[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 5, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33156-33158]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-13497]


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 Notices
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  Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 5, 2012 / 
Notices  

[[Page 33156]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Economic Research Service


Notice of Intent To Request New Information Collection

AGENCY: Economic Research Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice invites the general public and other public agencies to send 
comments regarding any aspect of this proposed information collection. 
This is a new collection to provide state-level estimates of the 
prevalence and geographic distribution of School Food Authorities 
(SFAs) conducting Farm to School activities.

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received on or before 
August 6, 2012 to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this notice to Katherine 
Ralston, Food Economics Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, STOP 1800, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., 
Washington, DC 20250-1800. Comments may also be submitted via fax to 
the attention of Katherine Ralston at 202-245-4779 or via email to 
[email protected], or through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
(http://www.regulations.gov), which provides online instructions for 
submitting comments electronically.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katherine Ralston, 
[email protected], Tel. 202-694-5463.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Farm to School Census.
    OMB Number: 0536-XXXX.
    Expiration Date: Three years from the date of approval.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Abstract: The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 directed USDA 
to carry out, through grants and technical assistance, a program to 
help eligible schools, State and local agencies, Indian tribal 
organizations, agricultural producers or groups of agricultural 
producers, and nonprofit entities implement farm to school activities 
that promote and improve access to local foods in eligible schools. The 
Act funded this requirement with an authorization of $5,000,000, to be 
allocated with consideration for geographic diversity and equitable 
treatment of rural, urban, and tribal communities as it relates to the 
distribution of farm to school programs.
    The Farm to School Census will be used to establish a baseline 
measure of local food purchases in schools and set priorities for USDA 
programming related to local school food sourcing. The Farm to School 
Census data will be used in mapping School Food Authorities (SFAs) that 
procured local foods for school meal programs in 2011-12 in order to 
characterize the geographic distribution of farm to school programs and 
obtain State-level estimates of the prevalence of local procurement 
among SFAs. These data will be used to set priorities for USDA outreach 
and technical support.
    The 2011-12 Farm to School Census questionnaire will be 
disseminated electronically to all public school district SFA food 
service directors as part of an invitation to participate from the Food 
and Nutrition Service (FNS) Child Nutrition Division, through State 
Child Nutrition Directors. State Child Nutrition Directors will also 
forward 3 reminder emails from FNS. A sample of non-respondents will be 
followed up by phone as part of an analysis of non-response. Data 
collection instruments will be kept as simple and respondent-friendly 
as possible. Responses are voluntary.
    The map of local procurement by SFAs will require geocode boundary 
coordinates for each SFA. While boundary coordinates are available from 
the U.S. Census Bureau for school districts, SFAs can include more than 
one school district. Available data on SFAs from the Food and Nutrition 
Service is only available for SFAs that submit verification reports and 
is thus not a complete list of SFAs. Therefore, in order to obtain a 
more complete list, we will ask State Child Nutrition Directors to 
submit a list of SFAs with business contact information for SFA Food 
Service Directors in each State. This list will be matched to geocode 
boundary coordinates from the U.S. Census Bureau and characteristics 
such as enrollment and rural/urban status from the Common Core of Data, 
a data file compiled annually by the U.S. Department of Education's 
National Center of Education Statistics. Geocode boundary coordinates 
will be used to map SFAs purchasing local foods. Characteristics such 
as enrollment and rural/urban status will be used to analyze non-
response and develop non-response weights. Business contact information 
will be used to follow-up a sample of non-respondents by telephone for 
an analysis of non-response.
    Respondents will be informed that the information collected will be 
used for non-statistical purposes, i.e., to map each individual School 
Food Authority and the proportion of food expenditures going to 
locally-produced foods. Given the intended purpose of this information 
collection, to create a publicly accessible map of the extent of local 
purchasing by individual SFAs, this information collection is not 
covered by the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical 
Efficiency Act of 2002. The questionnaire will inform respondents that 
ERS will treat all information generated or gathered in the Farm to 
School Census in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (5 
U.S.C. 552).
    Affected Public: The first respondent group is the universe of 
State Child Nutrition Directors from the 50 States and the District of 
Columbia, numbering 51 in total. The second respondent group is the 
universe of SFA food service directors in the 50 States and the 
District of Columbia, excluding private schools and charter schools, 
numbering 13,629.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: All 51 State Child Nutrition 
Directors are expected to forward the invitation to participate in the 
Census and 3 reminder emails from FNS. Forty State Child Nutrition 
Directors (78 percent) are expected to provide a list of SFAs in the 
State with contact information, and 10,494 SFA Food Service Directors 
(77 percent) are expected to complete the Census questionnaire. The 
expected response rate for State Child Nutrition

[[Page 33157]]

Directors is based on consultation with FNS Farm to School Program 
liaisons in FNS regional offices. The expected response rate for SFA 
Food Service Director is based on experience with the 2008 North 
Carolina Farm to School Survey, which was an email survey of similar 
length distributed by email with 3 reminders from the State Child 
Nutrition Director. A sample of 100 non-responding SFA Food Service 
Directors will be followed up by phone as part of an analysis of non-
response.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 4 responses from 
State Child Nutrition Directors for the request to forward the 
invitation to participate and 3 reminder emails to SFAs, 1 response 
from State Child Nutrition Directors for a list of SFAs with contact 
information, 1 response from SFA Food Service Directors for the Farm to 
School Census, and 1 response from Census non-responders contacted by 
telephone for follow-up.
    Estimated Total Responses: 204 responses from 51 State Child 
Nutrition Directors to the request to forward the survey invitation and 
3 reminder emails, 40 responses from State Child Nutrition Directors to 
the request for a list of SFAs in the State, 10,494 responses from SFAs 
completing the Farm to School Census, and 100 SFAs selected as a sample 
of non-respondents.
    Estimated Time per Response: State Child Nutrition Directors. The 
request to State Child Nutrition Directors to forward the Census 
invitation and 3 reminder emails from the Director of Child Nutrition 
to SFA Food Service Directors is estimated to each take 15 minutes, for 
a total of 1 hour.
    The request to State Child Nutrition Directors to provide the list 
of SFAs in the State is estimated to take 1 hour. Non-responding State 
Child Nutrition Directors are expected to take 10 minutes determining 
that they are unable to provide this list in a timely fashion.
    SFA Food Service Directors. We estimate the average time for 
responding SFA Food Service Directors as 9 minutes on average. This 
average includes 20 minutes for SFAs that have a local procurement 
program, and 5 minutes for those that do not, based on reviews of the 
data collection instrument by food service directors who are registered 
as members of the National Farm to School Network. About 20 percent of 
SFAs are estimated to have a local procurement program, based on 
results from the 2009-10 School Food Purchase Study. In addition, 
responding Food Service Directors are expected to spend an average of 1 
minute total reading reminder emails either before they respond or 
after they respond, since reminders will be sent to all SFAs regardless 
of whether they have already responded.
    We estimate that non-responding SFA Food Service Directors will 
spend 1 minute each reading the initial invitation to participate, a 
first reminder email, a second reminder email, and a third reminder 
email for a total of 4 minutes.
    Non-responding Food Service Directors contacted by phone are 
expected to spend an average of 15 minutes answering an abridged set of 
questions about the presence and volume of local food procurement for 
the SFA.
    Estimated Total Burden on Respondents: 1,901 hours. See the table 
below for details.

                                                Reporting Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                     Estimated
                                     Estimated     Responses or                      Estimated     total annual
                                     number of     non-responses   Total annual   average number     hours of
           Description            respondents or   annually per     reponses or   of minutes per   response and
                                       non-         respondent     non-responses    response or    non-response
                                    respondents                                    non-response*      burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forwarding request to                         51               4             204              15              51
 participate from FNS Child
 Nutrition Division to SFA Food
 Service Directors, plus 3
 reminders......................
Request to State Directors for                40               1              40              60              40
 list of School Food Authorities
 and Director Contact
 Information....................
Non-respondents to request for                11               1              11              10               2
 list...........................
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Burden, State Child     ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............              93
     Nutrition Directors........
Farm to School Census for School          10,494               1          10,494               9           1,574
 Food Authority Directors.......
Non-respondents.................           3,135               1           3,135               4             209
Follow-up phone calls for non-               100               1             100              15              25
 response analysis..............
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Burden, School Food     ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............           1,808
     Authority Directors........
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Burden................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............           1,901
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Average minutes per response and nonresponse are based on reviews of the questionnaire by School Food
  Authority Directors that are members of the National Farm to School Network. Complete responses to the Farm to
  School Census questionnaire are estimated to require 20 minutes in School Food Authorities that purchase food
  locally, and 5 minutes for School Food Authorities that do not purchase food locally, with an estimated 20
  percent purchasing locally produced food based on the 2009-10 School Food Purchase Study. In addition,
  respondents are estimated to spend an average of 1 minute total reading reminder emails either before they
  respond, or after they respond, since reminders will be sent to all SFAs regardless of whether they have
  already responded.

    Comments: All written comments will be open for public inspection 
in the Resource Center of the Economic Research Service during regular 
business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday) at 355 E 
St. SW., Room 04P33, Washington, DC 20024-4221. 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. 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

[[Page 33158]]

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.

    Dated: May 22, 2012.
Mary Bohman,
Administrator, Economic Research Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-13497 Filed 6-4-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-18-P