collection 

is 5.14. 

Estimated Total Annual Responses: 

The estimated number of total annual 

responses is 67,317. 

Estimated Time per Response: The 

estimated time of response varies from 

1 minute to 4 hours depending on the 

respondent group, as shown in the 

burden table below. The estimated time 

per response is 11.49 minutes (0.191 

hours). 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 12,851.4 hours. This 

includes 12,419.6 hours for respondents 

and 431.7 hours for non-respondents. 

See the table below for estimated total 

annual burden for each type of 

respondent. 

BILLING CODE 3410–30–P 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1

EN04AU21.255</GPH>lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1

Burden Table: 

"'C 0 

C: OD 

0 a, a. .... 

., ra 

a, u 

a:: 

V) 

"O 

0 

..c 

Q) 

V) 

:, 

0 

:i::: 

? 

"' :, 

"O :2 "O 

C: 

C, 

C Q) C 

0 

:;::; 

E 

:, 

z 

:c 

u 

2l 

El 

;t 

<I) 

!l -0 a, C: 

a, "'C a. C: 

g_ ., 

Pretest 

C: 

"' C. 

·.::; 

t'. 

Cl. "' 

E 

OD 

e 

Cl. 

... 

.s 

u 

0 

Q) 

.... 

"' 

Data 

Manager 

.... Q) ... 

....... 0 

LL •- +-' 

v, Cl u 

., 

.... 

C: 

a, 

E 

2 

t; 

= 

Household Survey, including income 

documentation mode 

Household Survey Recruitment Guide -

Telephone Survey 

Household Survey Brochure Household Survey Recruitment Guide -

Telephone Survey 

Household Confirmation and 

Reminder of Telephone Survey 

Household Survey Recruitment Guide -

In-Person Survey 

Household Fact Sheet Re In-Person 

Survey 

Household Confirmation of In-Person 

Survey 

Household recruitment website 

Household Survey Income Worksheet 

Downloading video call software for 

income verification 

Household Survey 

Official Study Notification from FNS 

Regional Liaisons to State CN Director, 

including sending study notification to 

SFAs 

Unstructured qualitative interview 

State Director Recruitment Website 

State Meal Claim Data Request 

SFA pretest 

a, 

N 

iii 

a, 

ii 

E 

ra 

Ill 

9 

11,723 11,723 

5,471 

4,103 

375 375 375 

5,471 5,471 

2,052 

5,471 

44 44 44 44 

9 

., -

0 .... C: 

... a, 

a, "'C 

.a C: 

E o 

:Ii 

z 

9 

4,103 

4,103 4,103 

4,103 

300 300 300 

1,641 

4,103 

1,846 

4,103 

44 44 44 44 

9 

-

0 a, Ci' ., 

C: C: 

a, g_ :I ., 

Cl" a, 

... 

... 

1 1 1 1 1 1 

1 

1 1 

1 

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 

Responsive 

iii ., :I a, C: ., 

C: C: 

C( 0 

- a. ra ., 

.... a, 0 ... 

I9 

4,103 4,103 4,103 4,103 

300 300 300 

1,641 

4,103 

1,846 

4,103 

44 44 44 44 

9 

11/ 

., 

C: 

0 

a. 

., 

... 

a, 

a. 

:I 

0 

;:i:;_ 

0.75 

0.0835 0.0835 

0.167 

0.05 

0.167 

0.0334 

0.05 

0.4342 

0.334 

0.25 0.75 

0.5 0.5 

0.5511 

4.00 

0.75 

C: 

a, 

"'C '--

.s f 

iii 5 

:I ..c: 

c:-

6.8 

342.6 342.6 

685.2 

205.6 

50.1 

10.0 15.0 

., 

.... 

C: 

- a, 0 "'C 

... C: 

a, 0 

.a a. 

E lll 

:I ... 

z e. 

0 

z 

0 

7620 7620 

1368 

0 

75 75 75 

712.7 I 3830 

1,370.4 I 1368 

462.S I 2os.1s 

3,083.4 I 1368 

22.0 0 

22.0 0 

24.2 0 

176.0 0 

6.8 0 

-

0 a, Ci' ., 5l g 

:Ii 

Cl" a, 

... 

... 

1 1 1 1 1 1 

1 

1 1 

1 

1 1 1 1 1 1 

Non-Respo

iii ., :I a, C: ., 

C: C: 

C( 0 

- a. ra ., 

0 ! 

I0 

7,620 7,620 

1,368 

0 

75 75 75 

3,830 

1,368 

205 

1,368 

0 0 0 0 0 

EN04AU21.256</GPH>lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1

SFA Study Notification Template from 336 286 1 286 0.0334 9.6 so 1 50 

State CN Director 

SFA Study Notification and Data 

Request + School Data Verification 336 286 1 286 3.00 858.0 50 1 50 

Reference Guide 

SFA Follow Up Discussion Guide (Study 

Notification and School Data 336 286 1 286 0.25 71.6 50 1 50 

Verification) 

Automated Email to Confirm Receipt 286 286 1 286 0.0167 4.8 0 1 0 

of School Data 

SFA Confirmation and Next Steps 286 286 1 286 0.05 14.3 0 1 0 

Email 

SFA School Sample Notification Email, 

including sending study notification to 286 286 1 286 0.334 95.5 0 1 0 

schools (using the Study Notification 

Template) 

SFA Follow-Up Discussion Guide 286 286 1 286 0.25 71.6 0 1 0 

(School Sample Notification) 

APEC IV Fact Sheet (for SFAs and 336 302 1 302 0.0835 25.3 33.6 1 34 

Schools) 

SFA Director Recruitment Website 286 257 1 257 0.8016 206.3 28.6 1 29 SFA Request and Reminder for ERecords (CEP Schools for ISP Data 213 181 1 181 0.5 90.7 32 1 32 

Abstraction) 

SFA Request and Reminder for ERecords_Part A Prior SY (Non CEP 123 105 1 105 1.00 105.0 18 1 18 

Schools for Household Sampling) 

SFA Request and Reminder for Eti: Records_Part B Current SY (Non-CEP 105 105 1 105 1.00 105.0 0 1 0 

ltJ Schools for Household Sampling) ..., V, 

<( Application Data Abstraction Form 105 105 1 105 1.00 105.0 0 1 0 

u... 

V, 

SFA Initial Visit Contact Email with SFA 286 286 1 286 0.334 95.5 0 1 0 

and School Pre-Visit Interviews 

SFA Data Collection Visit Confirmation 286 286 1 286 0.0835 23.9 0 1 0 

Email 

SFA Data Collection Reminder Email 286 286 1 286 0.0835 23.9 0 1 0 SFA Director Web Survey 286 286 1 286 0.5 143.3 0 1 0 SFA Meal Participation Data Request 286 286 1 286 2.00 572 0 1 0 

QJ 

bO 

ltJ SFA Meal Claim Reimbursement C ltJ 286 286 1 286 0.5 143.3 0 1 0 

Verification Form_Sampled Schools 

!!! SFA Reimbursement Consolidation ltJ 

Cl 286 286 1 286 0.5 143.3 0 1 0 

and Verification Form_all schools 

EN04AU21.257</GPH>lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1

Email notification from SFA 938 750 1 750 0.0334 25.1 188 1 188 

"iii School Study Notification Letter 938 750 1 750 0.0835 62.6 188 1 188 

a. 

·c::; School Follow Up Discussion Guide 938 750 1 750 0.334 250.5 188 1 188 

C 

i School Confirmation Email 750 750 1 750 0.0835 62.6 0 1 0 

0 School Notification of Household Data 0 

..c 750 750 1 750 0.0835 62.6 0 1 0 

u Collection "' APEC IV Fact Sheet (for SFAs and I 938 I 750 I 1 I 750 0.1336 100.2 I 0 I 1 I 0 

Schools) 

"' 0 

I 

Meal Observation Pilot (Dual Camera 0 I 9 I 9 I 1 I 9 1.50 13.5 I 0 I 1 I 0 

..c 

u and Paper Booklet Observations)i 

"' 

(II School Data Collection Visit 

bO I 750 I 750 I 1 I 750 0.0334 25.1 I 0 I 1 I 0 

ro Confirmation Email 

C 

ro School Data Collection Visit Reminder I 750 I 750 I 1 I 750 0.5 375.8 I 0 I 1 I 0 ro Email, including menu request 2 Paper Meal Observation Form/Camera I 750 I 750 I 1 I 750 0.5 375.8 I 0 I 1 I 0 ro 

u protocol for meal observations 

School Recruitment Website 938 563 1 563 0.4342 244.4 375 1 375 School Meal Count Verification Form 750 750 1 750 0.5 375.8 0 1 0 
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 147 / Wednesday, August 4, 2021 / Notices 41943 

Timothy English, 

Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–16642 Filed 8–3–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–30–C 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food and Nutrition Service 

Request for Information: Buy American 

in the National School Lunch Program 

and School Breakfast Program 

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service 

(FNS), USDA. 

ACTION: Notice: Request for information. 

SUMMARY: This is a Request for 

Information from stakeholders, 

including local operators, State 

administrators, industry and producers, 

about the Buy American provision in 

the National School Lunch Program 

(NSLP) and the School Breakfast 

Program (SBP). The NSLP and SBP, 

which are administered by the United 

States Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) Food and Nutrition Service 

(FNS), play a critical role in ensuring 

that America’s children have access to 

nutritious food they need to learn and 

succeed in the classroom, in addition to 

supporting American agriculture, and 

small, minority, and women’s 

businesses and agricultural producers. 

In order to claim Federal reimbursement 

for meals served, school food authorities 

(SFAs) must follow Federal 

procurement and program regulations. 

These include the Buy American 

provision. The purpose of this Request 

for Information is to help FNS gather 

feedback from a wide variety of 

stakeholders on how the Buy American 

provision and guidance are currently 

implemented, changes FNS should 

make to current regulations and 

guidance and feedback on how FNS can 

better support local operators as they 

strive to purchase domestic foods and 

food products. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before November 2, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: USDA invites the 

submission of the requested information 

through one of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal 

(preferred method): Go to http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Send written comments to the 

School Meals Monitoring Branch, 

Program Monitoring and Operational 

Support Division, Child Nutrition 

Programs, USDA Food and Nutrition 

Service, Braddock Metro Center II, 1320 

Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314. 

All comments submitted in response to 

this Request for Information will be 

included in the record and will be made 

available to the public. Please be 

advised that the substance of the 

comments and the identity of the 

individuals or entities submitting the 

comments will be subject to public 

disclosure. USDA will make the 

comments publicly available via http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jessica Saracino, School Meals 

Monitoring Branch, Program Monitoring 

and Operational Support Division, 

Child Nutrition Programs, USDA Food 

and Nutrition Service, 703–605–3223. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

January 25, 2021, President Biden 

signed the Executive Order on Ensuring 

the Future is Made in All of America by 

All of America’s Workers (referred to as 

the Buy American Executive order 

hereafter) supporting the American 

economy by requiring terms and 

conditions of Federal financial 

assistance awards and Federal 

procurements to maximize the use of 

goods, products, and materials 

produced in, and services offered in, the 

United States. FNS is issuing this RFI in 

response to this Executive Order. 

Section 104(d) of the William F. 

Goodling Child Nutrition 

Reauthorization Act of 1998 (Pub. L. 

105–336) added a provision, Section 

12(n) to the National School Lunch Act 

(NSLA) (42 U.S.C. 1760(n)), requiring 

school food authorities (SFAs) to 

purchase, to the maximum extent 

practicable, domestic commodities or 

products. This Buy American provision 

supports the mission of the Child 

Nutrition Programs, which is to serve 

children nutritious meals and support 

American agriculture. The existing 

regulatory provision stems directly from 

the statutory requirement. 

The Buy American provision applies 

to SFAs located in the 48 contiguous 

United States and is one of the 

procurement standards these SFAs must 

comply with when purchasing 

commercial food and food products 

served in NSLP and SBP. Although 

Alaska, Hawaii, and the U.S. territories 

are exempt from the Buy American 

provision, SFAs in Hawaii are required 

to purchase food and food products 

produced in Hawaii in sufficient 

quantities, as determined by the SFA, to 

meet NSLP and SBP needs per 7 CFR 

210.21(d)(3) and 7 CFR 220.16(d)(3). 

Likewise, SFAs in Puerto Rico are 

required to purchase food and food 

products produced in Puerto Rico in 

sufficient quantities, under 42 U.S.C. 

1760(n)(4). 

Section 12(n) of the NSLA defines 

‘‘domestic commodity or product’’ as an 

agricultural commodity that is produced 

in the United States and a food product 

that is processed in the United States 

substantially using agricultural 

commodities produced in the United 

States. Report language accompanying 

the legislation noted that ‘‘substantially 

means over 51% from American 

products.’’ Accordingly, FNS has 

established in guidance that over 51% 

of the final processed product must 

consist of agricultural commodities that 

were grown domestically. Thus, for 

foods that are unprocessed, agricultural 

commodities must be domestic, and for 

foods that are processed, they must be 

processed domestically using domestic 

agricultural food components that are 

comprised of over 51% domestically 

grown items, as determined by the SFA. 

Any processed product used must 

contain over 51% of the product’s food 

component from United States origin. 

This definition of domestic product 

serves both the needs of schools and 

American agriculture. Foods and food 

products from Guam, American Samoa, 

Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the 

Northern Mariana Islands are 

considered domestic products under 

this provision as these products are 

from the territories of the United States. 

FNS has provided through guidance 

limited exceptions to the Buy American 

provision which allow for the purchase 

of foods not meeting the ‘‘domestic’’ 

standard as described above (i.e., ‘‘nondomestic’’) in circumstances when use 

of domestic foods is truly not 

practicable. These exceptions, as 

determined by the SFA, are: 

• The product is not produced or 

manufactured in the United States in 

sufficient and reasonably available 

quantities of a satisfactory quality; or 

• Competitive bids reveal the costs of 

a United States product are significantly 

higher than the non-domestic product. 

It should be noted that FNS has not 

defined a dollar amount or percentage 

triggering possible use of an exception. 

It is each individual SFA’s 

responsibility to determine what dollar 

amount or percentage constitutes a 

significantly higher price thus 

permitting the use of the exception. If an 

SFA is using one of the above 

exceptions, there is no requirement at 

this time to request a waiver from the 

State agency or FNS in order to 

purchase a non-domestic product. SFAs 

must, however, keep documentation 

justifying their use of exception(s). State 

agencies must ensure SFA compliance 

with the Buy American provision when 

conducting oversight processes. 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1