Notice2024-07163
Agency Information Collection Activities: Assessment of Administrative Costs of Electronic Healthy Incentives Projects (eHIP)
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
April 4, 2024
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 is a new collection for the study "Assessment of Administrative Costs of Electronic Healthy Incentives Projects (eHIP)." This study will calculate costs incurred by eHIP, which will provide incentives through EBT integration to increase purchase of healthy foods (e.g., fruits and vegetables) by Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 66 (Thursday, April 4, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 66 (Thursday, April 4, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23545-23550]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07163]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
Agency Information Collection Activities: Assessment of
Administrative Costs of Electronic Healthy Incentives Projects (eHIP)
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 is a new collection for
the study ``Assessment of Administrative Costs of Electronic Healthy
Incentives Projects (eHIP).'' This study will calculate costs incurred
by eHIP, which will provide incentives through EBT integration to
increase purchase of healthy foods (e.g., fruits and vegetables) by
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before June 3, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: Kathleen Patton, Food and Nutrition
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th
Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314. Comments may also be submitted via email
to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5e153f2a36323b3b30700e3f2a2a31301e2b2d3a3f70393128"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a6edc7d2cecac3c3c888f6c7d2d2c9c8e6d3d5c2c788c1c9d0">[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 Kathleen
Patton at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#571c36233f3b32323979073623233839172224333679303821"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="99d2f8edf1f5fcfcf7b7c9f8ededf6f7d9eceafdf8b7fef6ef">[email protected]</span></a> or 703-305-2813.
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: Assessment of Administrative Costs of Electronic Healthy
Incentives Projects (eHIP).
Form Number: Not Applicable.
OMB Number: 0584-NEW.
Expiration Date: Not Yet Determined.
Type of Request: New Collection.
Abstract: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),
administered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA),
Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), distributes benefits to eligible low-
income households through Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card
technology. In fiscal year 2023 FNS awarded grants to three States,
Colorado, Louisianna, and Washington for implementing Electronic
Healthy Incentives Projects (eHIP) to leverage EBT integration to
deliver financial incentives at point of purchase to SNAP households
when they purchase qualifying foods (e.g., fruits and vegetables). The
aim of this study is to calculate the costs of eHIP in the three States
to determine the startup and ongoing costs of administering incentives
to SNAP households through EBT integration and to estimate the cost of
administering eHIP at scale. The study will quantify startup and
ongoing administrative costs to State grantees, retailers, and other
eHIP stakeholders. It will also compare administrative costs to the
amount of funding distributed as incentives.
Data will be collected from the three project States and multiple
entities working with these States, including retailers, EBT
processors, third-party processors (TPPs). These data will include both
cost data, collected through cost data templates submitted to the
States/entities, as well as interviews with State and other project
representatives to contextualize the cost data. In addition, existing
national data (such as SNAP caseloads and SNAP-authorized retailers)
and State data from non-project States (such as State wage rates) will
be examined in order to estimate the cost of nationwide expansion of
eHIP. Lastly, data from select Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive
Program (GusNIP) grantees--that do not use EBT integration for
delivering incentives to SNAP households for purchasing fruits and
vegetables will be examined to estimate the costs and return on
investment (ROI) of GusNIP and compare these to the eHIP costs and ROI,
in order to provide information on how these two incentive delivery
modalities differ in costs and economic impact.
Data collection is expected to occur beginning in March 2025 with
an approximate end date of May 2026. Data collection activities will be
designed to address the three main objectives for the study:
1. Quantify, to the extent possible, the cost of administering
eHIP;
2. Estimate the cost of nationwide expansion of eHIP; and
3. Compare the cost of administering eHIP with other incentive
programs for SNAP households that do not use EBT integration.
Design consists of building and populating a central cost model for
estimating the costs of implementing and administering eHIP. This model
will then be expanded, through the use of publicly available State and
national data, to estimate the nationwide costs of implementation and
administration. Finally, existing data on GusNIP programs will be used
to compare costs between eHIP and GusNIP.
Affected Public: State respondents are eHIP project staff. For-
profit and not-for-profit business respondents are eHIP-participating
EBT vendor staff, TPP staff, and retailer staff.
Estimated Number of Respondents: The estimated number of
respondents is 38. Within each State, the study expects responses from
4 State staff (4 staff x 3 States = 12 State staff). In addition, the
study expects to have responses from 6 retailer staff for each eHIP
State (6 staff x 3 States = 18 retailer staff), as well as 2 TPP staff
for each eHIP State (2 staff x 3 States = 6 TPP staff). Finally, the
study expects responses from 2 EBT processor staff, 1 each from the two
EBT processor firms working with the three eHIP States.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: Across all
respondents, the average number of responses is 7.3 (277 responses
across 38 respondent). The number of responses will vary by respondent
group and the specific data collection activity.
For the State SNAP agency staff:
[ssquf] One staffer within each State will be asked to respond once
to the pre-test of the cost templates and three times to the cost data
templates data collection.
[ssquf] Two staffers in each State will be asked to respond twice
to the phone interview data collection. Staff will receive an
electronic letter (i.e., email)
[[Page 23546]]
for inviting them to participate and for scheduling the interview. They
will also receive an email reminder for the interview, as well as a
thank you email.
For the EBT processors, one staff from each of the two EBT
processors will be asked to respond two times to phone interview data
collection (including invitation to schedule, reminder, interview, and
thank you note). For the retailer staff, 6 retailer staff from each
State will be asked to respond two times to phone interview data
collection (including invitation to schedule, reminder, interview, and
thank you note). For the TPP staff, two staff from each State will be
asked to respond two times to phone interview data collection
(including invitation to schedule, reminder, interview, and thank you
note).
We expect a 100 percent response rate from all categories of
respondents.
Estimated Total Annual Responses: The estimated number of total
annual responses is 277 (38 respondents and no nonrespondents).
Estimated Time per Response: The estimated time of response varies
from 0.083 hours to 7 hours depending on the instrument, as shown in
the table below. The average estimated time per response is 0.644
hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: The estimated total
annual burden on respondents 178.315 hours. See the table below for
estimated total annual burden for each type of respondent.
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P
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Tameka Owens,
Assistant Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-07163 Filed 4-3-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-C
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