[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 246 (Thursday, December 23, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80787-80788]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-32291]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request-Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Store
Applications, Forms FNS-252, 252-E, 252-R, 252-2, and 252-C
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 a revision
of a currently approved collection in the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program and concerns Retail Store Applications (Forms FNS-
252; FNS-252-E; and FNS-252-R).
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before February 22, 2011
to be assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: 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 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.
Comments may be sent to: Ronald Ward, Food and Nutrition Service,
U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 426,
Alexandria, VA 22302. Comments may also be submitted via fax to the
attention of Ronald Ward at (703) 305-1863 or via e-mail to: [email protected]. Comments will also be accepted through the Federal
eRulemaking Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov, and follow the
online instructions for submitting comments electronically.
All written comments will be open for public inspection at the
office of the Food and Nutrition Service during regular business hours
(8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday) at 3101 Park Center Drive,
Room 426, Alexandria, Virginia 22302.
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 Ronald Ward
at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)--Store
Applications.
Form Number: FNS-252, 252-E, 252-R, 252-2, and 252-C.
OMB Number: 0584-0008 and 0584-0553.
Expiration Date: July 31, 2011.
Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection of
information.
Abstract: Section 9(a) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as
amended, (the Act) (7 U.S.C. 2018(a)) requires that FNS determine the
eligibility of retail food stores and certain food service
organizations to accept SNAP benefits and to monitor them for
compliance and continued eligibility.
Part of FNS' responsibility is to accept applications from retail
food stores that wish to participate in SNAP, review the applications
in order to determine whether or not applicants meet eligibility
requirements, and make determinations whether to grant or deny
authorization to accept SNAP benefits. There are currently four
application forms designed for that purpose approved under the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) No. 0584-0008--the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program Application for Stores, Form FNS-252 and
FNS-252-E (paper and online version, respectively); the Meal Service
Application, Form FNS-252-2; and the Corporate Supplemental
Application, Form FNS-252-C used for individual (chain) stores under a
corporation.FNS is also responsible for reviewing retail food store
applications at least once every five years to ensure that each firm is
under the same ownership and continues to meet eligibility guidelines.
In order to accomplish this regulatory requirement, FNS collects
information from retail food stores using the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program Application for Stores--Reauthorization, Form FNS-
252-R. This information collection is approved under OMB No. 0584-0553.
In our previous submission to OMB, FNS received approval to merge this
information collection with OMB No. 0584-0008, which FNS intends to do
at this time.
[[Page 80788]]
FNS is also enhancing Forms FNS-252 and FNS-252-E in order to (1)
Clarify questions 16 and 17 regarding sales information; (2) expand the
inventory stock examples provided in question 18; (3) re-word or re-
phrase written instructions and on-line help screens; and (4) visually
enhance the application by making design and formatting changes. The
proposed revisions do not increase the hourly burden estimate on
respondents.
FNS also intends to revise Form FNS-252-R. The purposes of the
revisions are to (1) Clarify questions 5 and 6; (2) add ``Yes/No''
boxes in question 8; (3) expand the inventory stock examples provided
in question 5; (4) revise the certification statement in the general
instruction section to re-phrase and clarify information requested; and
(5) add two additional questions: the number of check-out registers,
and the option for retailers to provide an email address. In our
previous submission to OMB, we estimated the hourly burden to be 7
minutes. We estimate the new hourly burden estimate to increase by 10
seconds, and the new burden to be, on average, 7.10 minutes, on
average.
Affected Public: Business for Profit; Retail food stores.
Estimated Number of Respondents: The total estimated number of
respondents is 90,532.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: Respondents complete
either 1 application form at initial authorization or 1 reauthorization
application, as appropriate, for a total of 1 response each.
Estimated Total Annual Responses: 68,893.80.
Estimated Time per Response: 10.59 minutes (0.18317 hours). The
estimated time response varies from 1 minute to 11 minutes depending on
respondent group, as shown in the table below.
Table A--Reporting Estimate of Hour Burden
SUMMARY OF BURDEN--0584-0008
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(e) Total
(a) Description of (b) Form (c) Number (d) Number annual (f) Hours (g) Total
Affected public collection activity Number respondents responses per responses per response burden (exf)
respondent (cxd)
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Reporting
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Retailers............................. Applications Received.... 252 15,299.83 1.00 15,299.83 0.18370 2,810.58
Applications Received.... 252-E 20,281.17 1.00 20,281.17 0.16700 3,386.96
E-Authentication......... 252-E 20,281.17 1.00 20,281.17 0.13360 2,709.56
Applications Received.... 252-2 968 1.00 968.00 0.18370 177.82
Applications Received.... 252-C 6,961 1.00 6,960.80 0.08350 581.23
Store Visits............. ......... 25,384 1.00 25,384.00 0.01670 423.91
Reauthorization.......... 252-R 21,638 1.00 21,638.00 0.11690 2,529.48
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Total Reporting Burden.. ......... 90,531.80 0.76099 68,893.80 0.18317 12,619.54
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Estimate Estimate
Number of annual Estimate Estimate total annual
respondents responses per total annual hours per burden for
respondent responses response this ICR
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SUMMARY OF BURDEN FOR THIS 90,532 0.76099 68,893.80 0.18317 12,619.54
COLLECTION........................
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Dated: December 16, 2010.
Julia Paradis,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-32291 Filed 12-22-10; 8:45 am]
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