[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 27 (Thursday, February 9, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6776-6778]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-2966]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request--National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast 
Program Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification Study II 
(APEC-II Study)

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 the proposed information collection for the APEC-II Study.

DATES: Written comments must be received by 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 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 techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
    Comments may be sent to: Steven Carlson, Office of Research and 
Analysis, Food and Nutrition Service, USDA, 3101 Park Center Drive, 
Room 1014, Alexandria, VA 22302. Comments may also be submitted via fax 
to the attention of Steven Carlson at 703-305-2576 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 Research and Analysis, 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 1014, 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

[[Page 6777]]

should be directed to Steven Carlson at 703-305-2017.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program 
Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification Study II (APEC-II 
Study).
    OMB Number: 0584-0530.
    Expiration Date: Not yet determined.
    Type of Request: Reinstatement.
    Abstract: The Improper Payments Information Act of 2002, Public Law 
107-300, requires the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to 
identify and reduce erroneous payments in various programs, including 
the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program 
(SBP). An OMB directive, issued May 21, 2003, states that an annual 
erroneous payment estimate is the gross (not net) total of both 
overpayments and underpayments, i.e., the sum of the absolute value of 
overpayments and underpayments. To comply with the Improper Payments 
Information Act of 2002, USDA needs a reliable measure to estimate NSLP 
and SBP erroneous payments on an annual basis. The Access, 
Participation, Eligibility, and Certification (APEC) study was 
conducted by FNS under OMB Number 0584-0530, expired August 31, 2008, 
and provided the first reliable national estimates of erroneous 
payments for the NSLP and SBP. Information was collected during the 
2005-06 school year and results were released in November 2007.
    USDA is seeking to renew OMB Clearance 0584-0530 granted on 08/2005 
for The Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification (APEC) 
study. The new study will produce national estimates of overpayment, 
underpayment and overall erroneous payments made under the National 
School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP). The 
study will measure certification error and meal counting and claiming 
error for School Year (SY) 2012-2013; and develop and validate 
estimation models to be used by USDA's FNS staff for updating the 
erroneous payment estimate annually with NSLP and SBP administrative 
records and extant data (i.e. without extensive collection of new data 
between national studies). Models are being developed because it would 
be cost prohibitive to conduct a large nationally representative data 
collection effort to measure improper payments comprehensively on an 
annual basis. The development of an estimation model to produce updated 
annual estimates using available extant data is a pragmatic approach to 
meeting the intent of the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002. In 
addition, this study will produce separate estimates of erroneous 
payments for Local Education Agencies participating in the Community 
Eligibility Option and will examine alternatives to develop estimates 
of erroneous payment estimates at the State level. Data collected from 
school districts and households will be used to produce estimates of 
erroneous payments in at least one state and to create and validate 
estimation models for generating annual estimates of erroneous payments 
at the State level.
    In School Year 2012-2013, on-site data collection activities will 
be conducted in a nationally representative sample of school districts 
and schools across the 48 contiguous States and the District of 
Columbia. Data to be collected will include school administrative 
records, household income from parents/guardians, direct observation of 
school meal transactions and other information that will inform this 
study. OMB approval will be requested for the data collection 
instruments to be used for the APEC-II Study.
    Affected Public: State Agencies (School district staff, school 
staff) and Individual/households.
    Respondent Type: Staff in school districts and schools 
participating in the National School Lunch Program and the School 
Breakfast Program; student households certified for or having applied 
for free or reduced price meals.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 8,075: Sample members are 
estimated to include: (a) 176 School Food Service Directors (the total 
estimated number of respondents to complete the SFA survey and other 
collected information is 167, FNS anticipates 9 will not complete this 
survey); (b) 528 school financial administrative staff; (c) 528 school 
liaisons; and we anticipate 100 percent participation from these two 
groups (d) 6,843 households (the total estimated number of respondents 
to the household who will complete the survey is 5,474; we anticipate 
1,369 will not complete the survey).
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: Most of the 
respondents will fill out 3 separate instruments at one time and 
individual household will participant in 1 survey (the number of forms 
are 3 from School Food Service Directors, 3 from School Financial 
Administrators, 2 from School Liaisons and 1 from Households). Multiple 
responses will be obtained from most respondents with the exception of 
households, who will be interviewed once.
    Estimated Time per Response: The estimated average response time 
will range from 45 minutes for the household interview to 170 minutes 
for School Food Service Directors to complete fact sheets, provide 
claim data and be interviewed.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: The total estimated 
response time is 5,836.85 hours. See the table below for estimated 
total annual burden.

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                                                                                                                                             Estimated
                                                                             Estimated       Responses                       Estimated     total annual
              Affected public                        Respondent              number of     annually per    Total annual   average number     hours of
                                                                            respondents     respondent       responses     of hours per      response
                                                                                                                             response         burden
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State Agencies............................  School Food Service Directors
                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            Fact Sheet
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                                               Completed................             167               1             167             1.5           250.5
                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               Attempted................               9               1               9           0.033           0.297
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                                            SFA Survey
                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               Completed................             167               1             167           0.333          55.611
                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               Attempted................               9               1               9           0.083           0.747
                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 6778]]

 
                                            Reimbursement Claims Data
                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               Completed................             167               1             167               1             167
                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               Attempted................               9               1               9           0.083           0.747
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                                            School Financial Administrators
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                                            Roster Verification Form
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                                               Completed................             528               1             528            0.25             132
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                                            School Meal Count Verification Form
                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               Completed................             528               1             528               1             528
                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            Meal Transaction Observation Form
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                                               Completed................             528               1             528            0.25             132
                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            School Liaisons
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                                            Student Certification and Enrollment Form
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                                               Completed................             528               1             528             0.5             264
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                                            Meal Claims
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                                               Completed................             528               1             528            0.25             132
                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            SUBTOTALS...................           1,232  ..............           3,168  ..............        1,662.90
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                                            Households
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                                            Household Survey
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                                               Completed................        5,474.00               1           5,474            0.75        4,105.50
                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               Attempted................           1,369               1           1,369            0.05           68.45
                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            SUBTOTALS...................           6,843  ..............           6,843  ..............        4,173.95
                                            GRAND TOTAL.................           8,075  ..............          10,011  ..............        5,836.85
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    Dated: February 3, 2012.
Jeffrey J. Tribiano,
Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-2966 Filed 2-8-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P