[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 147 (Wednesday, August 4, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41938-41943]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16642]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Fourth Access, 
Participation, Eligibility, and Certification Study Series (APEC IV)

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 
Reinstatement, with change, of a previously approved collection for 
which approval has expired (OMB Number 0584-0530, Discontinued: 10/31/
2020); for the Fourth Access, Participation, Eligibility, and 
Certification Study Series (APEC IV).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 4, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: Amy Rosenthal, Food and Nutrition 
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th 
floor, Alexandria, VA 22314. Comments may also be via email to Amy 
Rosenthal at [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 [email protected], 703-305-2245.

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: Fourth Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification 
Study Series (APEC IV).
    Form Number: Not applicable.
    OMB Number: 0584-0530.
    Expiration Date: Not Yet Determined.
    Type of Request: Reinstatement, with change, of a previously 
approved collection for which approval has expired.
    Abstract:
    USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) depends upon the APEC study 
series to provide reliable, national estimates of errors and improper 
payments made to school districts in which the National School Lunch 
Program and School Breakfast Program are operated. This is the fourth 
study in the APEC series and it will provide the required information 
for school year (SY) 2023-2024.
    Program errors fall into three broad categories: Certification 
(determining the eligibility of a student for a given level of 
reimbursement), aggregation (adding up all the meal counts by 
reimbursement category as they are transmitted through the claims 
process), and meal claiming (ensuring that meals claimed meet the meal 
pattern requirements). Certification and aggregation errors contribute 
to improper payments, while meal claiming error is an operational error 
that does not result in an improper payment. The majority of improper 
payments in the programs result from certification errors, while 
aggregation errors are relatively rare.
    The Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (PIIA) requires that 
FNS identify and reduce improper payments in these programs, including 
both underpayments and overpayments. In order to comply with the law, 
programs must have a statistically valid rate of improper payment below 
10 percent, and programs out of compliance with PIIA are subject to 
increased scrutiny and reporting requirements.
    Beyond statutory improper payment reporting requirements, FNS 
recognizes the human and economic costs of program error. For example, 
certification error may result in children being certified at a lower 
or higher level than the one for which they qualify; aggregation error 
may cause school districts to receive a lower or higher reimbursement 
than they should have received; and meal claiming error may result in a 
participant receiving a less balanced and nutritious meal than they 
would have if the meal pattern was followed.
    Although the APEC II and the forthcoming APEC III findings show 
substantial improvement in certain types of error since APEC I, there 
is an ongoing need to identify and correct sources of program error.
    The specific study objectives of APEC IV are:
     Objective 1: Generate a national estimate of the annual 
amount of improper payments in the National School Lunch Program and 
School Breakfast Program based on SY 2023-2024 by replicating and 
refining the methodology used in prior APEC studies.
     Objective 2: Provide a robust examination of the 
relationship between error rates and student (household), school, and 
school food authority (SFA) characteristics.
     Objective 3: Conduct two sub-studies testing the effect 
that data collection methods have on responses.
    [cir] Electronic Application Sub-study: Evaluate whether USDA's 
online application prototype with integrity features generates a more 
accurate and complete accounting of household size and income compared 
to other online application types and paper applications.
    [cir] Mode Effect Sub-Study: Assess the effect of in-person versus 
telephone interviews on responses to the household survey.
    Consistent with methodology used in the previous studies in the 
APEC series, we will collect data to address the study objectives using 
a multistage-clustered sample design, which will include:
     A nationally representative sample of SFAs in the 
contiguous 48 states and the District of Columbia;
     A stratified sample of schools within each SFA; and
     A random sample of students (households) within each 
sampled school that applied for free and reduced-price meals, were 
categorically eligible for free meals, or were directly certified for 
free meals.
    APEC IV will collect data to measure certification, aggregation, 
and meal claiming errors via in-person visits to SFAs and schools and 
surveys of SFA directors and households. Data collection will include 
(a) abstraction from income eligibility applications and categorical 
eligibility records; (b) abstraction of meal count and claiming records 
from SFAs, schools, States, and FNS administrative data; (c) an online 
survey of SFA directors; (d) meal observations in schools; and (e) a 
telephone survey of households.

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    The analysis plan includes the following components: (a) 
Calculating error rates; (b) estimating improper payments; (c) 
comparisons to previous APEC estimates (APEC I, II, III); and (d) 
quantitative analyses to identify factors associated with errors. The 
calculation of estimates from APEC IV will include the incidence of 
error, the total dollar amount of error, and the dollar based error 
rate. The comparisons to prior APEC studies will include tests for 
significant changes over time. The quantitative analyses will examine 
the sources and causes of errors with a focus on identifying strategies 
for reducing errors.
    Affected Public: Individuals/Households and State, Local, or Tribal 
Governments. Respondent groups identified include: (1) Child Nutrition 
State agencies, (2) SFAs, (3) schools, and (4) parents/guardians of 
sampled students that are either certified to receive a free or reduced 
price meal or who applied for but were denied benefits in SY 2023-24.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The estimated number of 
respondents is 13,068. This includes 5,210 responses and 7,858 non-
responses. The number of unique respondents expected to provide data 
for this study are 4,112 households and 1,098 State and Local 
Governments (44 State Agencies, 295 SFAs, and 759 schools).
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: All respondents will 
be asked to respond to each specific data collection activity only 
once. The overall average number of responses per respondent across the 
entire collection is 5.14.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: The estimated number of total 
annual responses is 67,317.
    Estimated Time per Response: The estimated time of response varies 
from 1 minute to 4 hours depending on the respondent group, as shown in 
the burden table below. The estimated time per response is 11.49 
minutes (0.191 hours).
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 12,851.4 hours. This 
includes 12,419.6 hours for respondents and 431.7 hours for non-
respondents. See the table below for estimated total annual burden for 
each type of respondent.
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P

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Timothy English,
Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-16642 Filed 8-3-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-C