[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 27 (Thursday, February 9, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6775-6776]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-2960]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request: Commodity Supplemental Food Program, the Food 
Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, and the Supplemental 
Nutrition Assistance Program; Title VI Civil Rights Collection Reports

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 under OMB No.0584-0025, Civil Rights 
Title VI Collection Reports--Forms FNS-191 and FNS-101, for the 
Commodity Supplemental Food Program, the Food Distribution Program on 
Indian Reservations, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before April 9, 2012.

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 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.
    Comments may be sent to: Jane Duffield, Food and Nutrition Service, 
U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 818, 
Alexandria, VA 22302. Comments may also be submitted via fax to the 
attention of Jane Duffield at 703-605-4385 or via email 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 818, 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 Jane 
Duffield at 703-605-4385.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Civil Rights Title VI Collection Reports.
    Form Number: FNS-191 and FNS-101.
    OMB Number: 0584-0025.
    Expiration Date: May 30, 2012.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000d 
to 2000d-7, prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and 
national origin in programs receiving Federal financial assistance. 
Department of Justice (DOJ) regulations, 28 CFR 42.406, require all 
Federal agencies to provide for the collection of racial/ethnic data 
and information from applicants for and recipients of Federal 
assistance sufficient to permit effective enforcement of Title VI. For 
purposes of the Information Collection Notice only, the Food and 
Nutrition Service (FNS) employs program terminology in place of the 
standard Title VI terminology adopted by the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) and codified at 7 CFR 15.2. Thus, ``State 
agencies,'' ``local agencies,'' and/or ``operators'' are the program 
entities responsible for fulfilling the data collection requirements 
associated with ``primary recipients'' and/or ``recipients'' as defined 
by Title VI. Moreover, the program terms ``respondents,'' 
``applicants,'' and/or ``participants'' refer to the ``potential 
beneficiaries,'' ``applicant beneficiaries,'' and/or ``actual 
beneficiaries'' of Federal financial assistance as defined by Title VI. 
In order to conform with the statutory mandates of Title VI of the 
Civil Rights Act of 1964, DOJ regulations, and USDA regulations on 
nondiscrimination in Federally assisted programs, the USDA's Food and 
Nutrition Service (FNS) requires State agencies to submit data on the 
racial/ethnic categories of persons receiving benefits from FNS food 
assistance programs.
    In all three programs, State and local agencies collect racial/
ethnic information on the benefits application form that applicants may 
complete and file manually or electronically. The application form must 
clearly indicate that the information is voluntary and that the race 
and ethnic information will not affect an applicant's eligibility or 
level of benefits. It must also state that the reason for the 
collection of the information is to assure that program benefits are 
distributed without regard to race, color or national origin. All three 
programs allow the individual to self-identify his or her racial/ethnic 
status on the application. Visual

[[Page 6776]]

observation by a program representative is used to collect the data 
when the individual does not self-identify. In either case the 
information is recorded on the application form and entered into the 
agency's information system. The Federal reporting forms do not 
identify individual participants. Local agencies use the two forms 
referenced above (i.e., the FNS-191 and FNS-101) to report data on the 
Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), the Food Distribution 
Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), and the Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program (SNAP) to FNS as explained below. FNS' data 
collection requirement for operators is found in the regulations for 
the CSFP at 7 CFR 247.29(b), and for the SNAP at 7 CFR 272.6(g); the 
requirement for the FDPIR is found in FNS Handbook 501.
    Affected Public: State, Local and Tribal agencies. All State or 
local agencies must submit the appropriate form in order to receive 
Federal assistance and comply with applicable legislation. If a State 
or local agency does not comply voluntarily, the State or local agency 
is subject to fund termination, suspension, or denial, or to judicial 
action. Respondent groups identified include: (1) CSFP local agencies 
complete the FNS-191 (FNS requires local agencies to provide annually 
the actual number and racial/ethnic designations of participants who 
receive CSFP benefits during the month of April); and (2) SNAP and 
FDPIR State, local or Tribal agencies complete the FNS-101 (FNS 
requires State, local or Tribal agencies to report annually the actual 
number of participants who receive FDPIR and/or SNAP benefits in the 
month of July).
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The total estimated number of 
respondents is 2,927. This includes: 192 for local CSFP agencies, 134 
local FDPIR agencies; and 2,601 for SNAP local agencies.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: The local CSFP 
agencies respond to the FNS-191 form once a year, both the FDPIR and 
SNAP local agencies respond to the FNS-101 once a year.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 2,927 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response:
    Form FNS-191: The local CSFP agencies submit Form FNS-191 at an 
estimate of 2 hours per respondent (including respondent time of 1.92 
and an additional recordkeeping burden of .08 hours per respondent for 
maintaining the response) or 384 total hours.
    Form-FNS 101: The local FDPIR and SNAP agencies submit Form FNS-101 
at an estimate of 2 hours per respondent (including respondent time of 
1.92 and an additional burden of .08 hours per respondent for 
maintaining the responses) or 5,470 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 5,854 hours. See the 
table below for estimated total annual burden for each type of 
respondent.

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                                                                                  Estimated avg.
                                     Estimated       Responses     Total annual      number of       Estimated
           Respondent                number of     annually per      responses       hours per      total hours
                                    respondents     respondent      (Col. bxc)       response       (Col. dxe)
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                                                Reporting Burden
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SNAP local agencies, FNS 101....           2,601            1.00        2,601.00               2           5,202
FDPIR local agencies, FNS 101...             134            1.00          134.00               2             268
CSFP local agencies, FNS 191....             192            1.00          192.00               2             384
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    Total.......................           2,927            1.00           2,927               6           5,854
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    Dated: February 3, 2012.
Jeffrey J. Tribiano,
Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-2960 Filed 2-8-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P