[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 160 (Friday, August 17, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41043-41045]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-17722]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request--Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), 
Store Applications, Forms FNS-252, FNS-252-E, FNS-252-FE, FNS-252-R, 
FNS-252-2 and FNS-252-C

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 collection. This is a revision of a currently approved 
collection in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and 
concerns Retail Store Applications (Forms FNS-252; FNS-252-E; FNS-252-
FE; FNS-252-R; FNS-252-2; and FNS-252-C).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 16, 2018.

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 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: Nicole Budzius, Chief, Retailer 
Administration Branch, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, 
Retailer Policy and Management Division, Food and Nutrition Service, 
U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 422, 
Alexandria, VA 22302. Comments may be faxed to the attention of Ms. 
Budzius at (703) 305-1863 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 FNS office located at 3101 Park 
Center Drive, Room 422, Alexandria, Virginia 22302, during regular 
business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday).
    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 Nicole 
Budzius at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)--Store 
Applications.
    Form Number: FNS-252; 252-E; 252-FE; 252-R; 252-2; and 252-C.
    OMB Number: 0584-0008.
    Expiration Date: January 31, 2021.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection of 
information.
    Abstract: Section 9(a) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as 
amended, (the Act) (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) requires that FNS determine 
the eligibility of retail food stores and certain food service 
organizations to accept SNAP benefits and to monitor them for 
compliance and continued eligibility and to ensure Program integrity.
    FNS is also responsible for requiring updates to application 
information and reviewing retail food store applications at least once 
every five years to ensure that each firm is under the same ownership 
and continues to meet eligibility requirements. The Act specifies that 
only those applicants whose participation will ``effectuate the 
purposes of the program'' should be authorized.
    There are six forms associated with this approved Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) information collection number 0584-0008--
the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Application for Stores, 
Forms FNS-252 (English and Spanish) and FNS-252-E (paper and online 
version respectively); Farmer's Market Application, Form FNS-252-FE; 
Meal Service Application, Form FNS-252-2; Reauthorization Application, 
Form FNS-252-R; and the Corporation Supplemental Application, Form FNS-
252-C used for individual (chain) stores under a corporation. For new 
authorizations, the majority of applicants use form FNS-252 or FNS-252-
E (paper or online, respectively). FNS is responsible for reviewing 
retail food store applications at least once every five years to ensure 
that each firm is under the same ownership and continues to meet 
eligibility guidelines. In order to accomplish this regulatory 
requirement, form FNS-252-R is used for reauthorization. In addition to 
these forms, during authorization or reauthorization, FNS may conduct 
an on-site store visit of the firm. The store visit of the firm helps 
FNS confirm that the information provided on the application is 
correct. An FNS representative or store visit contractor obtains 
permission to fill in the store visit checklist, photograph the store 
and asks the store owner or manager about the continued ownership of 
the store.
    Applicants using form FNS-252-E or FNS-252-FE must also first self-
register for a Level 1 access account through the USDA eAuthentication 
system in order to start an online application. USDA eAuthentication 
facilitates the electronic authentication of an individual.
    The Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill) amended the Food and 
Nutrition Act of 2008 (the Act) and the Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program (SNAP) revised all retailer application forms (paper 
and electronic) in January, 2018, as a result of regulatory changes 
required by the Act and amended by the 2014 Farm Bill. Such changes to 
the Act amended the definition of ``retail food store'' to clarify when 
a retailer is a restaurant rather than a retail food store. Among the 
changes made to the SNAP retailer application form(s), the Food and 
Nutrition Service (FNS) added a new question, Question 18, concerning 
restaurant licensing, and revised Question 22, regarding total retail 
sales on Form FNS-252. Currently, respondents select a Yes or No 
response if they have or are applying for a restaurant license for 
their store in Question 18. Question 22 currently asks retailers to 
enter their total retail sales by category in dollars for a one year 
period. Sales categories include gasoline, lottery, tobacco, alcohol, 
other nonfood, and hot foods, cold prepared foods, accessory foods, and 
staple foods. Due to concern with the manner in which FNS is currently 
asking for retailer sales data, FNS is updating the retailer 
application question regarding sales. FNS is also removing the question 
concerning restaurant licensing and the requirement for businesses 
located in community property states to provide spousal information for 
each owner. Question 22 will revert back to asking

[[Page 41044]]

for percentages for each category as opposed to exact dollar amounts. 
FNS will also change from asking for individual sales amounts for each 
non-food category to asking for the percentage of total sales in 
gasoline and an aggregate percentage of all other total non-foods sold 
by the firm.
    FNS intends to (1) rename Question 3, ``Doing Business As (if 
different from Store Name)'' to ``Legal Business Name (if different 
from Store Name)'', (2) update Question 14 to remove the sentence 
requiring spousal information for businesses located in community 
property states, and in the Business Title section remove the word 
``spouse'' in questions 14a-14d, (3) delete Question 18 regarding 
restaurant licensing, (4) revise Question 22 concerning total retail 
sales in the following manner: (a) Respondents will provide a response 
for either estimated or actual sales for a one year period. If actual 
sales are provided, the respondent will indicate the applicable tax 
year for this information. FNS also added back in the option to provide 
estimated retail sales per day, week, month, or year for total retail 
sales in Question 22b, and (b) provide a percentage of total retail 
sales for each category of product sold: Staple foods; accessory foods; 
hot foods, cold foods prepared on site; gasoline, and other non-food 
items, (5) add a new sentence to the Certification and Signature 
Statement to more clearly outline the risk for owners that are 
disqualified or fined for violation of Program rules; and (6) where 
appropriate, re-number the questions and update assistance material 
such as the General and Specific Instructions sections and on-line help 
screens. With the exception of the question identified in 4(b) above, 
no new questions or data information is being asked.
    A draft of the proposed revision to Question 22 is provided in 
Attachment A. FNS also shared a draft of the proposed changes with our 
stakeholders. The proposed revision incorporates the feedback FNS 
received with the exception of any changes that would render FNS unable 
to make an eligibility decision or complete retailer monitoring 
activities. FNS would like to take this opportunity to clarify that 
while cold foods prepared on-site, such as at an in-store deli or salad 
bar, are eligible for purchase with SNAP benefits, collection of the 
percentage sales information is still necessary for FNS to make a 
restaurant determination. Additionally, all information provided on the 
application is information ``provided by the retailer'' and is 
protected under Section 9(c) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as 
amended, (the Act) (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) and as such, not subject to 
release under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The feedback FNS 
incorporated includes asking for sales percentages as opposed to an 
exact sales amount for each category, removing the requirement to 
provide individual sales figures for lottery, tobacco, and alcohol, 
rewording ``cold prepared foods'' to ``cold food prepared on site,'' 
continuing to separate hots foods from cold foods, and clarifying the 
instructions for Question 22. The aggregated percentages of non-food 
sales, of accessory sales, and of gas sales, in particular, will 
provide FNS with an indicator as to whether a criteria B eligibility or 
restaurant assessment are necessary.
    FNS estimates that the hourly burden time per response associated 
with this information collection for respondents remains unchanged from 
our previous submission. The revisions to the application(s) are due to 
program adjustments and the update to Question 3, the removal of a 
sentence in Question 14, the deletion of Question 18, the reformatting 
of information collected in Question 22; and the revision to the 
Certification and Signature Statement.
    FNS used FY 2017 data in our calculation of burden estimates 
associated with this information collection as this was the most 
complete data available to us at this time. Table A below clarifies the 
burden of this information collection.
    As currently approved by OMB, the hourly burden rate per response 
varies by the type of application used and the response time per 
respondent varies from 1 minute to 19 minutes. We estimate the new 
burden, on average, to be 9.13 minutes per respondent. There is no 
recordkeeping burden associated with these forms.
    Affected Public: Business for Profit; Retail food stores; Farmers' 
Markets, Military Commissaries and Meal Services.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The total estimated number of 
respondents is 143,354 annually.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: Respondents complete 
either 1 application form at initial authorization or 1 reauthorization 
application, as appropriate, for a total of 1 response each.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 143,354.
    Estimated Time per Response: 9.13 minutes (0.1534941). The 
estimated time response varies from 1 minute to 19 minutes depending on 
respondent group, as shown in the table below:

                                                       Table A--Reporting Estimate of Hour Burden
                                                             [Summary of burden--#0584-0008]
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                                                          (a)                (b)             (c)          (d)          (e)          (f)          (g)
Affected public                 Respondent type..  Description of...  Form No..........    Number of    Number of        Total    Hours per        Total
                                                   collection                            respondents    responses       annual     response       burden
                                                    activity.                                                 per    responses                     (exf)
                                                                                                       respondent        (cxd)
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                                                                        Reporting
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Farms, Business for not for     SNAP Retailer,     Applications       252..............        1,381            1        1,381       0.3167       437.36
 profit.                         Farmers' Market,   Received.         252-E............       31,480            1       31,480         0.25        7,870
                                 and Meal Service. Applications
                                                    Received.
                                                   E-Authentication.  252-E and FNS-252-      33,213            1      33,2139       0.1336     4,437.25
                                                                       FE.
                                                   Applications       252-FE...........        1,730            1        1,730         0.25       432.50
                                                    Received.
                                                   Applications       252-2............          386            1          386         0.25        96.50
                                                    Received.
                                                   Applications       252-C............        5,658            1        5,658         0.25     1,414.50
                                                    Received.
                                                   Store Visits.....  .................       43,126            1       43,126       0.0167       720.20
                                                   Reauthorization..  252-R............       26,377            1       26,377         0.25     6,594.25
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[[Page 41045]]

 
    Sub-Total For Farm & Business......................................................      143,351            1      143,351    0.1534873    22,002.56
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Federal.......................  Military           Applications       252-E............            3            1            3       0.3167         0.95
                                 Commissaries.      Received.
                                                   Reauthorization..  252-R............            0            1            0         0.25            0
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    Sub-Total For Federal Respondents..................................................            3            1            3       0.3167         0.95
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        Grand Total Reporting Burden...................................................      143,354            1      143,354    0.1534907    22,003.51
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SUMMARY OF BURDEN FOR THIS COLLECTION..................................................      143,354            1      143,354    0.1534941       22,004
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* Note: The respondents for the 252-E and the 252-FE are the same respondents for e-Authentication and therefore not double counted in the total number
  of respondents.

    Attachment A: Draft FNS-252.

    Dated: August 8, 2018.
Brandon Lipps,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-17722 Filed 8-16-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-30-P