[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 164 (Friday, August 23, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68128-68132]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-18947]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Mobile Payment Pilots 
(MPPs)

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 the proposed information collection. This is a revision of an 
existing information collection to conduct demonstration pilot projects 
to test the redemption of SNAP benefits through mobile payment 
technologies.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 22, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent via the following methods:
     Preferred Method: Comments can be submitted through the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow 
the online instructions for submitting comments electronically.
     Email: Send comments to [email protected].
     Mail: Send comments to Shelly Pierce, Food and Nutrition 
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, 
Alexandria, VA 22314.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 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 Eden 
Temple, at (703) 457-7734 or via email to [email protected].

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: SNAP Mobile Payment Pilots (MPPs)
    Form Number: None.
    OMB Number: 0584-0672.
    Expiration Date: 6/30/2025.
    Type of Request: Revision to existing collection.
    Abstract: Section 4006(e) of the Agricultural Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 
115-334) authorizes the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to allow up to 
five Mobile Payment Pilots (MPPs) to allow the use of personal mobile 
devices, such as cellular phones, tablets and smart watches in place of 
SNAP Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards to conduct SNAP 
transactions. Respondents (SNAP State agencies (State agencies) and 
their SNAP business partners) will conduct pilots to test the use of 
mobile payment technologies for the redemption of SNAP benefits by SNAP 
households at participating retailers, to determine their feasibility 
and implications for program integrity. FNS will conduct these projects 
to evaluate whether allowing mobile payments is in the best interest of 
the Program, and to therefore, recommend allowing their use to the 
Secretary.
    The information collected in the pilot evaluation (to be submitted 
for OMB approval under a separate information collection request) will 
help FNS determine the success of and best practices for the use of 
mobile payment technologies to redeem SNAP benefits. This information 
will inform Program design, standards, rulemaking, and guidance for 
approval of SNAP mobile payment technologies as well as Departmental 
decisions and recommendations to Congress with respect to requiring all 
State EBT systems to accept mobile payment technologies in the future.
    To achieve these objectives, FNS seeks OMB approval only for 
implementation of MPP by State agencies. Under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act, FNS will seek a separate OMB approval to evaluate the results of 
completed MPPs under a separate 60-day Federal Register Notice and 
information collection request.

1. Assumptions

    In 2022, FNS issued a request for volunteers for participate in the 
MPP. FNS received 12 proposals and selected 5 States to participate. 
Because the request for volunteers (RFV) process has already occurred 
and its burden was covered in the initial 2022 information collection 
request, FNS is removing the hours associated with the RFV process from 
this renewal. Because pilot projects are still being designed, it is 
impossible for FNS to know in advance the design and structure of 
pilots that may be proposed or the specific activities each State and 
associated partners will undertake while conducting a MPP. Therefore, 
we have provided general estimates based on an assumed pilot model. 
Actual pilots may vary widely from this model and include a variety of 
potential stakeholders; this information collection does not intend to 
establish a standard model; this model will be used throughout this 
notice simply for ease of estimation.
    If there are substantive changes to this data collection request, 
the agency will seek OMB approval to revise this information collection 
request following

[[Page 68129]]

the Paperwork Reduction Act process. Because the pilots are still being 
designed by the 5 States, the estimates below are based on a model in 
which one State agency partners with an average of four (4) stakeholder 
businesses (2 retailers, 1 EBT processor, and 1 mobile payment vendor) 
and recruits 1,000 SNAP participants per pilot proposal. It is 
important to note for burden estimation purposes that, while there are 
numerous retailer and mobile payment vendors the States may choose to 
partner with, there are only 4 EBT processors nationally. Therefore, 
EBT processors may partner with multiple pilot proposals submitted by 
the various State agencies; this has been considered in our estimation.

2. Mobile Payment Pilot Implementation

    The pilot period will last a total of eighteen (18) months, and 
Pilot Participants (State agencies and associated business partner 
organizations) will join on a rolling basis with the condition that 
they must each participate for a minimum of nine (9) months. Per the 
requirement in Section 4006(e) of the Agricultural Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 
115-334) FNS has selected 5 MPPs. FNS estimates that, based on the 
assumed model in this notice, each State agency may require 80 hours to 
conduct the following activities during each month of implementation of 
an MPP (as applicable). These activities include:
    1. Design of mobile payment integration and changes to EBT systems 
and functionality to accommodate mobile payments,
    2. Testing of EBT systems to ensure compatibility,
    3. Provision of technical assistance and support to SNAP households 
that participate in an MPP, and/or
    4. Coordination with EBT processors, SNAP retailers, and mobile 
payment contractors.
    FNS estimates that, based on the assumed model in this notice, each 
of the 5 State agencies may issue 1 recruitment notice for the MPP to 
5,000 individuals who are members of SNAP households in each State for 
a total of 25,000 individuals. These notices may be issued to SNAP 
households electronically or via mail, depending on the State. 
Generation and issuance of each notice by the State agency is expected 
to take approximately 3 minutes (0.05 hours). FNS also estimates that 
each of the 25,000 individual household members will require up to 3 
minutes (0.05 hours) to read the recruitment notice for participation 
in the pilot. FNS estimates that approximately 5,000 of the recruited 
participants will opt to participate in the pilot (1,000 per State) and 
that each of the 5,000 participants will require 15 minutes to enroll 
in an MPP. Potential enrollment activities for SNAP household 
respondents are based on the assumed model in this information 
collection may include calling or emailing the State agency to indicate 
interest, reviewing instructions, downloading an application (as known 
as app), technical assistance, and/or enrolling in the app.
    Because the RFV process has already occurred and its burden was 
covered in the 2022 information collection request, FNS is removing the 
hours associated with the RFV process from this renewal. This results 
in a decrease of 23,510 burden hours.

Reporting Burden for State Agencies

    Affected Public: State SNAP agencies.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 5 State agencies.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 5,048.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 25,240.
    Estimated Time per Response: .94.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 23,675.

Reporting Burden for Businesses

    Affected Public: Business (Respondent Types: EBT Stakeholders (EBT 
Processors, SNAP Retailers, Mobile Payment Vendors or Contractors).
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 20.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 12.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 240.
    Estimated Time per Response: 120 hours per response.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 28,800 hours.

Reporting Burden for Individual Households

    Affected Public: SNAP Recipients.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 25,000 (15,000 respondents and 
10,000 non-respondents).
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: .83 responses.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 30,000 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: .07 hour.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 2,167 hours.

Recordkeeping Burden for State Agencies

    There is no recordkeeping or third-party reporting burden 
associated with this information collection.
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Tameka Owens,
Acting Administrator and Assistant Administrator, Food and Nutrition 
Service.

[FR Doc. 2024-18947 Filed 8-22-24; 8:45 am]
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