[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 100 (Thursday, May 23, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30844-30846]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-12245]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Regulations, 
Quality Control

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: As required by 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 Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program's Regulations, Part 275--Quality Control. 
Specifically, the burden associated with the collection of information 
for the sampling plan, arbitration process and the good cause process. 
This is a revision of a currently approved collection, OMB No. 0584-
0303.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before July 22, 2013.

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 the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical or other technological

[[Page 30845]]

collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Comments may be sent to Patrick Lucrezio, Food and Nutrition 
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 
822, Alexandria, VA 22302. Comments may also be submitted 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 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 Patrick 
Lucrezio at 703-305-2498.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Title: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program's (SNAP) Quality 
Control Regulations, Part 275.
    OMB Number: 0584-0303.
    Expiration Date: December 31, 2013.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: There are three components of the Quality Control (QC) 
system that are covered in this proposed information collection. They 
are: (1) The sampling plan; (2) the arbitration process; and (3) the 
good cause process. Each State is required to develop a sampling plan 
that demonstrates the integrity of its case selection procedures. The 
QC system is designed to measure each State agency's payment error rate 
based on a statistically valid sample of SNAP cases. A State agency's 
payment error rate represents the proportion of cases that were 
reported through a QC review as being ineligible, overissued and 
underissued SNAP benefits.
    The QC system contains procedures for resolving differences in 
review findings between State agencies and FNS. This is referred to as 
the arbitration process. The QC system also contains procedures that 
provide relief for State agencies from all or a part of a QC liability 
when a State agency can demonstrate that a part or all of an excessive 
error rate was due to an unusual event that had an uncontrollable 
impact on the State agency's payment error rate. This is referred to as 
the good cause process.
    The approved burden for the QC system includes the burden for the 
QC sampling plan, the arbitration process and the good cause process. 
The annual reporting burden associated with the QC sampling plan 
remains at 265 hours. We estimate the annual reporting burdens 
associated with arbitration and good cause processes to total 792 and 
320 hours, respectively. The decrease in the proposed burden from the 
currently approved 936 to 792 hours for the arbitration process is due 
to a decrease in the estimated number of responses per State agency 
from 2.6 to 2.2. These decreases are a result of State agencies less 
frequently disagreeing with FNS' findings. The proposed annual 
reporting burden for the good cause process has increased from 160 
hours to 320 hours due to an increase in the number of states using the 
good cause rule from 1 to 2 per year. The total reporting burden for 
the QC system is, therefore, 1,377 hours, a decrease of 144 hours from 
the previously approved burden.
    The proposed annual recordkeeping burden associated with the QC 
sampling plan remains at 1.25 hours per year. The proposed annual 
recordkeeping burdens associated with arbitration has decreased from 
0.92 to 0.7788 hour and the good cause process has increased to 0.0472 
hour. The recordkeeping burden for the arbitration process was due to 
the decrease in estimated number of responses per State from 2.6 to 
2.2. The recordkeeping burden for the good cause process has increased 
from 0.0236 to 0.0472 hour due to an additional State's use of the 
rule. The total burden for recordkeeping has decreased from 2.19 hours 
to 2.076 hours. As a result, the total annual burden for the QC system, 
as proposed by this notice, increased from 1,363 hours to 1,379.076 
hours; a total increase of 16.076 hours. We are requesting a three-year 
approval from OMB for this information collection.

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                                                                                                                          Estimated avg.
                                                                             Estimated       Responses     Total annual     of      Estimated
              Affected public                        Requirement            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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State Agencies............................  Sampling Plan...............              53               1              53               5             265
State Agencies............................  Arbitration Process.........              15             2.2              33              24             792
State Agencies............................  Good Cause Process..........               2               1               2             160             320
    Grand Total Reporting.................  ............................              53  ..............              88  ..............           1,377
                                                                         -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  Recordkeeping Burden
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State Agencies............................  Sampling Plan...............              53               1              53          0.0236            1.25
State Agencies............................  Arbitration Process.........              15             2.2              33          0.0236          0.7788
State Agencies............................  Good Cause Process..........               2               1               2          0.0236          0.0472
    Grand Total Recordkeeping.............  ............................              53  ..............              88  ..............           2.076
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                                                                                                     Estimated
                                                                                   Total annual        total
                Affected public                            Requirement             responses for     reporting
                                                                                    reporting &    recordkeeping
                                                                                   recordkeeping       hours
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                                   Overall Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden
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State Agencies................................  Sampling Plan...................             106          266.25
State Agencies................................  Arbitration Process.............              99        792.7788
State Agencies................................  Good Cause Process..............               4        320.0472
                                                                                 -------------------------------
    OVERALL TOTAL BURDEN......................  ................................             209        1,379.08
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[[Page 30846]]

    The Combined Quality Control System's Estimated Burden (includes 
the burdens associated with the Sampling Plan, Arbitration, and Good 
Cause): (Reporting 1,377 + Recordkeeping Burden Hour) = 1,379.076 
hours.

    Dated: May 14, 2013.
Audrey Rowe,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-12245 Filed 5-22-13; 8:45 am]
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