[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 34 (Thursday, February 20, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9724-9725]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-03370]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Professional Standards 
Training Tracker Tool

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 an 
extension, without change, of a currently approved collection for 
assisting state agencies to record, track and manage the required 
training hours in four major areas (Nutrition, Operations, 
Administration, Communications and Marketing) to meet the requirements 
of the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 Professional 
Standards Rule. The HHFKA (Section 306) requires Professional Standards 
for state and local school district nutrition professionals. In 
addition to hiring standards, mandatory annual training will be 
required for all individuals involved in preparing school meals. To 
meet the training requirements and assist in keeping track of training 
courses, FNS developed a web-based application tool with a SQL-server 
database, which is available to local educational agencies and school 
food authorities through the FNS public website. While training 
requirements are mandatory, using the USDA Tracking Tool is voluntary. 
School nutrition professionals can use any method to track and manage 
their trainings. These resources facilitate compliance with HHFKA 
requirements and are provided at no cost to the state, district, or 
individuals.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before April 20, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: Kaushalya Heendeniya, Food and 
Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Braddock Metro 
Center II, 1320 Braddock Place, Room 415, Alexandria, VA 22314. 
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 Kaushalya 
Heendeniya at 703-305-0037.

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: Professional Standards Training Tracker Tool.
    Form Number: None.
    OMB Number: 0584-0626.
    Expiration Date: 06/30/2020.
    Type of Request: Extension, without change, of a currently approved 
collection.
    Abstract: The Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 (Section 306) 
requires Professional Standards for state and local school district 
nutrition professionals. In addition to hiring standards, mandatory 
annual training will be required for all individuals involved in 
preparing school meals. To meet the training requirements and assist in 
keeping track of training and training courses, FNS developed a web-
based application tool with a SQL-server database, which is available 
to local educational agencies and school food authorities through the 
FNS public website, with a login authentication. These resources 
facilitate compliance with HHFKA requirements and are provided at no 
cost to the state, district, or individuals. In addition, this 
Professional Standards Training Tracking Tool application is mobile 
friendly to ensure easy usage and accessibility across mobile devices. 
The application is compatible with all mobile operating systems (iOS, 
Android, and Windows).
    The user is able to create a user profile with the following 
information:

 School District/Address
 School Name/Address
 Individual Name--Contact Information/Email address
 Title of Individual or Role in school nutrition program
 Hiring Date

    The user can record the following information for a completed 
training:

 Key Area
 Training Topic
 Learning Objective
 Training Title
 Training Hours/Minutes
 Date of Training
 Provider or Organization offering training, including state, 
local or national

[[Page 9725]]

 Level of Training by employee position (e.g., employee, 
manager, etc.)

    The manager user has the ability to enter multiple names for one 
specific training without having to repeatedly enter training 
information. Certificates of completion are printed for all employees 
once the annual required training hours are met. The tool also provides 
the user the ability to export and save results in multiple file 
formats, including PDF (.pdf), Excel and Word 2000 or higher (.docx). 
It has a user-centered, simple, intuitive interface. Streamlined and 
intuitive navigation is offered for easy access to all functionality.
    Affected Public: State, Local, and Tribal Government. Respondent 
groups include state agency personnel and school nutrition 
professionals.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The total estimated number of 
respondents is 10,006. This includes 6 State agency personnel and 
10,000 school nutrition professionals who voluntarily choose to utilize 
this tracking tool. All respondents will be offered a 60-minute 
training refresher webinar to highlight enhancements.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: Total estimated 
number of responses per respondent across the entire collection is 7. 
The estimated number of responses per respondent for the tracking tool 
is five. The tracking tool users will first be required to create their 
user profile, which will be saved for future use. It is estimated that 
the user will be updating and managing their records on a quarterly 
basis. The estimated number of responses per respondent for the 
training webinar and the recording of trainings is one.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 70,042.
    Estimated Time per Response: The estimated time per response across 
the entire collection is approximately 14 minutes (0.24 hours). For the 
training tracker tool, the estimated time of response varies from five 
to ten minutes depending on familiarity of the tool and the amount of 
reports created with an average estimated time of 7.5 minutes (0.125 
hours) for all participants. The training refresher webinar of 60 
minutes (1 hour) will be available for all participants. Participants 
will record trainings into the tracking tool, which is estimated to 
take 5 minutes (0.083 hours) to complete.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 17,090.25 hours 
(rounded to 17,090 hours). See the table below for estimated total 
annual burden for each type of respondent.

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                                                     Responses     Total annual   Estimated Avg.     Estimated
           Respondent               Estimated #    annually per      responses    # of hours per    total hours
                                    respondent      respondent      (Col. bxc)       response       (Col. dxe)
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                               Reporting Burden for State, Local, and Tribal Govt
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State agency Personnel..........               6               5              30           0.125            3.75
Training Webinar................               6               1               6               1               6
Recording of Trainings on the                  6               1               6           0.083           0.498
 Tool...........................
School Nutrition Professionals..          10,000               5          50,000           0.125           6,250
Training Webinar................          10,000               1          10,000               1          10,000
Recording of Trainings on the             10,000               1          10,000           0.083             830
 Tool...........................
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    Total Reporting Burden......          10,006               7          70,042            0.24       17,090.25
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    Dated: February 6, 2020.
Pamilyn Miller,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-03370 Filed 2-19-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-30-P