[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 158 (Tuesday, August 16, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54552-54553]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-19533]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request--Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program--Quality
Control
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 proposed information collection.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 17, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: Stephanie Proska, Food and
Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center
Drive, Room 822, Alexandria, VA 22302. Comments may also be submitted
via fax to the attention of Stephanie Proska at 703-305-0928 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 Stephanie
Proska at 703-305-2437.
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: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)--Title 7,
Part 275.
OMB Number: 0584-0303.
Expiration Date: January 31, 2017.
Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Abstract: There are three components of the Quality Control (QC)
system that are covered in this required information collection. They
are: (1) The sampling plan; (2) the arbitration process; and (3) the
good cause process. Each State is required to develop a sampling plan
that demonstrates the integrity of its case selection procedures. The
QC system is designed to measure each State agency's payment error rate
based on a statistically valid sample of SNAP cases. A State agency's
payment error rate represents the proportion of cases that were
reported through a QC review as being ineligible, as well as the
proportion of SNAP benefits that were either overissued or underissued
to SNAP households.
The QC system contains procedures for resolving differences in
review findings between State agencies and FNS. This is referred to as
the arbitration process. The QC system also contains procedures that
provide relief for State agencies from all or a part of a QC liability
when a State agency can demonstrate that a part or all of an excessive
error rate was due to an unusual event that had an uncontrollable
impact on the State agency's payment error rate. This is referred to as
the good cause process.
The approved burden for the QC system includes the burden for the
QC sampling plan, the arbitration process and the good cause process.
The currently approved burden for total reporting burden for the QC
system is 1,544.91 hours, an increase of 167.91 hours. (1) The annual
reporting burden associated with the QC sampling plan remains at 265
hours. (2) We estimate the annual reporting burdens associated with
arbitration and (3) good cause processes to total 791.1 and 320 hours,
respectively. The decrease in the revised burden from the currently
approved 792 to 791.1 hours for the arbitration process is due to a
decrease in the estimated number of responses per State agency. These
decreases are a result of State agencies less frequently disagreeing
with FNS' findings. The requested annual reporting burden for the good
cause process remains at 320 hours.
In addition, we are adding two additional forms to the reporting
burden: FNS 74A, Template for QC-related New Investment Plans and FNS
74B, Template for QC-related New Investment Plan Progress Reports.
These two templates are being added to this collection in an effort to
formalize the regulatory requirements of these two items for States
that are subject to QC-related new investments.
Based on the number of State agencies subject to the QC-related new
investment requirement over the last three years and feedback from
those State agencies that responded to our inquiry, we estimate the
amount of time to create a QC-related new investment plan is
approximately 32 hours. This estimate includes determining root causes
of a State agency's error rate, exploring methods to address those
causes, and writing up the plan to address those causes. In addition,
we estimate it takes approximately 5 hours to complete a progress
report updating FNS on the status of the activities in the State
agency's relevant QC-related new investment plan. We estimate the total
annual reporting burden for 4 State Agencies to complete a new
investment plan to be 128 hours and 40 hours for the progress report.
The requested annual recordkeeping burden associated with the QC
sampling plan remains at 1.25 hours per year. The revised annual
recordkeeping burdens associated with arbitration has increased from
0.7788 hour to 1.4868 hours and the good cause process has remained at
0.0472 hour. The estimated recordkeeping burden for the QC-related new
investment plan and progress reports total 0.0944 hour and 0.1888 hours
respectively.
The burden for recordkeeping has increased from 2.076 hours to
3.068 hours. As a result, the overall annual burden for the QC system,
as proposed by this notice, increased from 1,379.076 to 1547.978 hours,
totaling an increase of 168.90 hours.
[[Page 54553]]
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Estimated
Estimated Responses Total annual average number Estimated
Affected public Requirement number of annually per responses of hours per total hours
respondents respondent (Col. b x c) response (Col. d x e)
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Reporting Burden
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State Agencies............................ Sampling Plan............... 53 1 53 5 265
State Agencies............................ Arbitration Process......... 15 4.2 63 12.57 791.91
State Agencies............................ Good Cause Process.......... 2 1 2 160 320
State Agencies............................ New Investment Plan Template 4 1 4 32 128
Form FNS 74 A.
State Agencies............................ New Investment Progress 4 2 8 5 40
Report Template Form FNS 74
B.
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Grand Total Reporting................. ............................ 53 .............. 130 .............. 1544.91
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Number of Estimated
Estimated reports Number of Estimated time total
Affected public Requirement number of annually per total annual per record recordkeeping
respondents state records hours
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Recordkeeping Burden
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State Agencies............................ Sampling Plan............... 53 1 53 0.0236 1.2508
State Agencies............................ Arbitration Process......... 15 4.2 63 0.0236 1.4868
State Agencies............................ Good Cause Process.......... 2 1 2 0.0236 0.0472
State Agencies............................ New Investment Plan Template 4 1 4 0.0236 0.0944
Form FNS 74 A.
State Agencies............................ New Investment Progress 4 2 8 0.0236 0.1888
Report Template Form FNS 74
B.
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Grand Total Recordkeeping............. ............................ 53 .............. 130 .............. 3.068
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Combined Grand Total Reporting and ............................ 53 4.90566 260 5.953730 1547.978
Recordkeeping.
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Dated: August 2, 2016.
Yvette S. Jackson,
Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-19533 Filed 8-15-16; 8:45 am]
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