[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 88 (Monday, May 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29622-29623]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09709]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request--Generic Clearance for Stakeholder Feedback and Surveys 
as Part of FNS Planning: Regulatory Actions, Semi-Annual Regulatory 
Agenda, Program Changes, Research Studies, Outreach, Training and/or 
Development of Guidance

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service, 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. The purpose of this new 
collection is to collect qualitative and quantitative stakeholder 
feedback through meetings, focus groups, interviews, other stakeholder 
interactions and surveys, as well as requests for administrative data, 
as part of the planning process for FNS regulatory actions, the semi-
annual Regulatory Agenda, research studies, outreach, training and the 
development of guidance.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before July 7, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the proposed collection 
of information is necessary for the proper performance of the Agency's 
functions, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the proposed 
information collection burden, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) 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.
    Comments may be sent to Jamia Franklin, Information Collection 
Clearance Officer, and Maureen Lydon, Chief of the Planning and 
Regulatory Affairs Office, Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department 
of Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th floor, Alexandria, VA 22314. 
Comments may also be sent via email to [email protected] and 
[email protected]. Comments will also be accepted through the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to https://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 (OMB) approval. All 
comments will become a matter of public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of this information collection should be directed to Jamia 
Franklin at (703) 305-2403 or via email at [email protected]. You 
may also reach to Maureen Lydon at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title:
    Generic Clearance for Stakeholder Feedback and Surveys as Part of 
FNS Planning: Regulatory Actions, Semi-annual Regulatory Agenda, 
Program Changes, Research Studies, Outreach, Training and/or 
Development of Guidance.
    OMB Number: 0584-New.
    Expiration Date: Not yet determined. Expiration dates are normally 
three years from OMB approval of new information collection.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Abstract: The proposed information collection provides a means to 
garner qualitative and quantitative stakeholder feedback, feedback from 
state, local and/or Tribal agencies and implementers, feedback from 
program participants, and existing administrative data, in an efficient 
and timely manner.
    This new FNS-wide generic information collection request currently 
does not exist and would focus on the following:
     Discussion groups, focus groups, stakeholder meetings, 
interviews and surveys that involve other than routine customer 
feedback and may involve use of standardized questions such as focus 
group discussion guides or surveys. These focus groups, meetings, other 
stakeholder interactions, and surveys would involve stakeholders, 
program participants, and state, local and/or Tribal agencies who would 
potentially provide valuable input necessary for planning: (a) research 
studies, including program evaluations such as impact or process 
evaluations; (b) regulatory actions; (c) program changes; (d) outreach, 
promotion activities and/or training for stakeholders and program 
participants; (e) guidance, technical assistance documents, questions 
and answers, to be issued by FNS; and/or (f) other necessary program or 
policy analyses. The surveys would include both regular surveys and 
pulse-type surveys. The pulse-type surveys differ in that they would 
provide a real-time and reoccurring snapshot on key issues and give FNS 
an immediate stream of data to understand current program needs.
     This generic ICR would also encompass the ad-hoc 
collection of extant, administrative data from state, local and/or 
Tribal agencies that administer the various FNS programs and/or 
demonstration projects (including but not limited to the Food 
Distribution Program on Indian Reservation demonstration projects). 
These would be data that FNS knows are in existence and that state, 
local and/or Tribal agencies regularly collect but do not necessarily 
report to the Federal level. FNS is referring to data that are readily 
available for a state, local and/or Tribal agency to provide, but that 
FNS wouldn't collect on a regular basis.
     Information gathered could potentially yield qualitative 
and/or quantitative information and, when appropriate, may be shared 
outside the Agency (along with the context and parameters for the 
subject information collection, and excluding personally identifiable 
information).
     Data gathered through this collection will be combined 
with information from many other sources

[[Page 29623]]

and other inputs to inform program and policy decision-making.
    This collection allows for ongoing, two-way collaborative and 
actionable communications between the Agency and its state, local and/
or Tribal partners, program participants, and stakeholders. It also 
allows feedback to contribute directly to the improvement and planning 
of research studies, program changes, regulatory activities, guidance, 
outreach and/or training activities. As individual collections occur 
under this generic umbrella, consideration will be given to the 
appropriate data sharing, equity issues and transparency per 
collection.
    Most but not all generic clearances may meet the following 
conditions:
     The collections are often voluntary;
     The collections are often low burden for respondents 
(based on considerations of total burden hours, total number of 
respondents, or burden-hours per respondent);
     Any collection other than administrative data may be 
targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have 
experience with the program or similar programs, or may be impacted by 
a program in the future;
     Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected 
only to the extent necessary and is not retained; and
     Information gathered will yield qualitative and/or 
quantitative information.
    As a general matter, information collections do not result in any 
new system of records containing privacy information and does not ask 
questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, 
religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered 
private.
    A variety of instruments and platforms are used to collect 
information from respondents. This includes but is not limited to 
surveys, including pulse surveys not covered elsewhere, interviews, 
stakeholder meetings, focus groups, discussion groups, and collection 
of existing data from state, local and/or Tribal agencies via 
electronic or other means. The information to be collected could focus 
on a variety of Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) programs, or portions 
thereof, including but not limited to the National School Lunch Program 
(NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Fresh Fruit and Vegetable 
Program (FFVP), Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), Child and Adult 
Care Food Program (CACFP), Food Distribution Program on Indian 
Reservations (FDPIR), Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), and 
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), other child nutrition 
and food distribution activities, the Farm to School program, the 
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special 
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), 
the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP), the Senior Farmers 
Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP), nutrition and policy promotion, and 
any associated challenges in implementing programs or subsets of 
programs. The annual burden hours requested of 43,360 are based on the 
number of collections we expect to conduct annually over the requested 
period for this clearance.

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                                                                     Number of
                       Type of collection                             annual       Total annual    Total annual
                                                                    respondents      responses     burden hours
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Surveys/Pulse surveys...........................................          37,180          93,425          27,110
Focus Groups/Discussion Groups/Stakeholder Meetings/Interviews..           2,500           4,500           5,000
Administrative data collection and associated requests..........             895           2,430          11,250
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................          40,575         100,355          43,360
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Annual Reporting Burden Estimates

    Affected Public: Individuals and households, businesses and 
organizations, State, local or Tribal government.
    Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 40,575.
    Estimated Number of Annual Responses per Respondent: Ranges from 1 
response to 10 responses depending on category of respondent.
    Estimated Annual responses: 100,355.
    Estimated time per response: Ranges from 10 minutes per response to 
10 hours per response depending on type of collection (that is, survey, 
discussion group, or administrative data collection) and the nature of 
the request.
    Estimated Annual Burden hours: 43,360.
    In summary, the total estimated annual burden is 43,360 hours and 
100,355 responses. Thus, we are requesting 130,080 hours for our three 
year burden estimate and 301,065 total responses for the three year 
approval period. Current estimates are based on both historical numbers 
of respondents from past projects as well as estimates for projects to 
be conducted in the next three years.

Tameka Owens,
Assistant Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-09709 Filed 5-5-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P