[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 182 (Tuesday, September 20, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58237-58238]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-24085]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Pre-
Screening Tool

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 this revision to a currently approved collection. The information 
collection involves the use of a Web-based pre-screening tool for the 
general public to use to determine potential eligibility for 
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before November 21, 
2011.

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 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 use of appropriate, automated, electronic, 
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms 
of information technology.
    Comments may be sent to Angela Kline, Branch Chief, Certification 
Policy Branch, Program Development Division, Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program, Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 810, Alexandria, VA 22302. 
Comments may also be submitted via fax to the attention of Angela Kline 
at 703-305-2486 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, 
Alexandria, Virginia 22302, Room 810.
    All responses to this notice 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: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Angela Kline at (703) 305-2495.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Pre-Screening 
Tool.
    OMB Number: 0584-0519.
    Expiration Date: December 31, 2011.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: In June 2003, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) 
deployed an interactive web-based pre-screening tool that can be 
utilized by the general public to determine potential eligibility for 
benefits in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Once 
the user enters household size, income, expenses and resource 
information, the tool will calculate and provide the user with an 
estimated range of benefits that the household may be eligible to 
receive. Since SNAP eligibility and benefit amount may vary by 
location, FNS makes it clear that the tool is only an estimator and the 
household will need to contact the local agency to determine actual 
eligibility and the appropriate benefit amount. Other data collected 
are:

[[Page 58238]]

     State: State or territory in which the user resides;
     Citizenship: whether each member is a U.S. citizen;
     Number of Children: number of children in the household;
     Number of Elderly: number of elderly members in the 
household;
     Migrant Workers: is anyone in the household a seasonal or 
migrant farm worker;
     Homeless: is the household homeless or living in a 
shelter;
     User Type: who is using the tool; and
     User Referral: how the user heard about the tool.
    Although the tool also requests the name and age of the user, FNS 
does not retain this information nor does it request other personally 
identifiable information such as social security numbers, birthdays, 
etc. about the household itself in the tool. However, the system does 
request the following information during the initial process in which 
the user enters data:
     Whether the user is using the tool for personal reasons or 
on behalf of others; and
     If they are using it on behalf of others, the user will be 
asked to identify him/herself (e.g., relative of a person in need, 
advocacy organization, faith-based group, etc.) using a drop down menu.
    Once the user logs out of the system, none of the user-provided 
information is retained by FNS.
    Since this information collection was last extended, participation 
in the program increased by approximately 50 percent, primarily the 
result of significantly higher unemployment leading to increased 
participation. The estimate is based participation data extracted from 
the FNS National Databank using a comparison in participation for the 
3-year period prior to the current burden estimate with participation 
data for the last two years. Assuming a similar increase in the number 
of potential applicants who will use the prescreening tool, FNS 
projects an annual burden of 66,132 hours representing an increase of 
22,132 over the burden estimate of 44,000 hours used in the current 
approval of this information collection. Because none of the data 
entered by users is retained, there is no recordkeeping requirement 
associated with this information collection.

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                                                                             Estimated       Response
         OMB 0584-0519                    Requirement                    annually per    Total annual      Hours per     Annual burden
                                                                            respondents     respondent       responses       response          hours
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Affected Public:
    Potential SNAP clients
Reporting Burden.......................  Completion of SNAP Prescreening         396,000               1         396,000           0.167          66,132
                                          Tool.
                                         Reporting Totals...............         396,000               1         396,000           0.167          66,132
Recordkeeping Burden...................  Recordkeeping..................               0               0               0               0               0
                                         Recordkeeping Totals...........               0               0               0               0               0
                                         Total Recordkeeping and                 396,000  ..............         396,000           0.167          66,132
                                          Reporting Burden.
                                         Total Number of Record Keepers.               0
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    Dated: September 12, 2011.
Audrey Rowe,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-24085 Filed 9-19-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P