[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 125 (Monday, June 29, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38843-38845]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-13918]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request--FNS 275--SNAP Quality Control Regulations

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 is a revision of a 
currently approved information collection request.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before August 28, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to Stephanie Proska, Food and Nutrition 
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, Room 
05.5040, 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 Stephanie 
Proska at 703-305-2437.

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: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
    OMB Number: 0584-0303.
    Expiration Date: July 31, 2020.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: Section 16 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as 
amended, provides the legislative basis for the operation of the SNAP 
QC system. Part 275, Subpart C, of SNAP regulations implements the 
legislative mandates found in Section 16. Section 11(d) of the Food and 
Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended (the Act), requires each State agency 
administering SNAP to submit a plan of operation specifying the manner 
in which the program is conducted and Section 11(e) of the Act 
authorizes the inclusion of other provisions as required by regulation. 
In Part 275, there are four components of the Quality Control (QC) 
system that are covered in this required information collection. They 
are: (1) The sampling plan; (2) the arbitration process; (3) the good 
cause process; and (4) QC-related New Investments.
    Each State agency is required to develop a sampling plan that 
demonstrates the integrity of its case selection process. The QC system 
is designed to measure each State agency's payment error rate and case 
and procedural error rate based on a statistically valid sample of SNAP 
cases. A State agency's payment error rate represents the proportion of 
cases that were reported through a QC review as being ineligible, as 
well as the proportion of SNAP benefits that were either overissued or 
underissued to SNAP households. A State agency's case and procedural 
error rate represents the correctness of a proportion of cases that 
were measured in a QC review in which the State agency took an action 
to deny an application or suspend or terminate the benefits of a 
participating household. It also includes the accuracy of measuring a 
State's compliance with Federal procedural requirements for those 
actions, which include the timeliness of the action and adherence to 
notice requirements.
    The QC system also contains procedures for resolving differences in 
review findings between State Agencies and FNS. This is referred to as 
the arbitration process. As part of the arbitration process, State 
agencies must defend, in writing, their disagreement with the Federal 
re-reviewer's finding or disposition of a case and submit their defense 
to the arbitrator for a decision to be made on their disagreement.
    The QC system also contains procedures that provide relief for 
State agencies from all or a part of a QC liability when a State agency 
can demonstrate that a part or all of an excessive error rate was due 
to an

[[Page 38844]]

unusual event that had an uncontrollable impact on the State agency's 
payment error rate. This is referred to as the good cause process.
    Finally, when a State agency is unable to demonstrate that a part 
or all of an excessive error rate was due to an unusual event that had 
an uncontrollable impact on the State agency's payment error rate and 
chooses to settle with FNS by investing fifty percent of their total QC 
liability using new State agency funds into the SNAP program to target 
the root causes of their errors, the State agency must submit a new 
investment plan and, after approval, new investment progress reports 
every six months until the plan is complete.
    Burden for the QC system includes reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for State agencies to create a QC sampling plan and participate 
in the arbitration, good cause, new investment plan and new investment 
progress report processes.
    The requested revisions for the reporting burdens for each 
component are as follows: (1) The estimated annual reporting burden 
associated with the QC sampling plan is 371 hours, an increase of 106 
hours from the current collection due to FNS increasing the burden 
hours per response from 5 hours to 7 hours; (2) The estimated annual 
reporting burden associated with arbitration is 1,224 hours, a decrease 
of 288 hours from the current collection due to less arbitration 
requests; (3) The estimated annual reporting burden associated with the 
good cause process is 160 hours, which is a decrease of 160 hours from 
the current collection; (4) The estimated annual reporting burden 
associated with the new investment plan is 288 hours, an increase of 
160 hours from the current collection due to more State agencies 
needing to do new investment; and finally (5) The estimated annual 
reporting burden associated with the new investment progress report is 
90 hours, an increase of 50 hours from the current collection due to 
more State agencies needing to do progress reports.
    The requested total estimated reporting burden for this collection 
is 2133 hours, a decrease of 132 hours.
    The requested annual recordkeeping burden associated with the QC 
sampling plan remains at 1.25 hours per year. The revised annual 
recordkeeping burden associated with arbitration has decreased from 
1.4868 hours to 0.8496 and the good cause process burden decreased from 
0.0472 hours to 0.0236 hours due to fewer states requesting arbitration 
and good cause. The estimated recordkeeping burden for the QC-related 
new investment plan increased from 0.0944 hours to 0.0214 hours and the 
estimated recordkeeping burden for the QC-related new investment 
process report increased from 0.1888 hours to 0.4248 hours due to more 
states needing to do new investment plans and progress reports since 
the collection's last approval. The burden for recordkeeping has 
decreased from 3.068 hours to 2.7612 hours.
    As a result, the overall annual reporting and recordkeeping burden 
for the QC system, as proposed by this notice, decreased from 2,268.07 
hours to 2,135.76 hours. A decrease of 132.31 burden hours.

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                                                                                                                             Estimated
                                                                             Estimated       Responses     Total annual   average number     Estimated
            Affected public                        Requirement               number of     annually per      responses     of hours per     total hours
                                                                            respondents     respondent      (col. bxc)       response       (col. dxe)
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                                                                    Reporting Burden
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State Agencies.........................  Sampling Plan..................              53               1              53               7             371
State Agencies.........................  Arbitration Process............              12               3              36              34           1,224
State Agencies.........................  Good Cause Process.............               1               1               1             160             160
State Agencies.........................  New Investment Plan Template                  9               1               9              32             288
                                          Form FNS 74 A.
State Agencies.........................  New Investment Progress Report                9               2              18               5              90
                                          Template Form FNS 74 B.
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    Grand Total Reporting..............  53.............................  ..............             117  ..............           2,133
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                                                                                             Number of                                       Estimated
                                                                             Estimated        reports        Number of    Estimated time       total
            Affected public                        Requirement               number of     annually per    total annual     per record     recordkeeping
                                                                            respondents        state          records                          hours
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                                                                  Recordkeeping Burden
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State Agencies.........................  Sampling Plan..................              53               1              53          0.0236          1.2508
State Agencies.........................  Arbitration Process............              12               3              36          0.0236          0.8496
State Agencies.........................  Good Cause Process.............               1               1               1          0.0236          0.0236
State Agencies.........................  New Investment Plan Template                  9               1               9          0.0236          0.2124
                                          Form FNS 74 A.
State Agencies.........................  New Investment Progress Report                9               2              18          0.0236          0.4248
                                          Template Form FNS 74 B.
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    Grand Total Recordkeeping...........................................              53  ..............             117  ..............          2.7612
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        Combined Grand Total Reporting and Recordkeeping................              53      4.41509434             234      9.12718462        2,135.76
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[[Page 38845]]

Pamilyn Miller,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-13918 Filed 6-26-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P