Notice2021-15051
Agency Information Collection Activities: Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); Food Delivery Portal (FDP)
Primary source
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Published
July 15, 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 a revision of a currently approved collection to provide FNS and WIC State agencies with an ongoing/annual data set that can be used to assess State agencies' compliance with WIC vendor management requirements and estimate State agencies' progress in eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 133 (Thursday, July 15, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 133 (Thursday, July 15, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37280-37282]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-15051]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
Agency Information Collection Activities: Special Supplemental
Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); Food Delivery
Portal (FDP)
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. This collection is a revision
of a currently approved collection to provide FNS and WIC State
agencies with an ongoing/annual data set that can be used to assess
State agencies' compliance with WIC vendor management requirements and
estimate State agencies' progress in eliminating fraud, waste, and
abuse.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before September 13,
2021.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted via email to the attention of FDP
Help Desk at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#580b15763e36761e1c08103d3428182d2b3c39763f372e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="88dbc5a6eee6a6ceccd8c0ede4f8c8fdfbece9a6efe7fe">[email protected]</span></a>. Comments will also be accepted
through the Federal eRulemaking Portal. 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 Amy
Herring, at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#80e1edf9aee8e5f2f2e9eee7c0f5f3e4e1aee7eff6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7c1d11055214190e0e15121b3c090f181d521b130a">[email protected]</span></a> or (703) 305-2376.
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 will have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of
information,
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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: Food Delivery Portal (FDP) Data Collection (formerly The
Integrity Profile (TIP) Data Collection).
Form Number: None.
OMB Number: 0584-0401.
Expiration Date: September 30, 2021.
Type of Request: Revision of a Currently Approved Collection.
Abstract: Each year, WIC State agencies administering the Special
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
are required by 7 CFR 246.12(j)(5) to submit to FNS an annual summary
of the results of their vendor monitoring efforts in order to provide
Congress, senior FNS officials, as well as the general public,
assurance that every reasonable effort is being made to ensure
integrity in the WIC Program. The number of WIC State agencies in
fiscal year 2020 is 89. This includes 50 geographic State agencies, 33
State agencies operated by Indian Tribal Organizations, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands. Through FY 2021,
States report compliance and monitoring data in The Integrity Profile
(TIP) system. That system is being replaced with an upgraded, web-based
system called Food Delivery Portal (FDP). Starting FY 2022, all WIC
State agencies will use the upgraded web-based system.
The existing TIP system was designed and developed using the WIC
Program requirements current as of 2005. Since 2005, there have been
changes to the requirements, policies, technology, and guidance that
the current system cannot support. It is critical that FNS implements a
more robust data collection system to align with current security
protocols and compliance guidance, support data storage and web
components, ensure cost effectiveness, allow for more data-driven
decision-making through increased data analytic functionality, enhance
FNS reporting capabilities, reduce grantee burden through automated
calculations and consolidated reporting, and add data validation
features to reduce reporting errors. With this update, the TIP system
will be replaced with the Food Delivery Portal (FDP).
The TIP system currently collects data via three automated forms:
FNS-698 Profile of Integrity Practices and Procedures (PIPP) Report,
FNS-699 The Integrity Profile (TIP) Report, and FNS-700 Vendor Record.
Revisions and consolidations in data collection in the FDP will
eliminate these physical forms for the annual collection, instead
allowing each State agency to provide updates using FDP. The screens in
FDP provide a more flexible method of data capture, that focuses on the
data that has changed for the year rather than recapturing all data
elements each time. As a part of the upgrade effort, existing data in
the TIP system will be migrated to the new FDP.
There is an increase in the burden hours because FNS intends to
seek feedback from the State agencies on the system. However, the
responses for this collection will decrease as the FNS program needs
have changed, and Seneca Nation no longer administers WIC. The State
agency is currently required to generate a complete data package in TIP
each year for each vendor. The current system requires each State
agency to submit data for all of its vendors within a single file. The
proposed changes for FDP allow each State agency to enter the majority
of its vendor information once and then only update the fields that
have changed within the year, reducing the data entry and monitoring
burden. There is no recordkeeping burden associated with this
information collection request.
Estimate of Burden: Public reporting burden for this collection of
information is based on the fields in the new online application, and
the total number of vendor records estimated to be entered into FDP by
WIC State agencies.
The highest total burden for a single record is estimated at 10
minutes (0.167 hours) for completing manual data entry for all fields
in a new record. This estimate is based upon each vendor operating as a
WIC authorized vendor at some point during the year. It includes the
time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources,
gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing
the collection of information. It is estimated to take 30 minutes (0.50
hours) for the data upload,
Entering Vendor Data
Each State agency maintains their vendor data records within their
state-level system of record. They report to FDP the finalized records
for each fiscal year. State agencies have the following two options for
reporting annual vendor records. In FY 2019, there were 41,675 vendor
records reported in TIP across all 89 State agencies. Of these 89 State
agencies, 16 State agencies used Option 1 and 73 State agencies used
Option 2.
Option 1: State agencies manually update or add new records to the
FDP system using the application screens. The FDP system stores and
pre-populates information for vendors from the previous year's
submission making updating existing entries quicker. FNS estimates that
16 out of 89 State agencies (with a total of 456 vendors--430 existing
and 26 new) will update existing and enter new vendors using Option 1.
To update an existing record, State agencies must update any
applicable changes to contract information (including status
determinations), redemption data, monitoring activities, compliance
investigations, sanctions, and administrative reviews on applicable
existing vendors, taking approximately 5 minutes (0.083 hours per
vendor). On average, these State agencies each update 26.9 records (430
records divided by 16 State agencies, rounded to nearest tenth). FNS
estimates a total of 35.7 hours to update existing records (0.083 hours
per vendor x 430 responses).
To enter a new record, State agencies must complete all data fields
for new vendors authorized during the fiscal year, taking approximately
10 minutes (0.167 hours per vendor) to complete the record. On average,
these State agencies each update 1.6 records (26 records divided by 16
State agencies, rounded to nearest tenth). FNS estimates a total of 4.3
hours to enter the new records (0.167 hours x 26 responses).
Option 2: State agencies upload data files in the FDP system with
all vendor data. FNS estimates out of 89 State agencies, 73 State
agencies (with a total of 41,219 vendor records), will upload their
data using Option 2. FNS estimates that it will take 30 minutes (0.50
hours) for a State agency to upload its vendor data, with small to
medium State agencies taking up to a minute to upload data and large
State agencies taking up to 60 minutes to upload data. The total hours
requested for State agencies using Option 2 is 36.5 hours (0.50 hours
per upload x 73 State agencies).
Data Preparation
Table 1 depicts the estimated time for each State agency to prepare
its vendor data for submission in FDP. The estimated time varies as
some State agencies' MIS automatically generate the data each fiscal
year while other State agencies manually compile the
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data from multiple sources. FNS estimates that data preparation takes 1
to 30 hours with a median of 10 hours. For this estimate, median is
used instead of mean as the data is skewed, based upon the number of
records reported by each State agency on authorized vendors. FNS
estimates the burden hours needed to comply with this requirement is
890 hours (89 State agencies x 10 hours per submission).
SA System Feedback
Table 1 depicts the estimated time that each State agency might
spend reviewing and responding to FNS requests for feedback on the
system on an annual basis. FNS estimates that it will take
approximately 2.5 hours per State agency to provide this feedback, for
an estimated 222.5 hours.
Affected Public: State, Local, and Tribal Government. Respondent
groups identified include State, Tribal, and WIC agencies in the
District of Columbia and in U.S. territories.
Estimated Number of Respondents: The total estimated number of
respondents is 194.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: For update Option 1,
the frequency for the manual entry of a new record is 1.6 and 26.9 for
the manual update of existing records, while the frequency for Option 2
(Data Upload) is one. Respondents prepare the data and respond to
system feedback once per year. For all of the respondents across the
entire collection, FNS estimates a frequency of 3.644.
Estimated Total Annual Responses: 707 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: The estimated time of response varies
from 5 minutes (.083 hours) to 10 hours depending on respondent group,
as shown in the table below, with an average estimated time of 1.682
hours for all participants.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 1,189 hours. See the
table below for estimated total annual burden for each type of
respondent.
Table 1--Estimate of Burden Hours
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Type of
Respondent category respondents Instruments Form Number of Frequency of Total annual Hours per Annual burden
(optional) respondents response responses response (hours)
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State Government............. State Program Manual entry of FDP 16 1.6 26 0.167 4.3
Staff. a new record.
State Government............. State Program Manual update FDP 16 26.9 430 0.083 35.7
Staff. existing
record.
State Government............. State Program Data Upload.... FDP 73 1 73 0.5 36.5
Staff.
State Government............. State Program Data ....... 89 1 89 10.0 890.0
Staff. Preparation
for this ICR.
State Government............. State Program SA System ....... 89 1 89 2.5 222.5
Staff. Feedback.
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Total.................... ............... ............... ....... 194 3.644 707 1.682 1,189
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Cynthia Long,
Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-15051 Filed 7-14-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P
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