[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 61 (Friday, March 29, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11928-11929]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-06021]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program Requirement for National Directory of New Hires 
Employment Verification

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 this proposed information collection. This collection is a revision 
of a currently approved collection. In 2016, an Interim Final Rule 
titled ``Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Requirement for 
National Directory of New Hires Employment Verification and Annual 
Program Activity Reporting,'' was published in the Federal Register. 
This rule codified section 4013 of the Agricultural Act of 2014, 
requiring State agencies to access employment data through the National 
Directory of New Hires (NDNH) at the time of certification, including 
recertification, to determine eligibility status and correct benefit 
amount for SNAP applicants. The rule also amended regulations to 
increase the frequency of the requirement for State agency submission 
of the Program Activity Statement from an annual requirement based on 
the State fiscal year to a quarterly requirement. The burden hours for 
the increase in submission frequency for the Program Activity 
Statement, form FNS-366B, have been merged into the Food Programs 
Reporting System (FPRS) information collection, OMB# 0584-0594 
(expiration 9/30/2019). Therefore, this notice seeks to renew the 
burden hours associated with the National Directory of New Hires 
portion of this information collection only and removes burden hours 
and references for the Program Activity Statement, form FNS-366B.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before May 28, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: Jane Duffield, Food and Nutrition 
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 
818 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 Jane 
Duffield at 703-605-4385.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 
use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other 
technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Title: SNAP Requirement for National Directory of New Hires 
Employment Verification.
    Form Number: N/A.
    OMB Number: 0584-0608.
    Expiration Date: May 31, 2019.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) 
regulations at 7 CFR 272.16 require that each State agency must 
establish a system to compare identifiable information about each adult 
household member against data from the U.S. Department of Health and 
Human Services' (HHS) National Directory of New Hires (NDNH). This 
comparison will be used to determine the eligibility status of the 
household and determine the correct benefit amount the household should 
receive.
    Applicant and Recipient Screening: The State agency must compare 
identifiable information about each adult household member against 
information from the NDNH. States must make the comparison of matched 
data at the time of application and recertification and must 
independently verify any positive match results.
    Verification of Match: The State agency must independently verify 
the information prior to taking any adverse action against an 
individual. Should the State agency receive employment information via 
the NDNH that was previously unreported by the household, the State 
agency may issue a Request for Contact to the household to verify the 
information or contact the employer directly, depending upon applicable 
reporting requirements as defined at 7 CFR 273.12.
    Notice: The Notice of Adverse Action or Notice of Denial is issued 
by State agencies to participating households whose benefits will be 
reduced or terminated as the result of a change in household 
circumstances. Should the State agency independently verify unreported 
or underreported income discovered through NDNH, and that income 
results in a reduction of benefits or change in eligibility, the State 
agency must take action by issuing the household a Notice of Adverse 
Action or Notice of Denial and adjusting benefits accordingly.
    Burden Estimates: The previous burden for this collection was 
252,432 reporting hours (209,899 reporting burden hours for State 
agencies + 41,583 reporting burden hours for households). The requested 
burden is 249,253, which represents a decrease of 3,180 hours for the 
removal of the Program Activity Statement (FNS-366B) (which is 
accounted for under OMB#0584-0594; expiration date: 9/30/2019) burden 
hours from this collection. There are no recordkeeping requirements 
associated with this collection.
    Affected Public: State and local agencies, households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 891,125.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 13.78.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 12,279,702.50.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.0205569019.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 249,252.64 hours. See 
the table below for estimated total annual burden for each type of 
respondent.

[[Page 11929]]



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                                                                                                                                 Difference
                                                   Number of    Frequency      Total        Burden       Total       Previous      due to     Difference
              CFR                    Action       respondents      per         annual     hours per      burden     submission    program       due to
                                                                respondent   responses     response      hours     total hours    changes    adjustments
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                                                                     State Agencies
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272.2.........................  Program Activity            0            0            0            0            0            0            0        3,180
                                 Statement (FNS-
                                 366B).
272.16........................  NDNH--Applicant/           53            1    9,158,240        0.017   155,690.08   155,690.08            0         0.00
                                 Recipient
                                 Screening.
272.16........................  NDNH--Verificati           53            1    1,237,600         0.03       37,128       37,128            0         0.00
                                 on of Match.
272.16........................  NDNH--Notice of            53            1      495,040         0.03    14,851.20     14,851.2            0         0.00
                                 Adverse Action
                                 or Notice of
                                 Denial.
                                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  53..............            1   10,890,883    .01906818   207,669.28   210,849.28            0        3,180
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                                                                       Households
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272.16........................  NDNH--Request         891,072            1      891,072         0.03    26,732.16    26,732.16            0         0.00
                                 for Contact.
272.16........................  NDNH--Notice of       495,040            1      495,040         0.03    14,851.20    14,851.20            0         0.00
                                 Adverse Action
                                 or Notice of
                                 Denial.
                                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................      891,072            1    1,386,112         0.03    41,583.36    41,583.36            0         0.00
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    Dated: March 19, 2019.
Brandon Lipps,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-06021 Filed 3-28-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P