[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