[Federal Register: December 24, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 247)]
[Notices]
[Page 74546-74547]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24de03-39]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request--Food Stamp Program--Food Stamp Application for Meal
Services (Form FNS-252-2) and New Addendum for Corporations (Form FNS-
252-C)
AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has revised its Food
Stamp Program Application for Meal Services, Form FNS-252-2. The form
was revised to make it easier to read and to simplify information
collected from meal services during the application process. In
addition, FNS has developed a new, abbreviated addendum to the revised
retailer application for corporations (chain stores). We are soliciting
public comments on the content, format and design of the revised Form
FNS-252-2 and the new Form FNS-252-C. We will begin using both forms
when the new Store Tracking and Redemption Subsystem (STARS II) is in
operation, approximately the fourth quarter of 2004.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before February 23,
2004.
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 has 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; (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information of those who are to respond,
including the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or
other technological collection techniques or other forms of information
technology.
Comments are invited on the content, format and design of the
revised Form FNS-252-2, Food Stamp Program Application for Meal
Services, and the addendum for corporations, Form FNS-252-C. Comments
should be sent to Karen Walker, Chief, Retailer Management Branch,
Benefit Redemption Division, Food and Nutrition Service, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 404,
Alexandria, VA 22302; FAX number (703) 305-1863; E-mail: BRDHQ-
WEB@fns.usda.gov. All submitted comments should refer to the title of
this notice and/or the OMB approval number.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The public can download copies of the
revised Form FNS-252-2 or Form FNS-252-C from the FNS public Web site
at http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/retailers. Readers may also request
copies of these forms, or make requests for additional information, by
contacting Karen Walker at (703) 305-2418 or via e-mail at BRDHQ-
WEB@fns.usda.gov. Requests submitted over e-mail should refer to the
title of this notice and/or the OMB approval number in the subject
line.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Food Stamp Program: Food Stamp Program Application for Meal
Services, Form FNS-252-2, and the new addendum to the revised retailer
application for corporations, Form FNS-252-C.
OMB Number: 0584-0008.
Expiration Date: May 31, 2004.
Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Abstract: Section 9 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977, as amended (7
U.S.C. 2018) requires retail food stores to submit applications to FNS
for approval prior to participating in the Food Stamp Program. This
includes meal services and corporations. FNS field offices review
applications to ensure that the firm is eligible and then authorize or
deny a firm to accept and redeem Food Stamp Program benefits.
Revised Meal Service Application (Form FNS-252-2)
We know many applicant meal services have submitted incomplete or
erroneous applications to field offices. This may be attributed to the
ambiguity of the current meal service application and the technical
language used. It is our belief that a simpler Form FNS-252-2 will
result in fewer mistakes upfront and will reduce the time it takes for
a field office to process it. Meal services will also benefit from a
simplified application because they will better understand what
information is being asked of them initially, and it is more likely a
meal service will submit a complete application the first time.
To begin the revision process for the meal service application, a
workgroup of FNS regional and field office staff were charged with
identifying areas where the current Form FNS-252-2 could be improved to
reduce and streamline information collected on the application. While
the revised Form FNS-252-2 has more pages than the current meal service
application, it is a significant improvement over the current
application in many ways. First, the language on the revised meal
service application is clearer. We have provided applicants with a
detailed explanation of the eligibility requirements for different
types of meal services, specified which documentation is required for
each type and asked better targeted questions. Secondly, we have
increased the font size to aid in the readability of the form. Third,
the form supports the President's E-GOV efforts and conforms to the
requirements of the Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA) (Pub.
L. 105-277, 44 U.S.C. 3504) by making the form compatible with current
technology; it can easily be converted into an online application. A
few questions have also been added to enable us to better determine the
business integrity of the applicant.
Addendum to Revised Retailer Application for Chain Stores (Form FNS-
252-C)
Form FNS-252-C is a shortened version of the revised retailer
application, Form FNS-252, which was described in the 60-day notice
published in the Federal Register on January 2, 2003 at 68 FR 79. All
chain stores that participate in the Food Stamp Program will benefit
from using Form FNS-252-C because it eliminates the need for each store
to complete its own application. Instead, the corporation only
completes one retailer application (Form FNS-252) for all of its chain
stores and an abbreviated Form FNS-252-C for each store. The retailer
application, Form FNS-252, will collect information that is universal
to all of the chain's stores while the addendum, Form FNS-252-C, will
collect information that is unique to each store such as the location
and telephone number. This is a tremendous timesaving, especially to
large corporations as it takes an average of 27 minutes to complete one
Form FNS-252 as compared to 5 minutes to complete one Form FNS-252-C.
STARS I is in the process of being upgraded to STARS II to meet the
growing needs of the field offices. The FNS contractor who is
developing STARS II has developed a screen in STARS II for the new Form
FNS-252-C that corporations can access online and enter information on
each store under the corporation. With the online version, the
information provided on Form FNS-252-C can be uploaded directly into
STARS II. As such, corporations can easily enter
[[Page 74547]]
information for new stores or make updates on current stores on an as
needed basis. In addition, we have developed a hard copy version of
Form FNS-252-C for corporations that choose to submit a paper version
to FNS. If a corporation submits a hard copy of Form FNS-252-C to the
field office, field office staff will enter the data manually into
STARS II.
Burden Estimates: As noted above, we will evaluate the revised Form
FNS-252-2 and Form FNS-252-C on the appropriateness and clarity of the
form's content, format and design. Before making final changes to these
forms, we will consider feedback from the public. If the results of the
evaluation are positive, we will finalize the revised Form FNS-252-2
and the addendum to the revised retailer application, Form FNS-252-C.
We will begin using both forms when the new STARS II system is
operational, approximately the fourth quarter of 2004. We will continue
to use the current Form FNS-252-2 until we are ready to use the revised
meal service application.
Reauthorization figures have not been calculated into the burden
estimates for meal services and corporations because it is extremely
rare that a meal service or corporation is asked to complete a new
application at the time of reauthorization. Like traditional retail
food stores, meal services and corporations are reauthorized at least
once every five years. During the reauthorization process of these
firms, however, information on the application is confirmed over the
telephone or through some other means. Updates are then made by field
office staff in the STARS database. Both meal services and corporations
are routinely exempt from a visit prior to authorization and during
reauthorization.
The burden associated with the revised Form FNS-252-2 has been
determined from information available in the current STARS database on
initial authorizations for meal services. We have used end-of-year
Fiscal Year (FY) 2002 data as the base number for current estimates.
Because of current economic conditions, we believe this number will
increase or remain constant for the present year. We will use 219 as
the base number for all newly authorized meal services. We have further
increased this number by 3% (7) to account for meal service
applications that are processed by field offices but are not
authorized. As such, we expect to receive and process 226 initial meal
service applications in the upcoming year.
The hourly burden rate per response for the current Form FNS-252-2,
as approved by OMB, is 12 minutes. We estimate the burden rate per
response for the revised meal service application to be an average of
11 minutes (.18 hour)--a reduction of one minute per response from the
current meal service application. Hourly burden time per response
varies and includes the time to review instructions, search existing
data resources, gather and copy records, complete and review the
application and submit the form and documentation to FNS. We estimate
the burden rate per response for the addendum to the revised retailer
application, Form FNS-252-C, to be an average of 5 minutes (.08 hour).
According to end-of-year FY 2002 data, chain stores accounted for 12.8
percent of all authorized stores (146,423), but only 4 percent were new
authorizations (750).
The estimated burden computation is provided below:
New Authorizations 226; Reauthorizations NA; Total Responses = 226.
We estimate the annual burden hours to be 41 hours for the revised Form
FNS-252-2. The computation is provided below:
FNS-252-2:
Affected Public: Meal service providers.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 226.
Estimated Annual Number of Responses Per Respondent: 1.
Estimated Total Annual Responses: 226.
Estimated Time Per Response: .18 hours.
Estimate of Burden: (226 x .18) = 41 hours.
We estimate the annual burden hours to be 60 hours for the addendum
to the revised retailer application, Form FNS-252-C. The computation is
provided below:
Addendum to Revised Retailer Application, Form FNS-252-C:
Affected Public: Retail food stores under a corporation.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 750.
Estimated Annual Number of Responses Per Respondent: 1.
Estimated Total Annual Responses: 750.
Estimated Time Per Response: .08 hours.
Estimate of Burden: (750 x .08) = 60 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden: (60 + 41) = 101 hours.
Dated: December 2, 2003.
Roberto Salazar,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 03-31685 Filed 12-23-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P