[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 76 (Monday, April 21, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19493-19494]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-9717]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request--Federal Claims Collection Methods for Food Stamp 
Program Recipient Claims

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service, 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 proposed information collections. This Notice of Proposed 
Information Collection announces the intent of the Food and Nutrition 
Service to revise and extend the information collection requirements 
associated with initiating and conducting Federal collection actions 
against households with delinquent food stamp recipient debts.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before June 20, 2003 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

[[Page 19494]]

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: Contact Leslie Byrd at (703) 305-2383 
for further information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Federal Claims Collection Methods for Food Stamp Program 
Recipient Claims.
    OMB Number: 0584-0446.
    Form Number: None.
    Expiration Date: April 30, 2003.
    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 refer debtors with food stamp 
recipient debts that have been delinquent for 180 days or more to the 
Treasury Offset Program (TOP). This program intercepts Federal income 
tax refunds, Federal salaries and other Federal payments earmarked for 
these delinquent debtors. Also, the referral of delinquent debtors to 
TOP is required by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996.
    TOP places a burden on States agencies and/or the general public in 
three areas: 60-day notices; State-level submissions; and automated 
data processing (ADP).

TOP 60-Day Notice Proposed Burden

    The proposed burden associated with the 60-day notice involves both 
the debtors and the general public. The 60-day notice notifies the 
debtor of the referral to TOP and provides the right for appeal. The 
State agency needs to prepare and mail the notices as well as respond 
to inquiries and appeals. The debtor, in turn, receives and reads the 
notice and then may make an inquiry or appeal the impending action if 
the debtor believes that the impending action is incorrect. Based on 
calendar year 2002 totals, we estimate that State agencies will send 
out and that debtors will read 276,366 notices. In addition, we 
estimate that the debtors will submit and State agencies will respond 
to about 2,700 inquiries and appeals. The total number of responses 
being proposed for the 60-day notice portion of the proposed burden is 
279,066 respondents (276,366 notices + 2,700 follow-up inquiries and 
appeals) per year resulting in an annual reporting and recordkeeping 
burden of 39,549 hours. The existing burden for activity relating to 
the 60-day notice is 58,177 hours based on 369,045 respondents. The net 
reduction of 18,628 hours (58,177 hours - 39,549 hours) is due to the 
fact that State agencies are no longer required to send a 60-day notice 
to every delinquent debtor every year.

TOP State-level Submissions

    The TOP offsets themselves are conducted by Treasury with FNS 
acting as an intermediary between the State agency and Treasury. While 
conducting this Operation State agencies must submit specified 
documents and/or information to FNS. The first such document is an 
annual letter to FNS certifying that all of the debts submitted by the 
State agency to TOP are legally enforceable and collectible. The second 
document certifies that Internal Revenue Service (IRS) information is 
safeguarded in accordance with IRS instructions. Lastly, State agencies 
report TOP collections on the FNS-209 Status of Claims Against 
Households report. (The burden for the remainder of the FNS-209 report 
is already covered under OMB burden number 0584-0069.)
    FNS estimates that it will take State agencies a total of 135 hours 
per year for these State submissions. This is 1,381 hours less than the 
corresponding existing reporting and recordkeeping burden of 1515 
hours. The reason for the decrease is the elimination of several 
reporting requirements and submissions including the pre-certification 
estimate, voluntary payment report and the State-level activity 
relating to Federal salary offset. These submission requirements have 
been eliminated, as they are no longer necessary for TOP.

TOP ADP Proposed Burden

    The proposed burden for ADP includes weekly file processing, 
monthly address requests and system maintenance. Weekly file processing 
includes adding and maintaining debts in TOP, correcting errors on 
unprocessable records, and posting weekly collection files. Much of 
this activity is completed using automation and involves nearly 400,000 
annual responses. FNS estimates that this activity takes 9,710 annual 
reporting and recordkeeping burden hours.
    State agencies use an automated process to request and receive up-
to-date addresses for the purpose of sending out 60-day notices. FNS is 
estimating that this activity will take about 5,457 reporting and 
recordkeeping burden hours per year. The last ADP activity associated 
with this burden is system maintenance. FNS estimates that this 
activity will take 1,272 burden hours per year.
    The total proposed annual reporting and recordkeeping burden for 
ADP activity is 16,439 hours. This is an increase of 4,329 hours over 
the previously approved burden associated with ADP activity. The 
primary reason for the increase is the additional work associated with 
the monthly address requests. FNS believes that this activity is 
necessary to assure that 60-day notices are being sent to the correct 
addresses.

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 15,680 
hours. For the activity relating to the 60-day notice, we are reducing 
the estimated annual burden for State agencies and households from 
58,177 hours to 39,549 hours to reflect the fact that there is no 
longer a need to send a notice to every household every year. The 
State-level submissions portion of the reporting and recordkeeping 
burden is being reduced from 1,515 to 135 hours as several reports and 
submissions have been eliminated. The annual ADP portion of this burden 
package is being increased from 12,110 to 16,439 hours primarily to 
reflect the processing associated with monthly address requests.
    Affected Public: State and local government, and food stamp 
households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 279,119.
    Number of Responses per Respondent: from 1 to 52.
    Total Number of Annual Responses: 996,682.
    Estimated Time per Response: from 1 minute to 8 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 56,123 hours.

    Dated: April 14, 2003.
Roberto Salazar,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 03-9717 Filed 4-18-03; 8:45 am]
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