Notice2021-14303
Agency Information Collection Activities: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Emergency Allotments (COVID-19)
Primary source
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Published
July 6, 2021
Issuing agencies
Agriculture DepartmentFood and Nutrition Service
Abstract
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. This collection is an extension, without change, of a currently approved collection for activities associated with administering emergency allotments (EA) waivers. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020, enacted March 18, 2020, includes a general provision that allows the Department of Agriculture to issue emergency allotments (EA) waivers based on a public health emergency declaration by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act related to an outbreak of COVID-19 when a State has also issued an emergency or disaster declaration.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 126 (Tuesday, July 6, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 126 (Tuesday, July 6, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35460-35462]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14303]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
Agency Information Collection Activities: Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program Emergency Allotments (COVID-19)
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.
This collection is an extension, without change, of a currently
approved collection for activities associated with administering
emergency allotments (EA) waivers. The Families First Coronavirus
Response Act of 2020, enacted March 18, 2020, includes a general
provision that allows the Department of Agriculture to issue emergency
allotments (EA) waivers based on a public health emergency declaration
by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 319 of the
Public Health Service Act related to an outbreak of COVID-19 when a
State has also issued an emergency or disaster declaration.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before September 7,
2021.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: Kelly Stewart, Food and Nutrition
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th
Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314; telephone 703-305-2425. Comments may also
be submitted via email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6d2608010114431e19081a0c1f192d181e090c430a021b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c388a6afafbaedb0b7a6b4a2b1b783b6b0a7a2eda4acb5">[email protected]</span></a>. Comments will also be
accepted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal.
[[Page 35461]]
Go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>, 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 Kelly
Stewart at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5318363f3f2a7d2027362432212713262037327d343c25"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="95def0f9f9ecbbe6e1f0e2f4e7e1d5e0e6f1f4bbf2fae3">[email protected]</span></a>; telephone 703-305-2425.
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: Agency Information Collection Activities: Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program Emergency Allotments (COVID-19).
OMB Number: 0584-0652.
Expiration Date: 1/31/2022.
Type of Request: Extension, without change, of a currently approved
collection.
Abstract: The Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020 (Pub.
L. 116-127), enacted March 18, 2020, includes a general provision that
allows the Department of Agriculture to issue emergency allotments (EA)
based on a public health emergency declaration by the Secretary of
Health and Human Services under section 319 of the Public Health
Service Act related to an outbreak of COVID-19 when a State has also
issued an emergency or disaster declaration. In January 2021, the
Department obtained Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to
collect the information as described in this Notice for a period of one
year (OMB Control Number 0584-0652; expiration 1/31/2022). The
President's Executive Order on Economic Relief Related to the COVID-19
Pandemic, issued January 22, 2021, directed all Federal agencies to
consider administrative actions to better address the current economic
crisis resulting from the pandemic. FNS reviewed existing EA policy and
issued updated State guidance \1\ on April 1, 2021, outlining a new
approach to calculating EA that provides greater equity for households
most in need. The April 2021 guidance supersedes previous guidance
issued in March 2020 and April 2020. In addition to outlining a new EA
minimum benefit policy, the April 2021 guidance describes an EA phase-
out request States may use when their State-level emergency declaration
expiration date is imminent. The State agency process for requesting
EA, as outlined in the April 2021 guidance, remains generally
unchanged, though the State must now confirm that the State's emergency
or disaster declaration remains active when requesting EA. USDA
anticipates the need to collect the data beyond the expiration date and
is seeking approval of this Information Collection Request in order to
meet the continuing information collection and reporting requirements
detailed in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020.
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\1\ <a href="https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/resource-files/snap-covid-emergency-allotments-phase-3-guidance.pdf">https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/resource-files/snap-covid-emergency-allotments-phase-3-guidance.pdf</a>.
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As authorized by Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020,
State agencies impacted by COVID-19 may submit an EA waiver request to
their FNS Regional Office for approval to provide a EA to households to
bring all households up to the maximum benefit due to pandemic related
economic conditions. As outlined in the April 2021 guidance, State
agency waivers will generally be approved under one or more the
following conditions as it relates to COVID-19:
<bullet> Residents of the State are confirmed to have contracted COVID-
19
<bullet> Some or all areas of the State are containment or quarantine
zones
<bullet> Businesses have closed or significantly reduced their hours
<bullet> The State's residents have experienced economic impacts due to
job suspensions or losses
<bullet> The State's residents have been directed to practice social
distancing,
The State agency must also confirm that the State's emergency or
disaster declaration remains active.
In addition, to allow for State EA phase-out upon expiration of the
State's emergency declaration, States may request EA approval for one
additional issuance month if:
<bullet> The national public health emergency declaration that was
extended on January 21, 2021, by the Secretary for Health and Human
Services under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act remains in
place, and
<bullet> The State-issued emergency or disaster declaration has
expired or will expire in the current month. This will allow a State
that has lost or will lose its declaration in the current month to
provide one additional issuance month of EA and to notify SNAP
participants that EA benefits will be ending.
Once the State's EA waiver has been approved by FNS, the State may
provide the EA without contacting the household. Following waiver
approval, FNS will require State Agencies to attest to FNS on a monthly
basis the EA waiver is still needed and that the State declaration
remains in place. Both the initial EA waiver and the monthly
attestation are conducted via email. FNS expects 53 State agencies will
submit one initial EA waiver to FNS. Currently 51 State agencies are
operating under an EA waiver. It is possible that States may have more
than one declared public health emergency over the next year as COVID-
19 rates ebb and flow, therefore we are including hours for these
initial waiver requests in this IC as a precautionary measure. There
are three reporting requirements for this information collection
request. (1) Each initial EA waiver submission should take
approximately one hour to complete. (2) Each monthly email attesting to
the continued need for the EA waiver is expected to take 15 minutes to
complete. FNS expects that any phase-out request, as outlined in the
April 2021 guidance, would be included in the email as part of the
monthly attestation process; the indication of phase-out would simply
signal the end of that State's need for EA and, thus, monthly
attestations. The phase out request is expected to take 1 minute of the
15 minutes estimated for monthly attestation; therefore, no additional
burden is estimated for phase-out requests.
Section 18(b) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended,
requires that, ``In any fiscal year, the Secretary shall limit the
value of those allotments issued to an amount not in excess of the
appropriation for such fiscal year.'' Because the EA waiver increases
the monthly benefit of participants above the amount originally
anticipated for this fiscal year, the amount of benefits issued and
redeemed must be carefully tracked to ensure FNS does not exceed its
appropriation. As such, it is necessary for FNS to collect information
from State agencies operating EA on a more frequent basis than would be
reported normally. Generally, States report disaster-related
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SNAP participation and issuance data to FNS on the FNS-292B, Report of
Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Benefit Issuance, within 45
days of terminating disaster assistance.
While a State is operating under an EA waiver, (3) FNS requires the
State to submit bi-weekly FNS-292B reports. The burden for a State
agency to submit FNS-292B reports during normal operations is currently
captured under the information collection for the Food Programs
Reporting System (FPRS), OMB Control Number 0584-0594 (expiration date
7/31/2023). However, FNS is accounting for the additional burden used
for EA in this request and including the burden for submitting this
form more frequently under this information collection.
<bullet> FNS-292B--Takes States approximately 24 minutes or 0.4008
hours per response x 53 State Agencies x 26 weeks = 552.30 hours.
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Number of Frequency of Total annual Hours per Annual burden
Respondent category Instruments Form respondents response responses response (hours)
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State Agencies.................. Bi-weekly EA FNS-292B......... 53 26 1,378 0.4008 552.20
Reporting to FNS.
Initial Waiver N/A.............. 53 1 53 1 53
Request--Emergency
Allotment.
Monthly EA N/A.............. 53 12 636 0.25 159
Attestation
(including Phase-
Out Requests).
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Total....................... ................... ................. 53 39 2,067 0.3697641 764.30
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Affected Public: State, Local and Tribal Governments.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 53.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 39.
Estimated Total Annual Responses: 2,067.
Estimated Time per Response: 0.3697641 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 764.
Cynthia Long,
Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-14303 Filed 7-2-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P
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