[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 11, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25837-25839]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-09916]


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 Notices
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  Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 89 / Tuesday, May 11, 2021 / 
Notices  

[[Page 25837]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Pandemic Electronic 
Benefits Transfer

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 for Pandemic Electronic 
Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) for the reporting burden associated with 
administering P-EBT.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before July 12, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted via email to Ed Harper, Director, 
Office of Program Integrity, Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, Braddock Metro Center II, 1320 Braddock 
Place, Alexandria, VA 22314, 703-305-2340. 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 via email to 
[email protected].
    Requests can also be directed to Ed Harper, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, Braddock Metro Center II, 1320 
Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314, 703-305-2340.

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: Pandemic EBT.
    Form Number: FNS-292B, FNS-388, FNS-46, FNS-366A, and SF-425 (under 
OMB Control Number 0584-0594) is associated with this collection.
    OMB Number: 0584-0660.
    Expiration Date: August 31, 2021.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: The Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020 
(FFCRA, Pub. L. 116-127), enacted March 18, 2020, included a general 
provision that allows the Department of Agriculture to approve state 
plans to provide temporary emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 
Program (SNAP) assistance to households with children who would 
otherwise receive free or reduced-price meals if not for their schools 
being closed due to the COVID-19 emergency (also known as Pandemic EBT, 
or P-EBT). The authority for P-EBT under FFCRA expired on September 30, 
2020. The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act 
(Pub. L. 116-159), enacted October 1, 2020 extended the authority for 
P-EBT through September 30, 2021. This legislation also expanded the 
program to include child care facilities affected by the closures and 
schools with reduced attendance hours. The Consolidated Appropriations 
Act, 2021 (Pub. L. 116-260), enacted December 27, 2020, provided 
additional eligibility requirements and State flexibilities for both 
school and child care components of this program. The American Rescue 
Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA, Pub. L. 117-2) enacted on March 11 made several 
significant changes to P-EBT. Among these changes is the extension of 
P-EBT to the summer of 2021, school year 2021-2022, and summer 2022.
    Per Public Law 116-159, and in order to operate P-EBT for Federal 
Fiscal Year 2021 and summer 2021, each State must submit a State plan 
to FNS Regional Office for approval. Once approved, in addition to 
administering P-EBT, each State SNAP agency will also be required to 
provide monthly reports via the FNS-292B (Disaster Relief) to the FNS 
Regional Office, regarding the number of eligible children receiving P-
EBT benefits, number of households receiving such benefits, and the 
total value of the benefits. The State is expected to provide data 
that:
     Differentiates between non-SNAP and current SNAP 
households receiving P-EBT,
     within SNAP households, differentiate between base SNAP 
benefits and P-EBT benefits.
    Each State is also expected to separately identify P-EBT 
participation and benefit issuance on the FNS-388 (State Issuance and 
Participation Estimates) and FNS-46 (Issuance Reconciliation Report) 
reports. There is no additional burden associated with this 
requirement, as the States already report participation data to FNS on 
the FNS-388 and FNS-46 on a monthly basis.
    FNS will provide funding to each State's SNAP State agency for 100% 
of P-EBT-related administrative costs. Such funding will be available 
for the necessary, allowable, and reasonable State agency costs 
associated with the administration of P-EBT incurred during FY 2021. 
This includes administrative costs associated with the issuance of 
retroactive FY 2020 benefits incurred in FY 2021. States interested in 
the 100% funding will be expected to submit a P-EBT administrative cost 
plan for the intended period of operations for USDA approval using the 
FNS-366A (Program and Budget Summary Statement: Budget Projection). 
During the period of performance of the 100% funding, the SNAP State 
agency will be expected to aggregate obligation and outlay data from 
all State agencies utilizing the 100% funding and report quarterly to

[[Page 25838]]

USDA using a P-EBT specific instance of the SF-425 (Federal Financial 
Report).
    The current burden for a State agency to submit FNS-292B, FNS-388, 
FNS-46, FNS-366A and SF-425 reports is currently captured under the 
information collection for the Food Programs Reporting System (FPRS), 
OMB Control Number 0584-0594 (expiration date 7/31/23). The Food 
Programs Reporting System is the Federal system State agencies use to 
report FNS Program data to FNS. Therefore, this information collection 
estimates burden hours associated with P-EBT that are above the 
currently approved hours in 0584-0594 for forms FNS-292B, FNS-366A, and 
SF-425 for normal Program operations.
    In order to determine eligibility and benefit levels for P-EBT, 
State agencies must collect data from schools. To administer P-EBT 
during the school year, schools must provide the State with predominant 
learning model (fully virtual, hybrid, or fully in-person) used by the 
school for each month of the school year. States generally are 
collecting this information every couple of months during the school 
year. This information is used to determine the benefit levels children 
are eligible to receive. Schools that operated predominantly fully 
virtual or hybrid learning models must also provide a list of students 
that have been determined eligible for free and reduced price meals. 
States use these two pieces of information reported by the school to 
issue benefits to eligible households. Per Public Law 117-2, during the 
summer months all children eligible for free or reduced price meals 
that are enrolled in schools that participate in the National School 
Lunch Program are considered eligible for P-EBT. This requires all 
schools to provide the State agency with a list of children who have 
been determined eligible for free and reduced price meals.
    FNS will provide funding to each State's SNAP State agency for 100% 
of P-EBT-related school level administrative costs. Such funding will 
be available for the necessary, allowable, and reasonable State agency 
costs associated with the administration of P-EBT incurred during FY 
2021. In order to receive this funding, schools must report to their 
State agency on the school level costs incurred to administer P-EBT.
    Eligibility and benefit levels for the child care portion of P-EBT 
are determined without needing to collect additional information. State 
agencies use SNAP enrollment status data to determine eligibility and 
school learning model data they are already collecting to administer 
the schools component of P-EBT to determine benefit levels.
    This submission seeks OMB approval of this revision to an existing 
collection (OMB Control # 0584-0660, expiration 8/31/2021) for 
activities associated with administering P-EBT.
    The currently approved burden for this collection is 693,098 hours. 
FNS estimates the new burden at 3,684,928 burden hours, which is an 
increase of approximately 2,991,831 hours.
    The currently approved total annual responses are 3,320,954; we are 
requesting 10,379,211, which is an increase of 7,058,257 total annual 
responses.
    Affected Public: State Government, Schools, Individual/Households. 
Respondents include State agencies (including District of Columbia, and 
Territories), schools, and participants.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The total estimated number of 
respondents is 675,820. This includes: State agencies (53), schools 
(94,767), Individuals/Households (581,000 participants).
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: The total estimated 
number of responses per respondent for this collection is 15.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: The total estimated number of 
annual responses for this collection is 10,379,211.
    Estimated Time per Response: The estimated time per response 
averages approximately 21 minutes (0.355 hours) for all participants.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: The estimated total 
annual burden on respondents for this collection is 3,684,928 hours.
    See the table below for the estimated total annual burden for each 
type of respondent.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                     Number of     Frequency of    Total annual    Responses per     Hours per     Annual burden
           Respondent category                    Instruments                    Form               respondents      response        responses      respondent       response         (hours)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Individuals/Households..................  P-EBT Application           N/A.......................         581,000               1         581,000               1     0.166666667       96,833.33
                                           Submission (Schools Only).
Schools.................................  Student Eligibility Data    N/A.......................          94,767               4         379,068               4             1.5      568,602.00
                                           (School Year).
                                          Student Eligibility Data    N/A.......................          94,767               1          94,767               1             0.5       47,383.50
                                           (Summer).
                                          P-EBT Local Level           N/A.......................          94,767               1          94,767               1               1       94,767.00
                                           Administrative Cost
                                           Reporting to State.
                                                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Schools Subtotal....................  ..........................  ..........................          94,767               2         568,602               6               1      710,752.50
State Agencies..........................  State Plan Submission--P-   N/A.......................              53               1              53               1               1           53.00
                                           EBT (Schools + Child Care
                                           For School Year).
                                          State Plan Submission--P-   N/A.......................              53               1              53               1               1           53.00
                                           EBT (Schools + Child Care
                                           For Summer).
                                          P-EBT Household             N/A.......................              53               1       8,660,000         163,396            0.25    2,165,000.00
                                           Eligibility Determination
                                           (Schools + Child Care).
                                          Monthly P-EBT Reporting to  FNS-292B..................              53              12             636              12               1          636.00
                                           FNS (Schools + Child
                                           Care).

[[Page 25839]]

 
                                          P-EBT Administrative Cost   FNS-366A..................              53               1              53               1              12          636.00
                                           Plan (100% funding)
                                           (Schools + Child Care).
                                          P-EBT Quarterly             SF-425....................              53               4             212               4               1          212.00
                                           Administrative Cost
                                           Report (100% funding)
                                           (Schools + Child Care).
                                                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    SA Subtotal.........................  ..........................  ..........................              53     163,415.226       8,661,007         163,415           0.250    2,166,590.00
        Grand Total.....................  ..........................  ..........................         675,820          15.358      10,379,211              15           0.355    3,684,928.33
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Cynthia Long,
Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-09916 Filed 5-10-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P