30404 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 109 / Wednesday, June 6, 2001 / Notices

the Consolidated Farm and Rural

Development Act (Federal and State

beginning farmer programs provide joint

financing to beginning farmers and

ranchers); (2) methods of maximizing

the number of new farming and

ranching opportunities created through

the program; (3) methods of encouraging

States to participate in the program; (4)

the administration of the program; and

(5) other methods of creating new

farming or ranching opportunities.

Departmental Regulation 1042–119

dated November 25, 1998, formally

established the Committee and

designated FSA to provide support. The

Committee meets at least once a year

and all meetings are open to the public.

The duration of the Committee is

indefinite.

The initial meetings of the Committee,

held August 31–September 2, 1999, and

April 11–12, 2000, provided an

opportunity for members to exchange

ideas on ways to increase opportunities

for beginning farmers and ranchers

through Federal-State partnerships and

to encourage more State participation.

Members discussed various issues and

drafted numerous recommendations,

which were provided to the Secretary.

During the June meetings, members will

discuss the Secretary’s responses and

will formulate additional

recommendations.

Attendance is open to all interested

persons but limited to space available.

Anyone wishing to make an oral

statement should submit their request in

writing (letter, fax, or e-mail) to Mark

Falcone at the above address.

Statements should be received no later

than June 15, 2001. Requests should

include the name and affiliation of the

individual who will make the

presentation and an outline of the issues

to be addressed. The floor will be open

to oral presentations beginning at 1:00

p.m. EST on June 19, 2001. Comments

will be limited to 5 minutes, and

presenters will be approved on a firstcome, first-served basis.

Persons with disabilities who require

special accommodations to attend or

participate in the meetings should

contact Mark Falcone by June 15, 2001.

Signed in Washington, DC, on June 1,

2001.

James R. Little,

Acting Administrator, Farm Service Agency.

[FR Doc. 01–14301 Filed 6–4–01; 9:36 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–05–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Proposed Collection;

Comment Request—Repayment

Demand and Program Disqualification

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service,

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

proposed information collections. This

Notice of Proposed Information

Collection announces the intent of the

Food and Nutrition Service to extend

the information collection requirements

associated with initiating collection

actions against households who have

received an overissuance in the Food

Stamp Program. In addition, this Notice

announces the Food and Nutrition

Service’s intent to extend the

information collection requirements

associated with intentional Program

violation determinations.

DATES: Written comments must be

submitted on or before August 6, 2001

to be assured consideration.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Barbara

Hallman, Chief, State Administration

Branch, Food and Nutrition Service,

USDA, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room

820, Alexandria, Virginia, 22302.

Pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507), 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 will 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

through the use of appropriate,

automated, electronic, mechanical, or

other technological collection

techniques or other forms of information

technology.

All comments will be summarized

and included in the request for Office of

Management and Budget approval of the

information collection. All comments

will become a matter of public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

initiating collection action, contact

Susan Beard. For intentional Program

violation (IPV) determination, contact

Greg Fortine. Both may be reached at

(703) 305–2383.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Repayment Demand and

Program Disqualification.

OMB Number: 0584–0492.

Form Number: None.

Expiration Date: August 31, 2001.

Type of Request: Revision of a

currently approved collection.

Abstract: Section 13(b) of the Food

Stamp Act of 1977, as amended, (7

U.S.C. 2022(b)) and Food Stamp

Program (FSP) regulations at 7 CFR

273.18 require State agencies to initiate

collection action against households

that have been overissued benefits. To

initiate collection action, State agencies

need to provide an affected household

with written notification informing the

household of the claim and demanding

repayment. This process is automated in

most State agencies. For initiating

collection action on an overissuance, we

are reducing the estimated annual

reporting and recordkeeping burden for

State agencies and households from

148,846 hours to 116,400 hours. The

reason for the decline is to reflect the

lower number of claims that were

established in fiscal year (FY) 2000.

Note that, for recipient claims, this

Federal Register Notice only covers the

reporting and recordkeeping burden for

initiating collection action. The burden

associated with reporting collections

and other claims management

information on the FNS–209 report is

covered under currently approved OMB

number 0584–0069. The burden

associated with referring delinquent

claims and receiving collections through

the Treasury Offset Program is covered

under currently approved OMB number

0584–0446.

FSP regulations at 7 CFR 273.16

require State agencies to investigate any

case of suspected fraud, and, where

applicable, make an IPV determination

either administratively or judicially.

Notifications and activity involved in

the IPV process include:

• The State agency providing written

notification informing an individual

suspected of committing an IPV of an

impending administrative

disqualification hearing or court action.

• An individual opting to accept the

disqualification and waiving the right to

an administrative disqualification

hearing or court action by signing either

a waiver to an administrative

disqualification hearing or a

disqualification consent agreement in

cases of deferred adjudication.

• Once a determination is made

regarding an IPV, the State agency sends

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 109 / Wednesday, June 6, 2001 / Notices 30405

notification to the affected individual of

the action taken on the administrative

disqualification hearing or court

decision.

Despite the decrease in FSP

participation, IPV activity has not

experienced a similar decline. While no

discernible trend exists in recent year

disqualification data, available data

from FY 2000 shows a small decrease in

IPV activity when compared to the data

used to establish the existing burden.

Therefore, we are decreasing the State

agency and household annual reporting

and recordkeeping burden for the

activities related to IPV disqualifications

from 36,628 hours to 34,254 hours.

In addition, one of the factors used by

a State agency to determine the

appropriate disqualification penalty to

assign to an individual is whether or not

the individual was found to have

committed any prior IPVs. The way that

State agencies make this determination

is by accessing and checking the

Disqualified Recipient Subsystem

(DRS). DRS is an automated system

developed by the Food and Nutrition

Service that contains records of

disqualifications in every State. State

agencies are responsible for updating

the system and checking it to determine

the appropriate length of each

disqualification. The burden associated

with State use of DRS for IPVs was not

included in this original OMB-approved

burden. We now intend to incorporate

this activity under this OMB burden

number. The additional annual burden

associated with the DRS process is

estimated at 14,340 hours per year.

Summary of Estimated Burden

The net aggregate change from the

existing to the proposed annual burden

for this entire Proposed Collection is a

decrease of 20,480 hours. For initiating

collection action on an overissuance, we

are reducing the estimated annual

burden for State agencies and

households from 148,846 hours to

116,400 hours to reflect the lower

number of claims established in FY

2000. The IPV-related State agency and

household annual burden, is being

reduced from 36,628 hours to 34,254

hours to reflect the lower number of

disqualifications. The additional annual

burden associated with the DRS process

is estimated at 14,340 hours per year.

Affected Public: State and local

government, and food stamp

households.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

676,053.

Number of Responses per

Respondent: From 1 to 5.

Total Number of Annual Responses:

1,536,129.

Estimated Time per Response: 0.1074

hours.

Estimated Total Annual Burden:

164,994 hours.

Dated: May 25, 2001.

George A. Braley,

Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition

Service.

[FR Doc. 01–14153 Filed 6–5–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–30–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service

Agency Information Collection:

Proposed Collection; Comment

Request; FNS–46, Issuance

Reconciliation Report

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service,

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

proposed information collection

contained in Form FNS–46, Issuance

Reconciliation Report.

DATES: Written comments must be

submitted on or before August 6, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Send comments and

requests for copies of this information

collection to: Jeffrey N. Cohen, Branch

Chief, Electronic Benefit Transfer

Branch, Benefit Redemption Division,

Food and Nutrition Service, U.S.

Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park

Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22302.

Pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507), 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 will 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

through the 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jeffrey N. Cohen, (703) 305–2523.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Issuance Reconciliation Report.

OMB Number: 0584–0080.

Form Number: FNS–46.

Expiration Date: 07/31/2001.

Type of Request: Revision of a

currently approved collection.

Abstract: Section 7(d) of the Food

Stamp Act of 1977, as amended,

requires the Secretary to require State

agencies to report on their issuance

operations not less than monthly. (7

U.S.C. 2016(d)) Section 11(a) of the Act

requires State agencies to assume

responsibility for the issuance, control

and accountability of benefits. (7 U.S.C.

2020(a)) Regulations at 7 CFR 274.4(a)

and 274.4(b)(2) require State agencies to

account for all issuance through the

reconciliation process and submit a

report on such issuance using Form

FNS–46, Issuance Reconciliation

Report. These reports must be submitted

to the Food and Nutrition Service

monthly and must reach FNS no later

than 90 days following the end of each

report month. The FNS–46 report

reflects the total issuance, returns, and

unauthorized issuance amounts

resulting in the net Federal obligation.

Affected Public: State and local

government employees or contractors.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

238.

Estimated Number of Responses per

respondent: 12.

Estimated Time per Response: 8

hours.

Estimated Total Annual Burden:

22,848 hours annually.

Dated: May 31, 2001.

George A. Braley,

Acting Administrator.

[FR Doc. 01–14259 Filed 6–5–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–30–U

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Natural Resources Conservation

Service

Notice of Proposed Changes in the

National Handbook of Conservation

Practices

AGENCY: Natural Resources

Conservation Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the

intention of the Natural Resources

Conservation Service (NRCS) to issue a

series of new or revised conservation

practice standards in its National

Handbook of Conservation Practices.