[Federal Register: May 11, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 90)]
[Notices]
[Page 24765-24766]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11my05-20]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service
Notice of Intent To Revise a Currently Approved Information Collection
AGENCY: Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service,
USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
regulations (5 CFR 1320) that implement the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice announces the Cooperative
State Research, Education, and Extension Service's (CSREES) intention
to request approval for the revision of a currently approved
information collection for the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education
Program (EFNEP).
DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by July 11,
2005 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date
will be considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: Written comments concerning this notice and requests for
copies of the information collection may be submitted by any of the
following methods to Jason Hitchcock, eGovernment Program Leader,
Information Systems and Technology Management; Mail: CSREES, USDA, STOP
2216, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-2216; Hand
Delivery/Courier: 800 9th Street, SW., Waterfront Centre, Washington,
DC 20024; Fax: 202-720-0857; or E-mail: jhitchcock&csrees.usda.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and to request
a copy of the information collection, call or write Jason Hitchcock, E-
Government Leader, (202) 720-4343.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: 0524-0044.
OMB Number: 0524-0044.
Expiration Date of Current Approval: September 30, 2005.
Type of Request: Intent to seek approval for the revision of a
currently approved information collection for three years.
Abstract: The USDA's CSREES Expanded Food and Nutrition Education
Program (EFNEP) is a unique program that began in 1969 and is designed
to reach limited resource audiences, especially youth and families with
young children. Extension professionals train and supervise
paraprofessionals and volunteers who teach food and nutrition
information and skills to limited resources families and youth. EFNEP
operates in all 50 states and in American Samoa, Guam, Micronesia,
Northern Marianas, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
The objectives of EFNEP are to assist limited resource families and
youth in acquiring the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and changed
behaviors necessary for nutritionally sound diets, and to contribute to
their personal development and the improvement of the total family diet
and nutritional well-being.
Since program inception, states have annually reported demographic
and dietary behavior change of their EFNEP audience to the Federal
Cooperative Extension Service EFNEP National Program Leader at CSREES.
Through 1992, the reports were submitted on OMB approved forms, ES 255
and ES 256. The data gathered using these forms were of limited
usefulness at the State and local level, and data quality was
questionable.
The Evaluation/Reporting System (E/RS) was developed to capture the
impacts of EFNEP. The purpose of this collection is to gauge if the
federal assistance provided is having an impact on the target audience
and enable CSREES staff to make programmatic improvements in its
delivery of federal assistance. The data collected through E/RS also
provides information for management purposes, provides diagnostic
assessments of participant needs, and exports summary data for State
and National assessment of the program's impact. The specifications for
this system were developed by a committee of representatives from
across the United States. E/RS is a database that stores information in
the form of records about the program participants, their family
structure and their dietary practices. The system is structured to
collect data about adult participants, youth and youth group members,
staff assignments, and hours worked. The E/RS consists of separate
software sub-systems for the county, State, and Federal levels. Each
county-level system accumulates data about individuals. This data is
exported electronically to the State-level system. At the State level,
participating university staff import the data and create State reports
that are exported electronically to the Federal-level system. At the
Federal level, the State compiled data lacks any personal information
that may identify any of the participants. National reports are then
created and made available to the public.
Revisions to the currently approved collection include complying
with Federal regulations and standards for maintaining, collecting and
presenting data on race and ethnicity. The system has also added an
improved youth evaluation component. The dietary analysis component has
been expanded to provide more foods and nutrients, and the system
provides more output options. This provides expanded flexibility for
State and local reports.
The evaluation processes of EFNEP remain consistent with the
requirements of Congressional legislation and OMB. The Government
Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-62), the
Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act (FAIR) (Pub. L. 105-207), and
the Agricultural, Research, Extension and Education Reform Act (AREERA)
of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-185), together with OMB requirements, support the
reporting requirements requested in this information collection. One of
the five Presidential Management Agenda initiatives, Budget and
Performance Integration, builds on GPRA and earlier efforts to identify
program goals and performance measures, and link them to the budget
process. The FAIR act requires the development and implementation of a
system to monitor and evaluate agricultural research and extension
activities in order to measure the impact and effectiveness of
research, extension, and education programs. AREERA requires a
performance
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evaluation to be conducted to determine whether federally funded
agricultural research, extension, and education programs result in
public goods that have national or multistate significance.
Estimate of Burden: Each year the state offices aggregate local
electronic data into the State report, and transmit it electronically
to CSREES. This requirement constitutes the federal burden CSREES
imposes on the States and is the only burden measured and accounted for
in this estimate. CSREES estimates that it takes one State or Territory
12 minutes to aggregate the local level information and export the
summary information to CSREES. There are a total of 56 responses
annually, thus constituting a total annual estimated burden of 11.2
hours for this information collection. The burden is small relative to
the amount of information collected, because CSREES collects this
information electronically and leverages information that State and
local programs are currently collecting for the evaluation of their own
activities.
Comments: 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; (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 through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
Done in Washington, DC, this 3rd day of May, 2005.
Joseph J. Jen,
Under Secretary, Research, Education, and Economics.
[FR Doc. 05-9345 Filed 5-10-05; 8:45 am]
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