[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 244 (Friday, December 18, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 82428-82431]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-27834]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request--Generic Clearance for the Special Nutrition Programs 
Quick Response Surveys (SNP QRS)

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 a revision 
of a currently approved collection to conduct short, quick-turnaround 
surveys of State and local agencies providing food, education, and 
other services in the Child Nutrition and Supplemental Nutrition and 
Safety Programs administered at the federal level by the Food and 
Nutrition Service (FNS). These programs include the Special 
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children; 
National School Lunch Program; School Breakfast Program; Special Milk 
Program; Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program; Summer Food Service 
Program; Child and Adult Care Food Program; USDA Foods in Schools;

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Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations; The Emergency Food 
Assistance Program; and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before February 16, 
2021.

ADDRESSES: Comments may 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 Amy 
Rosenthal at 703-305-2017 or [email protected].

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: Generic Clearance for the Special Nutrition Programs Quick 
Response Surveys (SNP QRS).
    Form Number: N/A.
    OMB Number: 0584-0613.
    Expiration Date: 2/28/21.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) intends to request 
approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a generic 
clearance that will allow FNS to conduct short, quick-turnaround 
surveys of State, local, and Tribal agencies and businesses that 
receive food, funds, and nutrition information through the Child 
Nutrition and Supplemental Nutrition and Safety Programs.
    These programs include the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program 
for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); National School Lunch Program 
(NSLP); School Breakfast Program (SBP); Special Milk Program; Fresh 
Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP); Summer Food Service Program (SFSP); 
Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP); USDA Foods in Schools; Food 
Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR); The Emergency Food 
Assistance Program (TEFAP); and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program 
(CSFP).
    The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-296, Sec. 
305) mandates programs under its authorization to cooperate with USDA 
program research and evaluation activities. Traditionally, FNS conducts 
large, program-specific studies to collect information on numerous 
features of each program. Such studies often take several years to 
complete. Quick response surveys provide a system for rapidly 
collecting current information on a specific feature or issue, and, 
therefore, enable FNS to administer the programs more effectively.
    The data collection activities under this clearance will include: 
(1) An annual sample frame data collection and (2) quick-response 
surveys. The annual sample frame data collection will request contact 
information from the States for the local agencies within their 
purview. The quick-response survey data collections will be used to 
survey key administrators of the SNP at the State, local, and site 
level to answer policy and implementation questions.
    Following standard OMB requirements, FNS will submit a change 
request to OMB for each data collection activity undertaken under this 
generic clearance. The respondents will be identified at the time that 
each change request is submitted to OMB. FNS will provide OMB with the 
instruments and supporting materials describing the research project 
and specific pre-testing activities.
    This revision makes minor changes to the information collection as 
originally approved. The USDA Foods in Schools program is included as a 
separate program, and minor updates to the sample sizes reflect the 
most recent estimates of the number of State, Local and Tribal agencies 
and businesses involved in the programs and the distribution of local-
level providers between government agencies and businesses. The type of 
information to be collected, the methods of collection, and the 
frequency of collection will remain the same; however, we have removed 
references to reminder emails from the burden table. The estimated 
number of total responses has decreased from 83,582 (250,745 over three 
years) to 36,515 (109,545 over three years), and the total burden hours 
estimate has decreased from 11,508 (34,523 hours over three years) to 
10,288 (30,864 hours over 3 years).
    Affected Public: State, Local and Tribal Governments and 
Businesses. State, Local and Tribal government respondents will 
include: (1) State Program Directors, including WIC State Agency 
directors and nutrition education and breastfeeding coordinators, 
directors of the Child Nutrition programs (NSLP, SBP, FFVP, SFSP, 
CACFP), directors of State Distributing Agencies (CSFP, TEFAP, USDA 
Foods in Schools), and FDPIR State Agencies and Indian Tribal 
Organizations; and (2) local-level program administrators, including 
Local WIC Agencies and Sites, School Food Authorities (SFAs), Schools, 
SFSP Sponsors and Sites, USDA Foods in Schools Local Agencies and 
Providers, TEFAP Eligible Recipient Agencies (ERAs) and Emergency Food 
Organizations (EFOs), and CSFP Local Agencies. Business respondents 
will include not-for-profit local WIC Sites, not-for-profit SFSP 
Sponsors and Sites, for-profit and not-for-profit CACFP Sponsors and 
Providers, not-for-profit TEFAP ERAs and EFOs, and not-for-profit CSFP 
Local Agenices.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The total estimated number of 
annual respondents is 35,999. This includes all State Program Directors 
(516 total) and a sample of local-level program administrators from 
local government agencies (17,203 total) and businesses (18,280 total). 
The total number of respondents includes 7,097 local program 
administrators from both local agencies (3,441 total) and businesses 
(3,656 total) whom FNS expects will not respond to the QRS survey 
request.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: Once per year, each 
State agency responsible for a program will be asked to provide contact 
information for their respective local agencies as part of the sample 
frame data collection. State agencies will also be asked to complete up 
to one survey per year for each program it oversees. Local agencies and 
businesses will be asked to complete up to one survey per year for each 
program they operate. FNS estimates that respondents will average 1.02 
responses per year (29,418 responses/28,902 respondents), with non-
respondents averaging one response per year. Across all participants 
(respondents and non-respondents combined) the estimated average number 
of responses per year is approximately 1.01 (36,515 responses/35,999 
total respondents).

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    Estimated Total Annual Responses: The estimated total annual 
responses is 36,515, for a total of 109,545 responses over all three 
years.
    Estimated Time per Response: The estimated time of response ranges 
from 20 minutes (.33 hours) to 1 hour for respondents and 1 minute (.02 
hours) for non-respondents, depending on the data collection activity, 
as shown in the table below. The average estimated time across all 
responses is approximately 17 minutes (0.28 hours).
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: The estimated total 
annual burden is 10,288 hours, for a total of 30,864 over all three 
years. See the table below for estimated total annual burden for each 
type of respondent.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN18DE20.033


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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN18DE20.034


Pamilyn Miller,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-27834 Filed 12-17-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-C