[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 63 (Tuesday, April 2, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12577-12580]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-06318]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request--Federal Claims Collection Methods for Supplemental 
Nutrition Assistance Program Recipient Claims

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service, 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 proposed information collections. This

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revision of an existing collection announces the intent of the Food and 
Nutrition Service to revise and continue the requirements associated 
with initiating and conducting Federal collection actions against 
households with delinquent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 
(SNAP) recipient debts.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before June 3, 2019 to 
be assured consideration.

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 will 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 Jane Duffield, Chief, State Administration 
Branch, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Food and Nutrition 
Service, USDA, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 818, Alexandria, Virginia, 
22302. Comments may also be submitted via fax to the attention of Jane 
Duffield at 703-605-0795. 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 
office of the Food and Nutrition Service during regular business hours 
(8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday) at 3101 Park Center 
Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 22302, Room 818.
    All comments will be summarized and included in the request for 
Office of Management and Budget approval of the information collection. 
All comments will become a matter of public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of this information collection should be directed to Richard 
Duckworth at (703) 605-4271.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Federal Claims Collection Methods for Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program Recipient Claims.
    OMB Number: 0584-0446.
    Form Number: None.
    Expiration Date: September 30, 2019.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: Section 13(b) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as 
amended (7 U.S.C. 2022(b)), and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 
Program (SNAP) regulations at 7 CFR 273.18 require State agencies to 
refer delinquent debtors for SNAP benefit over-issuance to the U.S. 
Department of the Treasury for collection. The Debt Collection 
Improvement Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-134), as amended by the Digital 
Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113-101), requires 
these debts to be referred to Treasury for collection when they are 120 
days or more delinquent. Through the Treasury Offset Program (TOP), 31 
CFR part 285, payments such as Federal income tax refunds, Federal 
salaries and other Federal payments payable to these delinquent debtors 
will be offset and the amount applied to the delinquent debt. TOP 
places a burden on States agencies and/or former SNAP recipients who 
owe delinquent debts in three areas: (1) 60-day notices from State 
agencies to debtors that their debt will be referred to TOP; (2) State-
level submissions; and (3) automated data processing (ADP). Below, the 
burden narrative and chart depicts the burden estimates by these three 
areas and affected public.

TOP 60-Day Notice Burden

    The burden associated with the information collection involves both 
the households (debtors) and the State agencies. The TOP 60-day notice 
notifies the household of the proposed referral to TOP and provides the 
right for review and appeal. The State agency prepares and mails the 
notices as well as responds to inquiries and appeals. The household, in 
turn, receives and reads the notice and may make an inquiry or appeal 
the impending action. Based on an average of the number of records for 
claims the States sent to TOP for calendar years 2015, 2016, 2017 and 
2018, we estimate that State agencies will produce and send and that 
households will read 305,020 TOP 60-day notices. We estimate that the 
households will submit and State agencies will respond to about 21,351 
phone and informal inquiries. Households will file and the States will 
respond to an estimated 1,829 appeals. An additional 3,000 notices will 
be sent directly from FNS to Federal employees concerning the potential 
offset of their Federal salary. Historically, 30 percent of these 
notices will result in a phone inquiry from a household; and 
approximately 20 notices will result in a formal appeal to FNS 
requiring documentation from the State. Thus, the total number of 
responses for the 60-day notice and household inquiry is 660,340 
responses (332,120 household responses + 328,220 State Agency 
responses) per year resulting in an annual reporting burden of 43,563 
hours. The existing burden for activity relating to the 60-day notice 
is 33,960.80 hours. The net increase of 9,602 hours is due to an 
increase in the average number of 60-day notices sent to debtors by 
State agencies between 2014 and 2018.

TOP State-Level Submissions

    Treasury prescribes specific processes and file formats for FNS to 
use to send debts to TOP. FNS provides guidance and file formats to 
State agencies and monitors their compliance with such. State agencies 
must submit an annual letter to FNS certifying that all of the debts 
submitted in the past and all debts to be submitted in the upcoming 
calendar year by the State agency to TOP are valid and legally 
enforceable in the amount stated. FNS estimates that it will take State 
agencies a total of 26.5 hours per year for these State submissions. 
This burden has not changed with this activity. State agencies also 
report TOP collections on the FNS-209 form, ``Status of Claims Against 
Households.'' The burden for completing the FNS-209 is covered under 
OMB number 0584-0594.

TOP ADP Burden

    The burden for ADP includes weekly file processing, monthly address 
requests and system maintenance. Weekly and monthly file processing 
includes requesting addresses to use to send out 60-day notices, adding 
and maintaining debts in TOP, correcting errors on unprocessable 
records, and posting weekly collection files. Much of this activity is 
completed using automation and involves an estimated 1.4 million 
records annually. FNS estimates that this activity takes 12,374.82 
annual reporting and 689 recordkeeping burden hours. This burden has 
not changed with this activity.

Summary of Estimated Burden

    The net aggregate change from the existing to the revised annual 
burden for this entire Information Collection is an increase of 9,602 
hours from the previous submission. For the activity relating to the 
60-day notice, we are increasing the estimated annual burden for State 
agencies and households from 33,960.80 hours to 43,563 hours to reflect 
an increase in the number of notices and the resulting inquiries and

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appeals. The State-level submissions portion of the reporting and 
recordkeeping burden is estimated to require the same number of hours 
as the currently approved collection, 26.5 hours. The annual ADP 
portion of this burden package is also estimated to require the same 
number of hours as the currently approved collection, 12,374.82 
reporting and 689 recordkeeping hours. This results in a final total of 
56,653 annual burden hours.

Reporting Burden

    Affected Public: Households/Debtors.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 305,020.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.09.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 332,120.
    Estimated Hours per Response: 0.096974.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 32,206.92 hours.

    Affected Public: State and local government.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 53.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 6,315.92.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 334,744.
    Estimated Hours per Response: .07.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 23,757.40 hours.

State Agency Recordkeeping Burden

    Affected Public: State and local government.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 53.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 52.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 2,756.
    Estimated Hours per Response: .25.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 689.

                                                      Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden Estimates
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                                                                                                       Number of                                Total
                                                                                         Number of     responses      Total      Hours per      annual
                 Section of Reg.                              Description               respondents       per         annual      response      burden
                                                                                                       respondent   responses                   hours
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Households (Debtors) A. Due-Process Notice
 Requirements.
                                                  Reading State Issued Notice.......         305,020         1.00      305,020         0.08    25,469.17
                                                  Informal Inquiries to State.......          21,351         1.00       21,351         0.25     5,337.75
                                                  Formal Appeals to State...........           1,829         1.00        1,829         0.50       914.50
                                                  Reading FNS issued letter to                 3,000         1.00        3,000       0.0835       250.50
                                                   Federal employees.
                                                  Phone Inquiries and informal                   900         1.00          900         0.25       225.00
                                                   appeals for FNS letter.
                                                  Formal appeals to FNS.............              20         1.00           20          0.5        10.00
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    Totals......................................  ..................................         305,020         1.09      332,120    0.0969737    32,206.92
State Agencies A. Due-Process Notice
 Requirements:
                                                  State Notice Production...........              53     5,755.09      305,020         0.02     5,093.83
                                                  Responding to State Phone/informal              53       402.85       21,351         0.25     5,337.75
                                                   Inquires.
                                                  Responding to State Formal Appeals              53        34.51        1,829         0.50       914.50
                                                  Providing documents for formal                  53         0.38           20          0.5        10.00
                                                   appeals to FNS.
B. State Agency Reporting:
                                                  Certification Letter..............               1           53         0.50        26.50         1.00
C. TOP Automated Data Processing:
                                                  System Compatibility File.........              53         1.00           53        11.50       609.50
                                                  Address File......................              53         8.00          424         1.63       693.07
                                                  Collections File..................              53         8.00          424         6.50     2,756.00
                                                  State Agency Profile..............              53         1.00           53         0.25        13.25
                                                  Testing New System................               5         1.00            5         7.00        35.00
                                                  Weekly Files......................              53        52.00        2,756         1.50     4,134.00
                                                  Weekly Files--Post TOP Data.......              53        52.00        2,756         1.50     4,134.00
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    Totals......................................  ..................................              53     6,315.92      334,744         0.07    23,757.40
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        Overall Reporting Totals................  ..................................         305,073         2.19      666,864         0.08       55,964
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    State Agency Recordkeeping: Per 7 CFR 272.1(f), State agencies are 
required to retain all records associated with the administration of 
SNAP for no less than 3 years. The burden for the retention of weekly 
TOP files is displayed below.

                                                                      Recordkeeping
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                                     Annual records per             Total records per
   Number of recordkeepers              recordkeeper                   recordkeeper                 Hours per record         Total recordkeeping burden
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                        53                             52                          2,756                           0.25                        689.00
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    Dated: March 22, 2019.
Brandon Lipps,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-06318 Filed 4-1-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-30-P