[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 246 (Thursday, December 23, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80787-80788]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-32291]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request-Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Store 
Applications, Forms FNS-252, 252-E, 252-R, 252-2, and 252-C

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 collection is a revision 
of a currently approved collection in the Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program and concerns Retail Store Applications (Forms FNS-
252; FNS-252-E; and FNS-252-R).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before February 22, 2011 
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 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 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.
    Comments may be sent to: Ronald Ward, Food and Nutrition Service, 
U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 426, 
Alexandria, VA 22302. Comments may also be submitted via fax to the 
attention of Ronald Ward at (703) 305-1863 or via e-mail to: [email protected]. 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 written comments will be open for public inspection at the 
office of the Food and Nutrition Service during regular business hours 
(8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday) at 3101 Park Center Drive, 
Room 426, Alexandria, Virginia 22302.
    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 Ronald Ward 
at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)--Store 
Applications.
    Form Number: FNS-252, 252-E, 252-R, 252-2, and 252-C.
    OMB Number: 0584-0008 and 0584-0553.
    Expiration Date: July 31, 2011.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    Abstract: Section 9(a) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as 
amended, (the Act) (7 U.S.C. 2018(a)) requires that FNS determine the 
eligibility of retail food stores and certain food service 
organizations to accept SNAP benefits and to monitor them for 
compliance and continued eligibility.
    Part of FNS' responsibility is to accept applications from retail 
food stores that wish to participate in SNAP, review the applications 
in order to determine whether or not applicants meet eligibility 
requirements, and make determinations whether to grant or deny 
authorization to accept SNAP benefits. There are currently four 
application forms designed for that purpose approved under the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) No. 0584-0008--the Supplemental 
Nutrition Assistance Program Application for Stores, Form FNS-252 and 
FNS-252-E (paper and online version, respectively); the Meal Service 
Application, Form FNS-252-2; and the Corporate Supplemental 
Application, Form FNS-252-C used for individual (chain) stores under a 
corporation.FNS is also responsible for reviewing retail food store 
applications at least once every five years to ensure that each firm is 
under the same ownership and continues to meet eligibility guidelines. 
In order to accomplish this regulatory requirement, FNS collects 
information from retail food stores using the Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program Application for Stores--Reauthorization, Form FNS-
252-R. This information collection is approved under OMB No. 0584-0553. 
In our previous submission to OMB, FNS received approval to merge this 
information collection with OMB No. 0584-0008, which FNS intends to do 
at this time.

[[Page 80788]]

    FNS is also enhancing Forms FNS-252 and FNS-252-E in order to (1) 
Clarify questions 16 and 17 regarding sales information; (2) expand the 
inventory stock examples provided in question 18; (3) re-word or re-
phrase written instructions and on-line help screens; and (4) visually 
enhance the application by making design and formatting changes. The 
proposed revisions do not increase the hourly burden estimate on 
respondents.
    FNS also intends to revise Form FNS-252-R. The purposes of the 
revisions are to (1) Clarify questions 5 and 6; (2) add ``Yes/No'' 
boxes in question 8; (3) expand the inventory stock examples provided 
in question 5; (4) revise the certification statement in the general 
instruction section to re-phrase and clarify information requested; and 
(5) add two additional questions: the number of check-out registers, 
and the option for retailers to provide an email address. In our 
previous submission to OMB, we estimated the hourly burden to be 7 
minutes. We estimate the new hourly burden estimate to increase by 10 
seconds, and the new burden to be, on average, 7.10 minutes, on 
average.
    Affected Public: Business for Profit; Retail food stores.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The total estimated number of 
respondents is 90,532.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: Respondents complete 
either 1 application form at initial authorization or 1 reauthorization 
application, as appropriate, for a total of 1 response each.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 68,893.80.
    Estimated Time per Response: 10.59 minutes (0.18317 hours). The 
estimated time response varies from 1 minute to 11 minutes depending on 
respondent group, as shown in the table below.

Table A--Reporting Estimate of Hour Burden

                                                          SUMMARY OF BURDEN--0584-0008
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                                                                                                               (e)  Total
                                           (a)  Description of     (b)  Form   (c)  Number     (d)  Number       annual       (f)  Hours     (g)  Total
            Affected public                collection  activity      Number    respondents    responses per    responses    per  response  burden  (exf)
                                                                                               respondent        (cxd)
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                                                                        Reporting
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Retailers.............................  Applications Received....        252      15,299.83        1.00          15,299.83        0.18370       2,810.58
                                        Applications Received....      252-E      20,281.17        1.00          20,281.17        0.16700       3,386.96
                                        E-Authentication.........      252-E      20,281.17        1.00          20,281.17        0.13360       2,709.56
                                        Applications Received....      252-2         968           1.00             968.00        0.18370         177.82
                                        Applications Received....      252-C       6,961           1.00           6,960.80        0.08350         581.23
                                        Store Visits.............  .........      25,384           1.00          25,384.00        0.01670         423.91
                                        Reauthorization..........      252-R      21,638           1.00          21,638.00        0.11690       2,529.48
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                                         Total Reporting Burden..  .........      90,531.80        0.76099       68,893.80        0.18317      12,619.54
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                                                        Estimate                                      Estimate
                                        Number of        annual         Estimate       Estimate     total annual
                                       respondents    responses per   total annual    hours per      burden for
                                                       respondent      responses       response       this ICR
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SUMMARY OF BURDEN FOR THIS                   90,532        0.76099       68,893.80        0.18317      12,619.54
 COLLECTION........................
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    Dated: December 16, 2010.
Julia Paradis,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-32291 Filed 12-22-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P