[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 94 (Friday, May 16, 2025)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 20825-20826]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-08797]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 94 / Friday, May 16, 2025 / Proposed
Rules
[[Page 20825]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
7 CFR Part 272
[Docket No. FNS-2025-0006]
RIN 0584-AF19
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Rescission of Changes
to Civil Rights Data Collection Methods
AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), Department of Agriculture
(USDA).
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: FNS is proposing to rescind Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program: Revision of Civil Rights Data Collection Methods regulations,
issued as a final rule on December 14, 2023.
DATES: Comments must be received within 30 days of publication of this
document in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking
portal at http://www.regulations.gov and should reference the docket
number and the date and page number of this issue of the Federal
Register. All comments submitted in response to this document will be
included in the record and will be made available to the public. Please
be advised that the identity of individuals or entities submitting
comments will be made public on the internet at the address provided
above. A plain language summary of this notice of proposed rule is
available at https://www.regulations.gov in the docket for this
rulemaking.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James C. Miller, Administrator, Food
and Nutrition Service, at (703) 305-2060, or [email protected] with
a subject line of ``RIN 0584-AF19''.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FNS is proposing to rescind revisions to
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) regulations that cover
collecting and reporting race and ethnicity data by State agencies on
persons receiving benefits from SNAP adopted by FNS on December 14,
2023, via 88 FR 86563, with an effective date of February 12, 2024, and
codified in 7 CFR part 272. The regulation removed regulatory language
that provides an example that State agencies might collect race and
ethnicity data by observation (also referred to as ``visual
observation'') when participants do not voluntarily provide the
information on the application form. Further, it prohibited using
visual observation as a data collection method for race and ethnicity.
We propose to rescind the rule and seek comment on that proposal.
Procedural Matters
Executive Orders 12866 and 14192
As with the rule proposed for rescission, this rule does not meet
the criteria of a ``significant regulatory action'' under Executive
Order 12866, as supplemented by Executive Order 13563 and updated by
Executive Order 14094. Therefore, the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) has not reviewed this rule under those orders.
This regulation is not an E.O. 14192 regulatory action.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (as amended by the Small
Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) of 1996; 5 U.S.C.
601 et seq.), whenever a Federal agency is required to publish a notice
of rulemaking for any proposed or final rule, it must prepare and make
available for public comment a regulatory flexibility analysis that
describes the effect of the rule on small entities (i.e., small
businesses, small organizations, and small government jurisdictions).
FNS has concluded and hereby certifies that this rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
This rule does not contain Federal mandates (under the regulatory
provisions of Title II of the UMRA) for State, local and Tribal
governments, or the private sector of $100 million or more in any one
year. Thus, the rule is not subject to the requirements of sections 202
and 205 of the UMRA.
Executive Order 13175
Executive Order 13175 requires Federal agencies to consult and
coordinate with Tribes on a government-to-government basis on policies
that have Tribal implications, including regulations, legislative
comments or proposed legislation, and other policy statements or
actions that have substantial direct effects on one or more Indian
Tribes, on the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian
Tribes, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities between
the Federal Government and Indian Tribes. FNS has determined that this
rule has no intended impact on Tribal nations.
Paperwork Reduction Act
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
3501-3520), an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not
required to respond to, a collection of information, unless the
collection displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) control number. This proposed rule is deregulatory and so would
not impose any additional information collection requirements.
E-Government Act Compliance
The Department is committed to complying with the E-Government Act,
2002 to promote the use of the internet and other information
technologies to provide increased opportunities for citizen access to
Government information and services, and for other purposes.
Federalism Summary Impact Statement
The proposed rule is deregulatory and has little effect on States
and local governments, so FNS anticipates that this rule will not have
implications for federalism. Therefore, under Section 6(b) of the
Executive Order, a federalism summary is not required. States and local
governments are invited to comment if they believe a federalism summary
is necessary.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 272
Civil rights, Claims, Grant programs-- social programs, Reporting
and recordkeeping requirements, Unemployment compensation, Wages.
Accordingly, the Food and Nutrition Service proposes to amend 7 CFR
part 272 as follows:
[[Page 20826]]
PART 272--REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATING STATE AGENCIES
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1. The authority citation for Part 272 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 2011-2036.
0
2. Amend Sec. 272.6 by revising paragraph (g) to read as follows:
Sec. 272.6 Nondiscrimination compliance.
* * * * *
(g) Data collection. The State agency must obtain racial and ethnic
data on participating households in the manner specified by FNS. The
application form must clearly indicate that the information is
voluntary, that it will not affect the eligibility or the level of
benefits, and that the reason for the information is to assure that
program benefits are distributed without regard to race, color, or
national origin. The State agency must develop alternative means of
collecting ethnic and racial data on households, such as by observation
during the interview, when the information is not provided voluntarily
by the household on the application form.
* * * * *
James C. Miller,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2025-08797 Filed 5-15-25; 8:45 am]
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