[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 145 (Friday, July 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45737-45739]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15796]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program Waivers Under the Food and Nutrition Act

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 planned information collection. This is a revision of a 
currently approved collection. Section 6(o) of the Food and Nutrition 
Act establishes a time limit of the receipt of benefits under the 
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for certain able-
bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) who are not working. The 
provision authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture, upon a State 
agency's request, to waive the time limit for any group of individuals 
if the Secretary determines ``that the area in which the individuals 
reside has an unemployment rate of over 10 percent, or does not have a 
sufficient number of jobs to provide employment for the individuals.'' 
As required by the statute, to receive a waiver, the State agency must 
submit sufficient supporting information so that the United States 
Department of Agriculture (USDA) can make the required determination as 
to the area's unemployment rate or insufficiency of available jobs. 
This collection of information is, therefore, necessary to obtain 
waivers of the SNAP time limit. In October 2020, the U.S. District 
Court in District of Columbia vacated the final rule titled, 
``Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Requirements for Able-
Bodied Adults Without Dependents''. USDA is revising the hours 
associated with this collection to reflect the return to regulations 
prior to the final rule.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before September 27, 
2022.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: Certification Policy Branch, 
Program Development Division, Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th Floor, Alexandria, 
VA 22314. Comments may also be submitted via fax to the attention of 
the Certification Policy Branch or 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 the Alison 
Conrad at 703-305-2022.

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,

[[Page 45738]]

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 Waivers of Section 
6(o) of the Food and Nutrition Act.
    Form Number: N/A.
    OMB Control Number: 0584-0479.
    Expiration Date: 1/31/2023.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: Section 6(o) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 
establishes a time limit for the receipt of Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for certain able-bodied adults 
without dependents (ABAWDs) who are not working at least 20 hours per 
week. This time limit applies only to adults between 18 and 50 years of 
age that do not have children or adult dependents in their SNAP 
household. ABAWD recipient eligibility is limited to three months 
within a 36-month period, unless the individual is working, or 
participating in a designated employment and training activity, for 20 
hours per week.
    The provision authorizes that upon the request of a State agency, 
the Secretary of Agriculture may waive this provision for any group of 
individuals if the Secretary determines ``that the area in which the 
individuals reside has an unemployment rate of over 10 percent or does 
not have a sufficient number of jobs to provide employment for the 
individuals.'' As required in the statute, to receive a waiver, the 
State agency must submit sufficient supporting information so that the 
Secretary can make the required determination as to the area's 
unemployment rate or insufficiency of available jobs. This collection 
of information is necessary to obtain waivers of the SNAP ABAWD time 
limit.
    State agencies submit formal requests to waive the ABAWD time limit 
to the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) for approval through the 
electronic Waiver Information Management System (WIMS). In their 
requests, State agencies (1) designate the areas where they wish to 
waive the time limit, (2) explain the criteria for which those areas 
qualify for a waiver, and (3) provide required data to justify their 
request. A typical State waiver request includes several geographic 
areas, and each geographic area may include multiple cities or 
counties. FNS reviews the requests and supporting information to ensure 
that all necessary requirements to waive the time limit are met.
    On December 5, 2019, FNS published the final rule, ``Supplemental 
Nutrition Assistance Program: Requirements for Able-Bodied Adults 
Without Dependents'' (84 FR 66782). This rule significantly increased 
the reporting burden associated with this information collection, 
primarily because of the start-up costs associated with the rule, and 
adjusted the estimates of the type of data States would use to support 
their ABAWD waiver requests. When the U.S. District Court for the 
District of Columbia vacated this rule on October 18, 2020, the 
previous regulations were reinstated. As a result, the reporting burden 
estimates for this information collection have decreased with this 
revision to reflect the return to regulations prior to the final rule.
    Based on FNS's experience in Fiscal Years (FY) 2018 through 2021, 
FNS projects that 35 out of 53 State agencies will submit requests for 
a waiver of the time limit for ABAWD recipients based on a high 
unemployment rate or an insufficient number of jobs. Based on requests 
submitted and approved in FY 2019, FNS projects that of the 35 requests 
each year, 33 will use labor market data and two will use the 
Department of Labor's (DOL) Labor Surplus Area (LSA) designations or an 
extended unemployment benefits (EB) trigger notice to request a waiver. 
FNS is using only FY 2019 as the baseline for this part of the estimate 
because of the unique circumstances affecting the data States submitted 
to support their ABAWD waiver requests in FYs 2020 through 2022, as 
explained below.
    In late FY 2019 through late FY 2020, States submitted ABAWD waiver 
requests using the criteria outlined in the final rule titled, 
``Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Requirements for Able-
Bodied Adults Without Dependents'' (84 FR 66782). As mentioned above, 
the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia vacated this rule 
on October 18, 2020, and States no longer request ABAWD waivers using 
these methods. In FY 2020 through FY 2022, the ABAWD time limit was 
partially suspended by the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (Pub. 
L. 116-127), and States primarily supported their waivers using EB 
trigger notices because of the economic impact of the COVID-19 
pandemic. This simplified the waiver request process for States and 
reduced the amount of time it takes to compile and share the data to 
support the waiver request. FNS does not expect a significant number of 
States to qualify for EB trigger notices beyond FY 2022, having already 
seen a drop-off in calendar year 2022 qualifications. FNS anticipates 
States currently using this criterion to switch to requests using labor 
market data in the future, which takes more time to compile.
    In line with the estimates included in the 2018 renewal of this 
information collection, FNS provides two estimates for the burden of 
preparing and submitting waiver requests based on the waiver criteria 
used. For the first waiver criteria in the burden chart below, FNS 
estimates a response time for this activity is approximately 35 hours 
to prepare and submit via WIMS for each waiver request based on labor 
market data, which require detailed analysis of labor markets within 
the State using Bureau of Labor Statistics or a cooperating agency's 
data.
    For the second criteria in the burden chart below, FNS estimates a 
burden of four hours per respondent to prepare and submit via WIMS 
waivers based on an LSA designation or an EB trigger notice, as the 
data required to support these waivers is readily available from the 
DOL website and requires minimal preparation by State agencies.. FNS 
projects a total annual burden of 1,163 hours and 35 responses (33 
responses based on labor market data and two responses based on an LSA 
designation or EB trigger notice). This revision results in a decrease 
of 170,093 hours and 2,174,037 responses as a result of program 
changes.

Reporting

    Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal Governments.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 35.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 35.
    Estimated Time per Response: 33.23.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 1,163 Hours.
    There is no recordkeeping or third party reporting requirement 
directly associated with this information collection.

[[Page 45739]]



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                                                                                                                     Estimated                                       Estimated       Estimated
        Respondent category           Type of  respondents         Burden activity             CFR citation          number of     Responses per   Total annual      hours per     total burden
                                                                                                                    respondents     respondent       responses       response          hours
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State Agency.......................  State Program Staff...  Preparation and submission   7 CFR 273.24(f).......              33               1              33              35           1,155
                                                              of Labor Market Data to
                                                              support ABAWD waiver
                                                              request.
State Agency.......................  State Program Staff...  Preparation and submission   7 CFR 273.24(f).......               2               1               2               4               8
                                                              of Labor Surplus Area
                                                              designation or EB Trigger
                                                              Notice criteria to support
                                                              ABAWD waiver request.
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    Total..........................  ......................  ...........................  ......................              35               1              35           33.23           1,163
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Cynthia Long,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-15796 Filed 7-28-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P