[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]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
[[Page 12578]]
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
[[Page 12579]]
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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Total
Number of responses Total Hours per annual
Section of Reg. Description respondents per annual response burden
respondent responses hours
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals...................................... .................................. 53 6,315.92 334,744 0.07 23,757.40
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall Reporting Totals................ .................................. 305,073 2.19 666,864 0.08 55,964
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual records per Total records per
Number of recordkeepers recordkeeper recordkeeper Hours per record Total recordkeeping burden
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
53 52 2,756 0.25 689.00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 12580]]
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