[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 32 (Thursday, February 16, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10075-10077]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03273]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Agriculture has submitted the following 
information collection requirement(s) to OMB for review and clearance 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. Comments 
are requested regarding; whether the collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility; the 
accuracy of the agency's estimate of burden including the validity of 
the methodology and assumptions used; ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
    Comments regarding this information collection received by March 
20, 2023 will be considered. Written comments and recommendations for 
the proposed information collection should be submitted within 30 days 
of the publication of this notice on the following website 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this information collection by 
selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' 
or by using the search function.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information 
unless the collection of information displays a currently valid OMB 
control number and the agency informs potential persons who are to 
respond to the collection of information that such persons are not 
required to respond to the collection of information unless it displays 
a currently valid OMB control number.

Food and Nutrition Service

    Title: Understanding the Relationship Between Poverty, Well-Being, 
and Food Security.
    OMB Control Number: 0584-NEW.
    Summary of Collection: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 
Program (SNAP) is the nation's largest federal program aimed at 
reducing food insecurity and increasing access to healthy food. SNAP is 
administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA), Food and 
Nutrition Service (FNS) and provides nutrition assistance benefits to 
program participants, the majority of whom are children, the elderly, 
or people with disabilities. Through this data collection effort, FNS 
seeks to understand the interrelated factors that lead to household 
food insecurity. Data will be collected in six counties experiencing 
persistent intergenerational poverty through a study titled 
Understanding the Relationship Between Poverty, Well-Being, and Food 
Security. The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended through Public 
Law 116-94, enacted December 20, 2019, provides the legislative 
authority for the USDA's FNS to administer SNAP. Section 17 of the Food 
and Nutrition Act of 2008 provides the authority to FNS to conduct 
research to help improve the administration and effectiveness of SNAP.
    Need and Use of the Information: Understanding the Relationship 
Between Poverty, Well-Being, and Food Security will allow FNS to gain a 
deeper understanding of the interrelated factors that affect the food 
security status of SNAP beneficiaries and SNAP-eligible 
nonparticipants, information which has not previously collected in 
persistently poor counties. The USDA's Economic

[[Page 10076]]

Research Service (ERS) defines counties as being persistently poor if 
20 percent or more of county residents were poor at each of several 
points in time over a 30-year period, measured by the 1980, 1990, and 
2000 censuses and the 2007-2011 American Community Survey. Examining 
food insecurity and poverty in these populations will help FNS better 
understand the association between SNAP, other USDA-administered 
programs, and community-based assistance with well-being and the food 
environment. Study objectives include:
    Objective 1: Produce descriptive statistics on key sociodemographic 
and economic variables, including household food security in a 
representative sample of all residents in each of six persistent-
poverty counties.
    Objective 2: Produce descriptive statistics on key sociodemographic 
and economic variables, including household food insecurity in two 
representative stratified subsamples of low and very low food-secure 
residents, in each county of six persistent-poverty counties.
    Objective 3: Produce descriptive statistics for each subgroup in 
each county on key social, geospatial, and other policy-actionable 
elements of well-being and material deprivation associated with both 
household food security and SNAP participation.
    Objective 4: Characterize the social context and the life course of 
individuals, within a multigenerational family unit, as they define 
their experiences with food insecurity through In-Depth Interviews 
(IDIs).
    Description of Respondents: State and Local Government, Individuals 
and Households, Businesses or other For- Profit and Not-for-Profit.
    Number of Respondents: 20,349.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On Occasion.
    Total Burden Hours: 7,792.

Food and Nutrition Service

    Title: Servicing SNAP Applicants and Participants with Limited 
English Proficiency (LEP).
    OMB Control Number: 0584-NEW.
    Summary of Collection: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 
Program (SNAP) provides a monthly benefit to eligible households to 
spend on food so that households and individuals with low incomes have 
access to enough nutritious food to lead healthy, active lives. The 
U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service 
(FNS) administers SNAP in partnership with 53 State agencies (the 50 
States, the District of Columbia [DC], Guam, and the U.S. Virgin 
Islands [USVI]). In three U.S. Territories--American Samoa, the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and Puerto Rico--
nutrition assistance to low-income individuals and households is 
provided through the Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP).
    As Federally assisted programs, both SNAP and NAP are required to 
comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) and its 
implementing regulations for the USDA at 7 CFR 15. (U.S. Department of 
Justice Civil Rights Division n.d.). Title VI prohibits entities that 
receive Federal financial assistance from discriminating against or 
otherwise excluding individuals on the basis of race, color, or 
national origin. In order to avoid discrimination against LEP persons 
on the ground of national origin, administrators of Federal financial 
assistance programs must take reasonable steps to ensure that LEP 
persons receive the language assistance necessary to afford them 
meaningful access to SNAP or NAP as applicable, free of charge. LEP 
individuals are defined as those who do not speak English as their 
primary language and have a limited ability to read, speak, write, or 
understand English (USDA 2014, p. 70775). Meaningful access requires 
that State agencies provide language assistance services that allow 
equal participation in and access to the benefits of a given program. 
To support meaningful access, language assistance must be provided at a 
time and place that avoids the effective denial of the service, 
benefit, or right at issue or the imposition of an undue burden on or 
delay in important rights, benefits, or services to the LEP person 
(USDA 2014, p. 70779-70780).
    Need and Use of the Information: As the agency responsible for 
providing oversight and monitoring for both SNAP and NAP, it is 
critical that FNS understands whether and how SNAP and NAP agencies are 
complying with LEP requirements. The LEP study will provide FNS with 
actionable insights about how States and Territories operate language 
access policies and requirements. The study will gather detailed data 
from all 53 State SNAP agencies via a web-based survey, the three 
Territories that operate NAP via in-depth interviews, and will conduct 
case studies in four States. The study will provide FNS with a 
comprehensive summary of findings on policies and practices related to 
LEP access. It will increase FNS' understanding of SNAP LEP access 
policies and practices across the nation, including how States make 
decisions about these policies and practices, how they train staff on 
them, and their perceptions of Federal regulations. The findings from 
the study will help inform policymakers efforts to provide more 
meaningful access to SNAP and NAP.
    Description of Respondents: State, Local, and Tribal Governments.
    Number of Respondents: 100.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On Occasion.
    Total Burden Hours: 238.

Food and Nutrition Service

    Title: Rapid Cycle Evaluation of Operational Improvements in 
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Employment & Training 
(E&T) Programs.
    OMB Control Number: 0584-NEW.
    Summary of Collection: Section 17 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 
2008, as amended in March 2022, authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture 
to contract with private organizations and conduct research to improve 
the administration and effectiveness of SNAP. In addition to providing 
nutrition assistance benefits to millions of low-income individuals 
experiencing economic hardship, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 
Program (SNAP) provides work supports through Employment and Training 
(E&T) programs that help SNAP participants gain skills and find work. 
State agencies are required to operate an E&T program and have 
considerable flexibility to determine the services they offer and 
populations they serve. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and 
Nutrition Service (FNS) seeks to ensure the quality of the services and 
activities offered through SNAP E&T programs by investing resources and 
providing technical assistance to help States build capacity, create 
more robust services, and increase engagement in their programs.
    Need and Use of the Information: The Rapid Cycle Evaluation of 
Operational Improvements in SNAP E&T Programs (SNAP E&T RCE) evaluation 
will use rapid cycle evaluation (RCE) to test small-scale interventions 
in SNAP E&T operations or service delivery to determine their 
effectiveness in improving program engagement and service take-up. RCE 
is an approach that involves cycles of identifying, testing, and 
refining small scale, low-cost operational interventions to determine 
their effectiveness.
    Description of Respondents: State and Local Government, Individuals 
and Households, Businesses or other For- Profit and Not-for-Profit.
    Number of Respondents: 61,783.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On Occasion.

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    Total Burden Hours: 16,216.

Food and Nutrition Service

    Title: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Trafficking 
Controls and Investigations (Card Replacement Revision).
    OMB Control Number: 0584-0587.
    Summary of Collection: The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) 
requires States agencies to issue a warning notice to withhold 
replacement electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards or a warning notice 
for excessive EBT card replacements for individual members of a 
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) household requesting 
four EBT cards in a 12-month period. These notices are being issued to 
educate SNAP recipients on use of the EBT card and to deter fraudulent 
activity.
    Need and Use of the Information: The data collected will be used 
for a variety of purposes, mainly statutory and regulatory compliance. 
The data is gathered at various times, ranging from monthly, quarterly, 
annual or final submissions. Without the information, FNS would be 
unable to ensure integrity or effectively monitor any over-issued, 
under-issued, or trafficking.
    Description of Respondents: 372,285 Individuals/Households and 53 
State, Local or Tribal Government.
    Number of Respondents: 372,338.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Quarterly, Semi-annually, 
Monthly; Annually.
    Total Burden Hours: 35,863.

Ruth Brown,
Departmental Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023-03273 Filed 2-15-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P