[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 2 (Tuesday, January 5, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 472-477]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-36]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collections; 
Comments Request--(1) Food Stamp Application, Verification and 
Certification Activities, and (2) State Agency Options

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is publishing for public comment a 
summary of proposed information collections. The information collection 
requirements described in this notice are limited to those which are 
necessary to carry out the application, verification, and certification 
of food stamp applicants and recipients.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 8, 1999 to be 
assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: 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 has 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 the use of appropriate automated, electronic, 
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms 
of information technology.
    Send comments and request for copies of this information collection 
to Margaret Werts Batko, Assistant Branch Chief, Certification Policy 
Branch, Program Development Division, Food and Nutrition Service, USDA, 
3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria, Virginia, 22302, (703) 305-2516. 
Comments may also be faxed to the attention of Ms. Batko at (703) 305-
2486. The internet address is: [email protected]. 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: Ms. Batko, (703) 305-2516.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The information collection requirements 
described in this notice are limited to those which are necessary to 
carry out Sections 3, 5, 6, 11 and 13 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977, 
and Title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
Reconciliation Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-193, enacted August 26, 1996, 
as amended (PRWORA). PRWORA contained numerous amendments to the Food 
Stamp Act of 1977 (hereinafter referred to as ``the Act''). PRWORA 
contained several provisions designed to increase State agency 
flexibility in administering the Food Stamp Program--especially in the 
area of household application and certification for program benefits. 
PRWORA changed the eligibility requirement for aliens without changing 
the Food Stamp Act. PRWORA limited the eligibility of most able-bodied 
adults without children to three months in a three-year period, 
required that some individuals be sanctioned, and allowed some State 
agency options. State agencies were notified in an agency memorandum 
that they were required to implement the mandatory provisions of PRWORA 
upon enactment for applicant households and at recertification for 
participant households without waiting for formal regulations. The 
alien provisions in PRWORA were subsequently amended by Public Law 104-
208, the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, dated September 30, 
1996; Public Law 105-33, the Balanced Budget Act, dated August 5,

[[Page 473]]

1997; and Public Law 105-185, the Agricultural Research, Extension, and 
Education Reform Act of 1988, dated June 23, 1998.
    This notice contains two separate information requests and takes 
the statutory changes discussed in the preceding paragraph into 
account. The first information request is related to the collection and 
processing of information provided by households. The second one is 
related to State agency options.

Request 1

    Title: Application and Certification of Food Stamp Households.
    OMB Number: 0584-0064.
    Form Numbers: None.
    Expiration Date: (Three years from 10/31/00.)
    Type of Request: Update of a currently approved information 
collection and request for approval of new collections.
    Abstract: Title 7, Part 273 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR) sets forth the Food Stamp Program requirements for the 
application, certification, and continued eligibility for food stamp 
benefits. This rulemaking updates the collection burden and takes into 
account changes required by PRWORA, as amended, in these areas. A 
majority of the information collection or record keeping requirements 
contained in this notice are currently approved by OMB under OMB Number 
0584-0064. Proper notice and public comment were obtained prior to OMB 
approval (see notice published in Federal Register of February 5, 1997, 
62 FR 5380). No comments were received. At the time the February 5 
notice was issued, proposed rules to implement the changes in these 
areas were still in the development stage and some information 
collection or record keeping requirements had not yet been identified. 
The proposed rules are still in the Departmental clearance process, but 
we have reevaluated and revised the time required to take actions 
considering implementation of the new provisions and automation in most 
State agencies.

Revisions to Current Burden Estimates Under OMB No. 0584-0064

    In the February 5 notice, the new requirements for sponsored aliens 
were included as a separate category. Since this is an integral part of 
the application process, we have included them and the additional alien 
eligibility and verification requirements in this rule in the burden 
associated with processing initial applications. We separated 
applications for initial application and recertification for both 
household and State agency burden. We included burden previously 
associated with application worksheets in the State agency's burden 
associated with applications for initial certification and 
recertification. We included the burden associated with giving an 
explanation of monthly reporting and retrospective budgeting to 
households in the State agency's burden for application processing 
because the household must be given the explanation at the time of 
certification and recertification. We separated State agency burden 
associated with processing reports and changes during the certification 
period into a separate category. We believe this will enable us to more 
accurately estimate burden associated with these tasks.
    In making the new burden estimates, we factored in savings due to 
State agency computerized systems. We do not have reliable data on 
which to base our estimates, and we believe that the collection of such 
data would be counterproductive. However, we would welcome any data 
State agencies would like to submit for our future consideration.
    Burden associated with the items--Demand Letter for Overissuance, 
Advance Notice of Administrative Disqualification Hearing, and Action 
Taken on Administrative Disqualification Hearing, 7 CFR 273.17 and 7 
CFR 273.18, are being transferred out of OMB NO. 0584-0064. We plan to 
transfer the items to another existing OMB approval number or submit 
the items to OMB for a separate approval number. This move is for 
administrative management purposes because these forms are handled by a 
separate division within the agency.
    Burden hours associated with information collection, reporting, and 
recordkeeping as it relates to household application, certification, 
and continued eligibility are described below and are assessed by using 
one of two specific base figures. Burden associated with initial 
applicant households is based on the number of initial applications 
expected to be received (7,400,000, as reported by State agencies on 
form FNS-366B). Burden associated with participating households such as 
recertification applicants and reporting of changes in household 
circumstances is based on the estimated number of participating 
households (10,900,000 as reported by State agencies on form FNS-388). 
Using these two base figures, the methodologies used and estimated 
burden hours are as follows:

7 CFR 273.2  Initial Food Stamp Application

    Household burden: Households must complete an application in order 
to obtain benefits. Section 11(e)(2) of the Act (7 U.S.C. 2020(e)(2)) 
provides that the State agency shall develop an application containing 
the information necessary to comply with the Act. The Act requires an 
adult representative to sign a statement, under penalty of perjury, 
that the information provided on the application is true and correct to 
the best of his/her knowledge, including information regarding the 
citizenship or alien status of each member. Prior to PRWORA, State 
agencies had to use a federally-designed application unless FNS 
approved a State-designed deviation. The FNS-designed model application 
sought information used to comply with the eligibility requirements of 
Sections 5, 6, and 11 of the Act. Certain notices were required to be 
provided on or with the State-designed applications to ensure 
compliance other Federal laws governing nondiscrimination, civil 
rights, privacy, and computer matching. All States were operating with 
the FNS-designed model application or an FNS-approved deviation when 
PRWORA was enacted.
    Section 835 of PRWORA amended Section 11(e) of the Act to eliminate 
some mandatory form content requirements and to allow State agencies to 
design their own application forms.
    Many State agencies have automated the application and application 
processing requirements and some have on-line application systems. In 
recognition of this, PRWORA provides that nothing in the Act shall 
prohibit the use of signatures provided and maintained electronically, 
storage of records using automated retrieval systems only, or any other 
feature of a State agency's application system that does not rely 
exclusively on the collection and retention of paper applications or 
other records.
    Section 11(e)(4) of the Act and 7 CFR 273.14 of the current 
regulations require State agencies to send the household a notice of 
expiration when its certification period is going to expire and require 
households to submit a new application in order to renew its 
eligibility. These requirements were not changed by PRWORA. Section 
3(c) of the Act, as amended by section 801 of PRWORA, allows longer 
certification periods than were previously allowed. PRWORA allows State 
agencies to assign certification periods up to 12 months except that 
certification periods may be up to 24 months if all adult

[[Page 474]]

members are elderly or disabled. A State agency shall have at least one 
contact with each certified household every 12 months.
    This information collection request takes into account additional 
burdens imposed pursuant to PRWORA. These allow State agencies to 
sanction food stamp households who are receiving grants under a State's 
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program if minor children are 
not attending school, or if the adults do not have or are not working 
toward attaining a secondary school diploma or its equivalent (Section 
103 of PROWRA), makes individuals convicted of drug-related felonies 
ineligible for food stamps (Section 115), makes fleeing felons and 
probation and parole violators ineligible (Section 821), allows States 
to disqualify individuals for failure to cooperate with child support 
agencies or who are in arrears in court-ordered child support payments 
(Sections 822 and 823), and limits the food stamp participation of most 
able-bodied adults without dependents to 3 months in a 3-year period 
(Section 824). These requirements mean that additional information has 
to be requested on the application.
    Section 402(a)(2) of PRWORA, as amended, conditions food stamp 
eligibility of some aliens on factors not related to their alien 
status. For example, refugees and asylees are only eligible for 7 years 
from the date of entry or the date status was granted. Some aliens 
lawfully admitted for permanent residence must have earned or be 
credited with 40 qualifying quarters of work as determined under title 
II of the Social Security Act. Others have to have a military 
connection, be battered, belong to certain Indian tribes, or belong to 
certain Hmong or Highland Laotian Tribes during a certain period of 
time. Some aliens are only eligible if they were lawfully residing in 
the United States on August 22, 1996, or were age 65 or older on that 
date. Determining and verifying these complicated new eligibility 
requirements will significantly increase the information that must be 
obtained on the application, and the household will have to submit 
additional verification. Title IV of PRWORA requires the Department of 
Justice (DOJ) to develop regulations to be used to verify citizenship 
and eligible alien status. Under DOJ's August 4, 1998, proposed 
regulations (63 FR 41662), applicants for food stamps must provide 
verification of citizenship or alien status, each alien applicant 18 
years of age or over must go to the food stamp office in person and 
present his or her immigration document, and many aliens may be 
required to submit an additional description identification document.
    The total number of respondents is the number of initial 
applications expected to be received (7,400,000 less 200 alien 
households that will not apply = 7,399,800). Household burden to 
complete an initial application (assuming entries on every line) is 
estimated to average at least 11 minutes (.1833 hour). In some States 
the applications are on paper and in others they are on-line in 
computerized systems. In States that have multiple program 
applications, we are only considering the time it takes to complete the 
food stamp portion. Normally, verification is done through documentary 
evidence from a household's own records, such as birth certificates, 
bank statements, income tax returns, and utility bills. OMB does not 
require a burden assessment when collection of the information is 
provided from a respondent's own records, but it may take time to 
gather exact information from various documents such as wage stubs, 
immigration documents, social security number cards, and so forth. We 
estimate total annual household burden for initial applications to be 
1,356,630 hours (7,399,800  x  .1833).
    State agency burden in processing initial applications: The State 
agency must interview the household to obtain all necessary 
information; explain the program; obtain required verification; and, 
for households determined to be eligible, explain the reporting 
requirements and compute the benefit level. Section 11(e)(3) of the Act 
requires that the State agency verify the household's eligibility and 
provide a clear written statement explaining what acts the household 
has to perform to cooperate in obtaining verification and otherwise 
completing the application process. As the result of PRWORA, additional 
information relating to the work history of able-bodied adults without 
dependents, the eligibility of aliens, disqualifications, and fleeing 
felon status must now be determined and verified.
    At one time FNS designed a worksheet format to provide State 
agencies a place to document additional information provided or 
clarified by households during the interview; the type of verification 
provided by the household; and computations of ineligibility or 
eligibility and benefit levels. FNS does not have authority to approve 
State forms, and many States have automated the eligibility 
determination process. In some States the workers complete on-line 
applications with households during the interview. The system stores, 
interprets, and processes the information to determine if the household 
is eligible and, if eligible, the correct benefit level. FNS will no 
longer be making a worksheet format available to State agencies. State 
agencies may develop a paper worksheet if they want one.
    In estimating the burden, we considered the changes in the 
eligibility criteria and the simplified procedures pursuant to PRWORA, 
reductions due to computerized systems which vary from State to State, 
and increases due to including the explanation for monthly reporting. 
Some applications may be denied for obvious reasons such as excess 
resources or income in a short period of time while other applications 
may take an extremely long time to process if the household contains 
aliens or has self-employment income. We estimate that on average a 
minimum of 15 minutes or .25 hours is required to perform an initial 
certification. We estimate total annual burden to be 1,849,950 hours 
(7,399,800  x  .25).

7 CFR 273.14(b)  Food Stamp Application for Recertification

    Household burden: The number of households expected to file an 
application for recertification is based on the number of current 
participants (10,900,000 less 228,000 ineligible aliens = 10,672,000). 
Elderly and disabled households may now be certified for up to 24 
months and other households may be certified for up to 12 months. A few 
State agencies assign three-month certification periods to prevent 
quality control errors. Our burden assessment assumes on average 
participating households will submit one application for 
recertification each year. We estimate that most States will choose to 
simplify the recertification form since FNS approval is no longer 
required and that the burden time will be reduced as households become 
familiar with the form. We estimate burden time for completing and 
submitting a recertification application to be 8 minutes (.1333 hour). 
We estimate total annual burden for recertification applications to be 
1,422,933 hours (10,672,000  x  .1333).
    State agency burden in processing applications for recertification: 
We are assuming that the recertification process will be performed on 
all applications for recertification (10,672,000). We expect State 
agencies to streamline the recertification process, and previously 
verified information does not have to be reverified. We estimate it 
will take an average of 11 minutes or .1833 hours to process an 
application for

[[Page 475]]

recertification. We estimate total annual burden to be 1,956,533 hours 
(10,672,000  x  .1833).

7 CFR 273.10(g)  Notices of Eligibility, Denial, or Pending Status

    State agency burden: Each household that submits an initial 
application or a reapplication must receive a notice of eligibility, 
notice of denial notice, or notice of pending status awaiting 
additional information. Estimates are based on the number of 
applications for initial certification and recertification expected to 
be received (18,071,800). There will be a decrease in the number of 
responses because of a decrease in the number of households that apply 
and the fact that longer certification periods will likely be assigned. 
Based on the fact that most State agencies have computerized notices, 
we estimate that it will take 2 minutes or .0333 hours to input data 
and initiate the notice. We estimate total annual burden to be 602,393 
hours (18,071,800  x  .0333).

7 CFR 273.21  Monthly Reports

    Household burden: State agencies have the option to require certain 
households to report information about household circumstances, changed 
or unchanged, on a monthly basis. State agencies determine what 
information is to be reported and how. The content of each State 
agency's report is not readily available from which to estimate burden 
time per response. When monthly reporting was a Federal mandate, about 
32% of the caseload was submitting monthly reports. When monthly 
reporting became optional, we previously estimated that 16% of the 
caseload would still be subject to monthly reporting. A few State 
agencies have since eliminated monthly reporting for households on 
Indian reservations when the Act was changed to impose restrictions on 
reporting, and some State agencies have reduced the number of monthly 
reporting households for their own administrative reasons over the past 
several years. Based on this, we estimate a further reduction to 15% of 
the caseload. We estimate that 1,600,800 participating households 
(10,672,000  x  .15 = 1,600,800 ) will be subject to monthly reporting 
and total annual responses would be 19,209,600 (1,600,800  x  12 
months). We estimate burden time for a household to complete a monthly 
report to be 7 minutes or .1167 hour. The monthly report is not 
affected by automation and households must complete and return a paper 
form. We estimate total annual burden to be 2,241,120 hours (19,209,600 
 x  .1167).

7 CFR 273.12 (a)  Change Report

    Household burden: As stated earlier, we estimate that 15% of the 
caseload will be required to report monthly. The remaining 85% of the 
caseload (10,672,000  x  .85 = 9,071,200 households) must report 
changes in circumstances that may affect their eligibility or benefit 
level within 10 days of the date the change becomes known. Data is not 
collected on the number of such change reporters or how often they 
report. Previous estimates assumed that 75% of those subject to change 
reporting would actually report, 25% of those households would report 
at least once a year, and 50% would report at least twice a year. State 
agencies may require households not subject to monthly reporting to 
submit information about child support payments quarterly on a change 
report form that is used for reporting other changes, or State agencies 
may develop a separate child support report form. Under PRWORA, States 
may assign longer certification periods which will result in more 
changes being reported. Taking these factors into consideration, we 
estimate that each change reporting household on average will submit 1 
report a year for a total of 9,071,200 responses. We estimated the time 
to complete a report to be 5 minutes or .08333 hours. This burden time 
is not affected by automation as households must complete and submit a 
paper form. We estimate total annual burden to be 755,933 hours 
(9,071,200  x  .0833).

7 CFR 273.21(j)(2)  Notice of Late or Incomplete Monthly Reports

    State agency burden: State agencies must notify households if a 
monthly report is late or additional information or verification is 
needed. We estimate that 5% (19,209,600  x  .05 = 960,480) of the 
monthly reports expected to be received will be late or incomplete 
resulting in the need to generate this notice. We estimate burden time 
per response to be 2 minutes or .0333 hours and total annual burden to 
be 32,016 hours (960,480  x  .0333).

7 CFR 271.2 and 7 CFR 273.21(j)(2)  Adequate Notice to Monthly 
Reporters

    State agency burden: State agencies must send monthly reporting 
households a written notice if their benefits will be or have been 
increased, reduced, or terminated based on information contained on the 
monthly report. We estimate that 30% (19,209,600  x  .30 = 5,762,880) 
of the monthly reports received will result in an increase, reduction, 
or termination of benefits. The remaining 70% of the monthly reports 
will not require a change in benefits, so no notice is necessary. We 
estimate burden time per response to be 2 minutes or .0333 hours and 
total annual burden to be 192,096 hours (5,762,880  x  .0333).

7 CFR 273.13  Advance Notice of Adverse Action

    State agency burden: Households that submit a change report form 
must receive a written notice of any action to reduce or terminate 
benefits in advance of the date the action will become effective. We 
estimate that 50% of the change reports expected to be received 
(9,071,200  x  .50 = 4,535,600) will result in a reduction or 
termination of benefits which will require the State agency to generate 
this notice. We estimate the burden per notice to be 2 minutes or .0333 
hours and total annual burden to be 151,187 hours (4,535,600  x  
.0333).

7 CFR 273. 14(b)  Notice of Expiration

    State agency burden: The State agency must send each participating 
household a notice when its certification period is about to expire 
that informs the household it must reapply to receive continued 
benefits. Based on a 1995 report on the Characteristics of Food Stamp 
Households, the average certification period of all households, 
including those with elderly and disabled members was 9.8 months. (The 
number of annual notices was underestimated in the prior request.) 
Under PRWORA and this proposal, State agencies may establish longer 
certification periods--up to12 months for most households and 24 months 
for households in which all adult members are elderly or disabled. 
Households with an elderly or disabled person represent 34% of the 
caseload, but all adult members in these households may not be elderly 
or disabled. However, based on this new authority, it is anticipated 
that State agencies will in general establish somewhat longer 
certification periods to conserve resources. We estimate that on 
average each certified household (10,672,000) will receive at least one 
notice of expiration every 12 months. We estimate burden time per 
response to be 2 minutes or .0333 hours and total annual burden to be 
355,733 hours (10,672,000  x  .0333).

7 CFR 273.12(c) and 273.21(j)  State Agency Burden in Processing 
Reports and Changes

    When a report is submitted that shows a change, the State agency 
must determine if and how the change will affect the household's 
eligibility and benefit level, resolve questionable information, and 
obtain additional

[[Page 476]]

verification. We estimate that this will be performed on all change 
reports and 30 percent of the monthly reports (9,071,200 + 5,762,800 = 
14,834,080) received. We estimate that this will take approximately 5 
minutes or .0833 hour per change and the annual burden to be 1,236,173 
hours (14,834,080  x  .0833).
    Record keeping burden only: Local agencies are required to maintain 
client case records for three years, 7 CFR 272.1(f), and to perform 
duplicate participation checks on individual household members to 
ensure that a member is not participating in more than one household, 7 
CFR 272.4(f).
    Data is not available on the actual number of local food stamp 
offices in each State or the actual number of workers (recordkeepers) 
that would be maintaining case files and performing duplicate 
participation checks. Previous estimates reflected one record keeper 
per State, but we believe this was too low. We are using the number of 
food stamp project areas which is 2,715 for purposes of this 
submission.
    (A) Case Files: The number of case files to be established and 
maintained is equal to the number of applications expected to be 
received for initial application and recertification. The number of 
times recordkeepers must access these case files is equal to the number 
of documents (105,910,560 responses) expected to be filed annually. We 
estimate that each action will take a minimum of 2 minutes or .0333 
hours. We estimate annual recordkeeping burden associated with 
creating, filing, and maintaining household case files to be 3,526,822 
hours (105,910,560  x  .0333).
    (B) Monitoring Duplicate Participation: The estimated annual record 
keeping burden for maintaining this system which is automated by most 
States is based on the number of applications expected to be received 
(18,071,800) and the average number of persons (2.5) in each applicant 
household. Assuming that at least 80% of the applications expected to 
be received will be subject to this check, the estimated number of 
duplicate participation checks (responses) that must be performed by 
State agencies is 36,143,600 (18,071,800  x  .80  x  2.5). Burden is 
estimated to be 15 seconds (or .0042 hours) per response, for a total 
burden of 151,803 hours annually.
    (C) We estimate total recordkeeping burden to be 3,678,625 hours 
annually (3,526,822 + 151,803). Burden per recordkeeper would be 1,355 
hours annually (3,678,625/2,715 recordkeepers).
    Summary of burden hours for public--State and local governments, 
potential applicants, and current participants:

Respondents: 18,071,800
Annual responses: 119,261,240
Total burden hours: 16,275,901

The net affect of these Program changes and adjustments is a reduction 
in total burden hours of 3,752,042 from 20,027,943 to 16,275,901 due 
primarily to a reevaluation based on State agencies' automated systems.

Request 2

    Title: State Agency Options.
    OMB Number: Will be assigned when approved.
    Form Number: None.
    Expiration Date: Three years after OMB approved.
    Type of Request: New.
    Abstract: The collections covered under OMB Number 0584-0064 
address information that will become part of a household's case file. 
The information collection and burden estimates associated with the 
following 4 collections will be assigned a separate OMB number because 
they are not related to household case files. The number that is 
assigned will be included in the preamble to the regulations which 
implements the PRWORA changes.
    1. Homeless shelter estimate--7 CFR 273.9(d): Section 5(e) of the 
Act, 7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(5), as amended by section 809 of PRWORA, allows 
State agencies to use a homeless shelter cost estimate as a separate 
deduction (instead of allowing only the amount that exceeds 50 percent 
of income under the excess shelter cost deduction.) We estimate that 20 
State agencies will choose this option and that these States will spend 
1 hour per year updating the estimate for an annual burden of 20 hours.
    2. Establishing and reviewing standard utility allowances--7 CFR 
273.9(d): State agencies may establish standard utility allowances to 
be used in lieu of actual utility costs in determining a deduction from 
household income for shelter expenses. Currently, 49 State agencies 
have a standard that includes heating or cooling costs and 21 have a 
standard for utility costs other than heating or cooling. Of the 49 
States, we estimate that 10 will develop one or more additional 
standards each year for the next 3 years. We estimate that this process 
will take an average of 4 hours since the basic information will likely 
already be included as a component of the main standard that is now 
being used. We also estimate that State agencies will continue to 
review the standards yearly, although they will no longer be required 
to do so, to determine if increases are needed due to the cost of 
living. We estimate a minimum of 2.5 hours annually to make this review 
and adjustment. Total burden for this provision is estimated to be 
162.5 hours per year.
    3. Mandatory utility standards--7 CFR 273.9(d). Section 809 of 
PRWORA amended Section 5(e)(7)(C) of the Act (7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(7)(C)) 
to allow State agencies to mandate use of standard utility allowances 
when the excess shelter cost deduction is computed instead of allowing 
households to claim actual utility costs provided the standards will 
not increase program costs. We expect less than 7 States will choose 
this option so information collection and reporting burden is not 
required to be assessed.
    4. Establishing methodology for offsetting cost of producing self-
employment income--7 CFR 273.10. The gross amount of self-employment 
income is reduced by the cost of producing such income. Section 5(m) of 
the Act, 7 U.S.C. 2014(m), as amended by section 812 of PRWORA allows 
State agencies to use a reasonable estimate of self-employment costs 
rather than actual costs to compute net income from self-employment 
provided the method will not increase program costs. Requests to use 
such estimates must be submitted to FNS and must include a description 
of the proposed method; the number, type, and percent of households 
affected; and documentation indicating that the procedure would not 
increase Program costs. We estimate that 10 State agencies will submit 
requests each year for the next three years. It is estimated that these 
States will incur a one-time burden of at least 10 working hours 
gathering and analyzing data, developing the methodology, determining 
the cost implications, and submitting a request to FNS for a total 
burden of 100 hours annually. State agencies are not required to 
periodically review their approved methodologies. We do not anticipate 
that State agencies will voluntarily review their methodologies for 
change on a regular basis, thus burden is not being assessed for this 
purpose at this time.
    Affected Public: State and local governments.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 49.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 138.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 286.


[[Page 477]]


    Dated: December 14, 1998.
Samuel Chambers, Jr.,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 99-36 Filed 1-4-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P