[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 88 (Monday, May 7, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26734-26735]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-10934]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

National Institute of Food and Agriculture


Notice of Intent To Extend a Currently Approved Information 
Collection

AGENCY: National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
regulations (5 CFR 1320) that implement the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), this notice announces the National 
Institute of Food and Agriculture's (NIFA) intention to request 
approval to extend the currently approved information collection for 
the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). There are no 
planned revisions.

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by July 6, 
2012, to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date 
will be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: Written comments concerning this notice may be submitted by 
any of the following methods: Email: [email protected]; Fax: 202-
720-0857; Mail: Office of Information Technology (OIT), NIFA, USDA, 
STOP 2216, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-2216

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gidel Mendez, eGovernment Program 
Leader; Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program.
    OMB Number: 0524-0044.
    Expiration Date of Current Approval: 07/31/2012.
    Type of Request: Intent to seek approval to extend the currently 
approved information collection for three years. There are no planned 
revisions.
    Abstract: The USDA's NIFA Expanded Food and Nutrition Education 
Program (EFNEP) is a unique program that began in 1969 and is designed 
to reach limited resource audiences, especially youth and families with 
young children. Extension professionals train and supervise 
paraprofessionals and volunteers who teach food and nutrition 
information and skills to limited resources families and youth. EFNEP 
operates through the 1862 and 1890 Land Grant Universities in all 50 
states, the District of Columbia, and in American Samoa, Guam, 
Micronesia, Northern Marianas, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
    The objectives of EFNEP are to assist limited resource families and 
youth in acquiring the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and changed 
behaviors necessary for nutritionally sound diets, and to contribute to 
their personal development and the improvement of the total family diet 
and nutritional well-being.
    NIFA sponsors an integrated data collection process that is used at 
the county, state, and federal level. The current data collection 
system, the Nutrition Education Evaluation and Reporting System 
(NEERS), captures EFNEP impacts. Its purpose is to gauge if the federal 
assistance provided has had an impact on the target audience. It also 
enables EFNEP staff to make programmatic improvements in delivering 
nutrition education. Further, the data collected provides information 
for program management decisions and diagnostic assessments of 
participant needs. Specifications for this system were developed by a 
committee of representatives from across the United States and are in 
compliance with Federal standards for maintaining, collecting, and 
presenting data on race and ethnicity and protecting personally 
identifiable information.
    NEERS stores information on: (1) Adult program participants, their 
family structure, and dietary practices; (2) youth group participants; 
and (3) staff. NEERS consists of separate software sub-systems for the 
County and the State levels (State also refers to U.S. Territories). 
Data is exported electronically to the State-level system. University 
staff generates State-level reports for State-level stakeholders and to 
guide program management decisions. They also export State-level data 
electronically to the Federal office for State and National assessments 
of the program's impact. The State compiled data is aggregated using 
statistical software and then is used to create National reports which 
are made available to the public.
    There are no revisions to the currently approved collection.

[[Page 26735]]

    The evaluation processes of EFNEP remain consistent with the 
requirements of Congressional legislation and OMB. The Government 
Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-62), the 
Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act (FAIR) (Pub. L. 105-207), and 
the Agricultural, Research, Extension and Education Reform Act (AREERA) 
of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-185), together with OMB requirements, support the 
reporting requirements requested in this information collection. One of 
the five Presidential Management Agenda initiatives, Budget and 
Performance Integration, builds on GPRA and earlier efforts to identify 
program goals and performance measures, and link them to the budget 
process. The FAIR act requires the development and implementation of a 
system to monitor and evaluate agricultural research and extension 
activities in order to measure the impact and effectiveness of 
research, extension, and education programs. AREERA requires a 
performance evaluation to be conducted to determine whether federally 
funded agricultural research, extension, and education programs result 
in public goods that have national or multistate significance.
    Estimate of Burden: The number of respondents has increased from 74 
to 75 institutions (e.g., state responses), thus constituting a total 
annual estimated burden of 93,225 hours for this data collection 
process--for participant education and data entry, aggregation, and 
reporting. Burden estimates are reflective of the previous version of 
the data collection system. The burden for respondents was estimated 
through feedback from a survey sent to nine institute-level EFNEP 
Coordinators. Six surveys were returned. Burden takes into account only 
the information collected in aggregate from the institutions and the 
record keeping activities that take place in order to provide the 
aggregated data; it does not include burden related to data entry at 
the local level. Local data is used by the county and institute levels 
to provide feedback to participants and to guide county and institute 
level program management, impact and accountability decisions and 
reporting.
    Comments: 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; (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.
    Obtaining a Copy of the Information Collection: A copy of the 
information collection and related instructions may be obtained free of 
charge by contacting Gidel Mendez as directed above.

    Done in Washington, DC, April 11, 2012.
Catherine E. Woteki,
Under Secretary, Research, Education, and Economics.
[FR Doc. 2012-10934 Filed 5-4-12; 8:45 am]
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