Notice2023-03273
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
February 16, 2023
Issuing agencies
Agriculture Department
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 32 (Thursday, February 16, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 32 (Thursday, February 16, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10075-10077]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03273]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
The Department of Agriculture has submitted the following
information collection requirement(s) to OMB for review and clearance
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. Comments
are requested regarding; whether the collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility; the
accuracy of the agency's estimate of burden including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used; ways to enhance the quality,
utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
Comments regarding this information collection received by March
20, 2023 will be considered. Written comments and recommendations for
the proposed information collection should be submitted within 30 days
of the publication of this notice on the following website
<a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. Find this information collection by
selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments''
or by using the search function.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information
unless the collection of information displays a currently valid OMB
control number and the agency informs potential persons who are to
respond to the collection of information that such persons are not
required to respond to the collection of information unless it displays
a currently valid OMB control number.
Food and Nutrition Service
Title: Understanding the Relationship Between Poverty, Well-Being,
and Food Security.
OMB Control Number: 0584-NEW.
Summary of Collection: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) is the nation's largest federal program aimed at
reducing food insecurity and increasing access to healthy food. SNAP is
administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA), Food and
Nutrition Service (FNS) and provides nutrition assistance benefits to
program participants, the majority of whom are children, the elderly,
or people with disabilities. Through this data collection effort, FNS
seeks to understand the interrelated factors that lead to household
food insecurity. Data will be collected in six counties experiencing
persistent intergenerational poverty through a study titled
Understanding the Relationship Between Poverty, Well-Being, and Food
Security. The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended through Public
Law 116-94, enacted December 20, 2019, provides the legislative
authority for the USDA's FNS to administer SNAP. Section 17 of the Food
and Nutrition Act of 2008 provides the authority to FNS to conduct
research to help improve the administration and effectiveness of SNAP.
Need and Use of the Information: Understanding the Relationship
Between Poverty, Well-Being, and Food Security will allow FNS to gain a
deeper understanding of the interrelated factors that affect the food
security status of SNAP beneficiaries and SNAP-eligible
nonparticipants, information which has not previously collected in
persistently poor counties. The USDA's Economic
[[Page 10076]]
Research Service (ERS) defines counties as being persistently poor if
20 percent or more of county residents were poor at each of several
points in time over a 30-year period, measured by the 1980, 1990, and
2000 censuses and the 2007-2011 American Community Survey. Examining
food insecurity and poverty in these populations will help FNS better
understand the association between SNAP, other USDA-administered
programs, and community-based assistance with well-being and the food
environment. Study objectives include:
Objective 1: Produce descriptive statistics on key sociodemographic
and economic variables, including household food security in a
representative sample of all residents in each of six persistent-
poverty counties.
Objective 2: Produce descriptive statistics on key sociodemographic
and economic variables, including household food insecurity in two
representative stratified subsamples of low and very low food-secure
residents, in each county of six persistent-poverty counties.
Objective 3: Produce descriptive statistics for each subgroup in
each county on key social, geospatial, and other policy-actionable
elements of well-being and material deprivation associated with both
household food security and SNAP participation.
Objective 4: Characterize the social context and the life course of
individuals, within a multigenerational family unit, as they define
their experiences with food insecurity through In-Depth Interviews
(IDIs).
Description of Respondents: State and Local Government, Individuals
and Households, Businesses or other For- Profit and Not-for-Profit.
Number of Respondents: 20,349.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On Occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 7,792.
Food and Nutrition Service
Title: Servicing SNAP Applicants and Participants with Limited
English Proficiency (LEP).
OMB Control Number: 0584-NEW.
Summary of Collection: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) provides a monthly benefit to eligible households to
spend on food so that households and individuals with low incomes have
access to enough nutritious food to lead healthy, active lives. The
U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service
(FNS) administers SNAP in partnership with 53 State agencies (the 50
States, the District of Columbia [DC], Guam, and the U.S. Virgin
Islands [USVI]). In three U.S. Territories--American Samoa, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and Puerto Rico--
nutrition assistance to low-income individuals and households is
provided through the Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP).
As Federally assisted programs, both SNAP and NAP are required to
comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) and its
implementing regulations for the USDA at 7 CFR 15. (U.S. Department of
Justice Civil Rights Division n.d.). Title VI prohibits entities that
receive Federal financial assistance from discriminating against or
otherwise excluding individuals on the basis of race, color, or
national origin. In order to avoid discrimination against LEP persons
on the ground of national origin, administrators of Federal financial
assistance programs must take reasonable steps to ensure that LEP
persons receive the language assistance necessary to afford them
meaningful access to SNAP or NAP as applicable, free of charge. LEP
individuals are defined as those who do not speak English as their
primary language and have a limited ability to read, speak, write, or
understand English (USDA 2014, p. 70775). Meaningful access requires
that State agencies provide language assistance services that allow
equal participation in and access to the benefits of a given program.
To support meaningful access, language assistance must be provided at a
time and place that avoids the effective denial of the service,
benefit, or right at issue or the imposition of an undue burden on or
delay in important rights, benefits, or services to the LEP person
(USDA 2014, p. 70779-70780).
Need and Use of the Information: As the agency responsible for
providing oversight and monitoring for both SNAP and NAP, it is
critical that FNS understands whether and how SNAP and NAP agencies are
complying with LEP requirements. The LEP study will provide FNS with
actionable insights about how States and Territories operate language
access policies and requirements. The study will gather detailed data
from all 53 State SNAP agencies via a web-based survey, the three
Territories that operate NAP via in-depth interviews, and will conduct
case studies in four States. The study will provide FNS with a
comprehensive summary of findings on policies and practices related to
LEP access. It will increase FNS' understanding of SNAP LEP access
policies and practices across the nation, including how States make
decisions about these policies and practices, how they train staff on
them, and their perceptions of Federal regulations. The findings from
the study will help inform policymakers efforts to provide more
meaningful access to SNAP and NAP.
Description of Respondents: State, Local, and Tribal Governments.
Number of Respondents: 100.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On Occasion.
Total Burden Hours: 238.
Food and Nutrition Service
Title: Rapid Cycle Evaluation of Operational Improvements in
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Employment & Training
(E&T) Programs.
OMB Control Number: 0584-NEW.
Summary of Collection: Section 17 of the Food and Nutrition Act of
2008, as amended in March 2022, authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture
to contract with private organizations and conduct research to improve
the administration and effectiveness of SNAP. In addition to providing
nutrition assistance benefits to millions of low-income individuals
experiencing economic hardship, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) provides work supports through Employment and Training
(E&T) programs that help SNAP participants gain skills and find work.
State agencies are required to operate an E&T program and have
considerable flexibility to determine the services they offer and
populations they serve. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and
Nutrition Service (FNS) seeks to ensure the quality of the services and
activities offered through SNAP E&T programs by investing resources and
providing technical assistance to help States build capacity, create
more robust services, and increase engagement in their programs.
Need and Use of the Information: The Rapid Cycle Evaluation of
Operational Improvements in SNAP E&T Programs (SNAP E&T RCE) evaluation
will use rapid cycle evaluation (RCE) to test small-scale interventions
in SNAP E&T operations or service delivery to determine their
effectiveness in improving program engagement and service take-up. RCE
is an approach that involves cycles of identifying, testing, and
refining small scale, low-cost operational interventions to determine
their effectiveness.
Description of Respondents: State and Local Government, Individuals
and Households, Businesses or other For- Profit and Not-for-Profit.
Number of Respondents: 61,783.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: On Occasion.
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Total Burden Hours: 16,216.
Food and Nutrition Service
Title: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Trafficking
Controls and Investigations (Card Replacement Revision).
OMB Control Number: 0584-0587.
Summary of Collection: The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)
requires States agencies to issue a warning notice to withhold
replacement electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards or a warning notice
for excessive EBT card replacements for individual members of a
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) household requesting
four EBT cards in a 12-month period. These notices are being issued to
educate SNAP recipients on use of the EBT card and to deter fraudulent
activity.
Need and Use of the Information: The data collected will be used
for a variety of purposes, mainly statutory and regulatory compliance.
The data is gathered at various times, ranging from monthly, quarterly,
annual or final submissions. Without the information, FNS would be
unable to ensure integrity or effectively monitor any over-issued,
under-issued, or trafficking.
Description of Respondents: 372,285 Individuals/Households and 53
State, Local or Tribal Government.
Number of Respondents: 372,338.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Quarterly, Semi-annually,
Monthly; Annually.
Total Burden Hours: 35,863.
Ruth Brown,
Departmental Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023-03273 Filed 2-15-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on February 16, 2023.
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