[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 131 (Monday, July 11, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41101-41106]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14662]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request--Serving SNAP Applicants and Participants With Limited 
English Proficiency (LEP)

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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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 is a new information 
collection for the contract Serving Supplementation Nutrition 
Assistance Program (SNAP) Applicants and Participants with Limited 
English Proficiency (LEP). The purpose of the Servicing SNAP LEP study 
is to provide FNS with a comprehensive understanding of the language 
landscapes in which SNAP and Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP) 
agencies operate, as well as the LEP policy and operations landscapes.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before September 9, 
2022.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: Eric Williams, Food and Nutrition 
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th 
Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314. Comments may also be submitted or via 
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1570677c763b627c79797c74786655606671743b727a63"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ff9a8d969cd188969393969e928cbf8a8c9b9ed1989089">[email protected]</span></a>. Comments will also be accepted through 
the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov, and 
follow the online instructions for submitting comments electronically.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for Office of Management and Budget approval. All comments will 
be a matter of public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of this information collection should be directed to Eric 
Williams at 703-305-2640.

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: Serving SNAP Applicants and Participants with Limited 
English Proficiency (LEP).
    Form Number: N/A.
    OMB Number: 0584-NEW.
    Expiration Date: Not yet determined.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Abstract: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) 
provides a monthly benefit to eligible households

[[Page 41102]]

to spend on food so that households and individuals with low incomes 
have access to enough nutritious food to lead healthy, active lives. 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service 
(FNS) administers SNAP in partnership with 53 State agencies (the 50 
States, the District of Columbia [DC], Guam, and the U.S. Virgin 
Islands [USVI]). In three U.S. Territories--American Samoa, the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and Puerto Rico--
nutrition assistance to low-income individuals and households is 
provided through the Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP).
    As Federally assisted programs, both SNAP and NAP are required to 
comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) and its 
implementing regulations for the USDA at 7 CFR 15. (U.S. Department of 
Justice Civil Rights Division n.d.). Title VI prohibits entities that 
receive Federal financial assistance from discriminating against or 
otherwise excluding individuals on the basis of race, color, or 
national origin. In order to avoid discrimination against LEP persons 
on the ground of national origin, administrators of Federal financial 
assistance programs must take reasonable steps to ensure that LEP 
persons receive the language assistance necessary to afford them 
meaningful access to SNAP or NAP as applicable, free of charge. LEP 
individuals are defined as those who do not speak English as their 
primary language and have a limited ability to read, speak, write, or 
understand English (USDA 2014, p. 70775). Meaningful access requires 
that State agencies provide language assistance services that allow 
equal participation in and access to the benefits of a given program. 
To support meaningful access, language assistance must be provided at a 
time and place that avoids the effective denial of the service, 
benefit, or right at issue or the imposition of an undue burden on or 
delay in important rights, benefits, or services to the LEP person 
(USDA 2014, p. 70779-70780).
    As the agency responsible for providing oversight and monitoring 
for both SNAP and NAP, it is critical that FNS understands whether and 
how SNAP and NAP agencies are complying with LEP requirements. The LEP 
study will provide FNS with actionable insights about how States and 
Territories operate language access policies and requirements. The 
study will gather detailed data from all 53 State SNAP agencies via a 
web-based survey, the three Territories that operate NAP via in-depth 
interviews, and will conduct case studies in four States. The study 
will provide FNS with a comprehensive summary of findings on policies 
and practices related to LEP access. It will increase FNS' 
understanding of SNAP LEP access policies and practices across the 
nation, including how States make decisions about these policies and 
practices, how they train staff on them, and their perceptions of 
Federal regulations. The findings from the study will help inform 
policymakers efforts to provide more meaningful access to SNAP and NAP.
    Affected Public: Members of the public affected by the data 
collection include State, Local, and Tribal Governments from 53 State 
agencies and three Territories. Respondent groups identified include: 
(1) State or local agency directors/managers; (2) NAP directors (3) 
Local agency frontline staff.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The total estimated number of 
unique respondents is 100, with zero nonrespondents. This includes: 53 
State or territory SNAP directors; 3 NAP directors, 12 local SNAP 
agency directors; 12 local SNAP office managers, and 20 local SNAP 
agency frontline staff. The State or territory SNAP agency directors 
include respondents from 53 U.S. States and territories, (50 U.S. 
States, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam). 
These respondents will respond to a web survey. The NAP directors 
include three U.S. Territory NAP agencies (American Samoa, Commonwealth 
of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico). The three NAP agency 
directors will participate in an in-depth interview (IDI). Four States 
will be selected for the case study. Here is a summary of the 
respondents for the case study:

<bullet> 4 State SNAP directors (one from each of the four States)
<bullet> 12 local SNAP agency directors (three from each of the four 
States)
<bullet> 12 local SNAP office managers (three from each of the four 
States)
<bullet> 20 local SNAP agency frontline staff (5 from each of the four 
States). Twelve of these staff will participate in in-depth interviews 
and 8 of these staff will participate in simulations.

    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: Across all 
respondents, the average number of responses is 7.56. State or 
territory SNAP directors will respond once to a web-based survey with 
eight modules. State or territory SNAP directors will receive a FNS 
State outreach email to notify them about the web survey. Mathematica 
will then email the States a study description and invitation to 
complete the web survey. State or territory SNAP directors who have not 
completed the survey will be emailed biweekly to complete the survey 
(for a total of five possible emails). Those who have not completed in 
the last four weeks of data collection will receive an urgent survey 
reminder email every week (for a total of four possible emails). State 
or territory SNAP directors will be asked to submit documents related 
to their language access procedures via the survey. If they do not 
submit their documents then they will be sent reminder emails (for a 
total of nine possible emails). Starting in week six of data 
collection, State or territory SNAP directors will receive reminder 
phone calls.
    One NAP director from each of three selected Territory NAP agencies 
will be asked to complete one IDI. The NAP directors will be provided 
with a definitions handout to assist in answering the questions during 
the IDI. Prior to the IDI, Mathematica will administer one pre-
interview questionnaire that will allow the IDI protocol to be tailored 
to their respective territory. We may break the interviews into 
multiple sessions to reduce the burden of the IDI. The IDI will focus 
on understanding the development and implementation of language access 
policies. NAP directors will receive an email from FNS to notify them 
about the IDI. Mathematica will then send an email to NAP directors to 
invite them to do the IDI. Following the invitation email, Mathematica 
will send another email that coordinates the scheduling of the IDI. NAP 
directors that have not scheduled their IDI will be sent a reminder 
email (for a total of two possible emails). NAP directors will be asked 
to submit documents related to their language access procedures. If 
they do not submit their documents then they will be sent reminder 
emails (for a total of two possible document reminder emails).
    Lastly, four State SNAP agencies that participated in the initial 
survey will be selected in collaboration with FNS for a case study. The 
case study will involve interviews with four State SNAP directors, 12 
local SNAP agency directors, 12 local SNAP office managers, and 12 
local SNAP agency frontline staff. Eight local SNAP agency frontline 
staff will complete a participant experience simulation. The State or 
territory SNAP directors will receive an initial email from FNS 
notifying them about the case studies. Following that, an email will 
come from the research team introducing them to the case studies and 
asking to schedule a call with them to discuss the case studies. State 
SNAP directors that do not respond to this initial email will

[[Page 41103]]

receive a reminder email. The State SNAP directors will then 
participate in a one hour call to discuss the case study. They will be 
provided with an email template to use to reach out to three local 
areas in their State. The research team will then follow up with the 
local agencies by email to schedule their portions of the site visit.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 756.
    Estimated Time per Response: The estimated time of response varies 
from 0.03 hours for activities related to reading email reminders for 
the survey, case studies, and in-depth interivews to 2.5 hours for 
completing the survey and document request, as well as, the NAP agency 
interview protocol and document request. Variation of response time is 
dependent on the respondent group, as shown in the attached table, with 
an average estimated time of 18.9 minutes (0.315 hours).
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: The total estimated 
burden on respondents is 14,308.2 minutes (238.47 hours). See the table 
attached for estimated total annual burden for each type of respondent.

[[Page 41104]]



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                                  Respondents                                             Non-respondents                        Grand
                                                                                                          --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   total
                                                                                                   Sample                                                                                                                        annual
             Affected public                  Type of respondents             Instruments           size    Number of    Frequency     Total    Hours per   Annual    Number  of   Frequency     Total    Hours per   Annual     burden
                                                                                                           respondents      of        annual     response   burden       non-         of        annual     response   burden    estimate
                                                                                                                         response    responses              (hours)  respondents   response    responses              (hours)   (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State, local, and Tribal government.....  State or territory SNAP     Survey....................       53          53            1          53       2.50    132.50           0            0           0          0         0     132.50
                                           director.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Survey FNS State outreach        53          53            1          53       0.07      3.53           0            0           0          0         0       3.53
                                           director.                   email.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Survey study team outreach       53          53            1          53       0.10      5.30           0            0           0          0         0       5.30
                                           director.                   email with study
                                                                       description.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Survey biweekly survey           53          47            1          47       0.03      1.57           0            0           0          0         0       1.57
                                           director.                   reminder email #1.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Survey biweekly survey           53          41            1          41       0.03      1.37           0            0           0          0         0       1.37
                                           director.                   reminder email #2.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Survey biweekly survey           53          35            1          35       0.03      1.17           0            0           0          0         0       1.17
                                           director.                   reminder email #3.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Survey biweekly survey           53          29            1          29       0.03      0.97           0            0           0          0         0       0.97
                                           director.                   reminder email #4.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Survey biweekly survey           53          23            1          23       0.03      0.77           0            0           0          0         0       0.77
                                           director.                   reminder email #5.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Urgent survey reminder           53          17            1          17       0.03      0.57           0            0           0          0         0       0.57
                                           director.                   email #1.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Urgent survey reminder           53          11            1          11       0.03      0.37           0            0           0          0         0       0.37
                                           director.                   email #2.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Urgent survey reminder           53           5            1           5       0.03      0.17           0            0           0          0         0       0.17
                                           director.                   email #3.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Urgent survey reminder           53           1            1           1       0.03      0.03           0            0           0          0         0       0.03
                                           director.                   email #4.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Survey document reminder         53          47            1          47       0.03      1.57           0            0           0          0         0       1.57
                                           director.                   email #1.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Survey document reminder         53          41            1          41       0.03      1.37           0            0           0          0         0       1.37
                                           director.                   email #2.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Survey document reminder         53          35            1          35       0.03      1.17           0            0           0          0         0       1.17
                                           director.                   email #3.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Survey document reminder         53          29            1          29       0.03      0.97           0            0           0          0         0       0.97
                                           director.                   email #4.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Survey document reminder         53          23            1          23       0.03      0.77           0            0           0          0         0       0.77
                                           director.                   email #5.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Survey document reminder         53          17            1          17       0.03      0.57           0            0           0          0         0       0.57
                                           director.                   email #6.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Survey document reminder         53          11            1          11       0.03      0.37           0            0           0          0         0       0.37
                                           director.                   email #7.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Survey document reminder         53           5            1           5       0.03      0.17           0            0           0          0         0       0.17
                                           director.                   email #8.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Survey document reminder         53           1            1           1       0.03      0.03           0            0           0          0         0       0.03
                                           director.                   email #9.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Survey reminder call             53          53            1          53       0.08      4.42           0            0           0          0         0       4.42
                                           director.                   script.
                                          State or territory SNAP     FNS case study outreach           4           4            1           4       0.07      0.27           0            0           0          0         0       0.27
                                           director.                   email.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Study team case study             4           4            1           4       0.03      0.13           0            0           0          0         0       0.13
                                           director.                   outreach email.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Case study reminder email.        4           4            1           4       0.03      0.13           0            0           0          0         0       0.13
                                           director.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Case study call script....        4           4            1           4       1.00      4.00           0            0           0          0         0       4.00
                                           director.
                                          State or territory SNAP     Case study site visit             4           4            3          12       1.00     12.00           0            0           0          0         0      12.00
                                           director.                   protocol.
                                          Local SNAP agency director  Case study outreach email.       12          12            1          12       0.03      0.40           0            0           0          0         0       0.40

[[Page 41105]]

 
                                          Local SNAP agency director  Case study reminder email.       12          12            1          12       0.03      0.40           0            0           0          0         0       0.40
                                          Local SNAP agency director  Case study site visit            12          12            1          12       1.00     12.00           0            0           0          0         0      12.00
                                                                       protocol.
                                          Local SNAP office manager.  Case study site visit            12          12            1          12       1.00     12.00           0            0           0          0         0      12.00
                                                                       protocol.
                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          Subtotal of State, territory or local agency SNAP            77          77         9.17         706       0.28    201.02           0            0           0          0      0.00     201.02
                                           director/manager
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          NAP director..............  FNS interview email to            3           3            1           3       0.03      0.10           0            0           0          0         0       0.10
                                                                       Territory NAP agency.
                                          NAP director..............  Study team interview              3           3            1           3       0.10      0.30           0            0           0          0         0       0.30
                                                                       outreach email
                                                                       toTerritory NAP agency.
                                          NAP director..............  Interview scheduling to           3           3            1           3       0.08      0.25           0            0           0          0         0       0.25
                                                                       Territory NAP agency.
                                          NAP director..............  Interview reminder email          3           3            1           3       0.08      0.25           0            0           0          0         0       0.25
                                                                       to Territory NAP agency
                                                                       #1.
                                          NAP director..............  Interview reminder email          3           3            1           3       0.08      0.25           0            0           0          0         0       0.25
                                                                       to Territory NAP agency
                                                                       #2.
                                          NAP director..............  NAP agency document               3           3            1           3       0.03      0.10           0            0           0          0         0       0.10
                                                                       reminder email #1.
                                          NAP director..............  NAP agency document               3           3            1           3       0.03      0.10           0            0           0          0         0       0.10
                                                                       reminder email #2.
                                          NAP director..............  NAP agency pre-interview          3           3            1           3       0.17      0.50           0            0           0          0         0       0.50
                                                                       questionnaire.
                                          NAP director..............  NAP agency interview              3           3            1           3       2.50      7.50           0            0           0          0         0       7.50
                                                                       protocol.
                                          NAP director..............  NAP agency interview              3           3            1           3       0.03      0.10           0            0           0          0         0       0.10
                                                                       definitions handout.
                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          Subtotal of NAP director                                      3           3        10.00          30       0.32      9.45           0            0           0          0      0.00       9.45
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          Local SNAP agency           Case study site visit            12          12            1          12       1.50     12.00           0            0           0          0         0      12.00
                                           frontline staff.            protocol.
                                          Local SNAP agency           Case study simulation             8           8            1           8       2.00     16.00           0            0           0          0         0      16.00
                                           frontline staff.            guide.
                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          Subtotal of local agency frontline staff                     20          20         1.00          20       1.40     28.00           0            0           0          0      0.00      28.00
                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          Subtotal unique State, local, and Tribal government         100         100         7.56         756      0.315    238.47           0            0           0          0      0.00     238.47
                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          Grand total                                                 100         100         7.56         756      0.315    238.47           0            0           0          0      0.00     238.47
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



[[Page 41106]]

Cynthia Long,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-14662 Filed 7-8-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P


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