82 FR 35178 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request-Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) Toolkit Intervention Submission Form and Scoring Tool

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 144 (July 28, 2017)

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on a proposed information collection, which will use two new forms. The purpose of the SNAP-Ed Toolkit Intervention Submission Form and Scoring Tool is to provide a uniform and transparent method for submission, review, and scoring of nutrition education, physical activity promotion, and obesity prevention interventions for possible inclusion in the SNAP-Ed Strategies and Interventions: An Obesity Prevention Toolkit for States (Toolkit). The Toolkit was developed to assist State agencies in locating evidence-based interventions for their implementation of SNAP-Ed programming. The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended (The Act) Sec. 28(c)(3)(A) requires that States use evidence-based interventions. These forms will allow FNS to increase the selection of interventions available in the Toolkit, increase innovation in service delivery using interventions which reflect up-to-date research, and respond to intervention developer requests to be included in the Toolkit.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 144 (Friday, July 28, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35178-35180]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-15899]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request--Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education 
(SNAP-Ed) Toolkit Intervention Submission Form and Scoring Tool

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 a proposed information collection, which will use two new forms.
    The purpose of the SNAP-Ed Toolkit Intervention Submission Form and 
Scoring Tool is to provide a uniform and transparent method for 
submission, review, and scoring of nutrition education, physical 
activity promotion, and obesity prevention interventions for possible 
inclusion in the SNAP-Ed Strategies and Interventions: An Obesity 
Prevention Toolkit for States (Toolkit). The Toolkit was developed to 
assist State agencies in locating evidence-based interventions for 
their implementation of SNAP-Ed programming. The Food and Nutrition Act 
of 2008, as amended (The Act) Sec.  28(c)(3)(A) requires that States 
use evidence-based interventions. These forms will allow FNS to 
increase the selection of interventions available in the Toolkit, 
increase innovation in service delivery using interventions which 
reflect up-to-date research, and respond to intervention developer 
requests to be included in the Toolkit.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before September 26, 
2017.

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 hours, 
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 
through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical or 
other technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments may be sent to Lisa Mays, State Administration Branch, 
Program Accountability and Administration Division, Supplemental 
Nutrition Assistance Program, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and 
Nutrition Service, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 821, Alexandria, VA 
22302. Comments may also be submitted via fax to the attention of Lisa 
Mays at 703-457-7762, or via email 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 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday) at 3101 Park Center 
Drive, Room 821, Alexandria, Virginia 22302.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval. All 
comments will also be a matter of public record.

CONTACT FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:  Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Lisa Mays at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: SNAP Ed Toolkit Intervention Scoring Tool and Submission 
Form.
    OMB Number: 0584-NEW.
    Form Numbers: FNS-885 and FNS-886.
    Expiration Date: TBD.
    Type of Request: New information collection.
    Abstract: SNAP-Ed State and Implementing agencies are able to 
identify and choose evidence-based interventions using the Toolkit. The 
Toolkit was developed collaboratively by FNS National and Regional 
Office SNAP-Ed staff, the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity 
Reduction (NCCOR), and the Association of SNAP Nutrition Education 
Administrators (ASNNA). Currently, more than 80 interventions are 
available in the Toolkit (https://snapedtoolkit.org/). This new data 
collection for additional interventions to be reviewed for inclusion in 
the Toolkit is necessary to:
     Increase the selection available to agencies to allow them 
to find interventions that fit their specific needs.
     Increase innovation in service delivery by encouraging 
adoption of interventions which reflect the most up-to-date research of 
nutrition education, physical activity, and obesity prevention behavior 
change.
     Allow FNS to respond to requests by intervention 
developers to be included in the Toolkit with a clear and transparent 
review process and criteria for inclusion.
    The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended (The Act) Sec.  
28(c)(3)(A) states that State agencies ``may use funds provided under 
this section for any evidence-based allowable use of funds'' including 
``(i) individual and group-based nutrition education, health promotion, 
and intervention strategies''. 7 CFR 272.2(2)(d) also states ``SNAP-Ed 
activities must include evidence-based activities using one or more of 
these approaches: Individual or group-based nutrition education, health 
promotion, and intervention strategies; comprehensive, multi-level 
interventions at multiple complementary organizational and 
institutional levels; community and public health approaches to improve 
nutrition''. The Intervention Submission Form (FNS 886) and Scoring 
Tool (FNS 885) allows for interventions to be assessed to determine if 
they are both evidence-based and use one of the approaches described.
    The Intervention Submission Form will be used by intervention 
developers (submitters) to provide information about the intervention 
they are submitting for inclusion in the Toolkit. Information requested 
includes

[[Page 35179]]

intervention materials, how they have been and will be used, and the 
evidence base which illustrates their effectiveness. Information is 
collected through a combination of multiple-choice boxes and text 
response areas.
    Submitters will be members of State or Implementing agencies, 
researchers from academic institutions and Federal agencies, such as 
the Economic Research Service (ERS), and non-profit or private sector 
nutrition education and physical activity intervention developers.
    Submitters will be able to download, complete and submit the form 
at any time, although there will be an annual deadline for submission 
for the associated year's review. Download and submission will be 
through the SNAP-Ed Connection Web site (https://snaped.fns.usda.gov/). 
Completion is voluntary.
    Submission Forms and attachments will be collected by FNS National 
Office SNAP-Ed staff and distributed to intervention reviewers 
(reviewers), who will use the Scoring Tool to help them determine if 
the intervention should be included in the Toolkit. The Scoring Tool 
rates the intervention according to the quality of materials, 
usefulness for SNAP-Ed, and effectiveness as demonstrated by the 
evidence base provided. Reviewers will be directly emailed the 
Intervention Scoring Tool. Numerical scores will be entered by 
reviewers as well as qualitative responses which clarify why an 
intervention was or was not included in the Toolkit. Information is 
collected through a combination of numerical and text entry fields.
    Reviewers will be FNS National and Regional Office SNAP-Ed staff, 
nutrition program staff from other Federal agencies, such as Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), researchers from academic 
institutions, and SNAP-Ed State and Implementing agency staff.
    The review period will occur annually, with reviewers completing 
the Scoring Tool and discussing inclusion in the Toolkit. Participation 
as a reviewer is voluntary, with completion of the Scoring Tool a 
mandatory component of review participation.
    Affected Public: 8 State Agencies which operate the SNAP-Ed program 
and 82 local program operators (Business-for-not-for-profit) such as 
universities and non-profit organizations. Intervention developers may 
be SNAP-Ed State Agencies or local program operators, academic 
institutions not associated with SNAP-Ed, non-profit organizations, and 
private organizations who voluntarily complete the Intervention 
Submission Form. Members of FNS SNAP-Ed staff, federal employees from 
agencies such as CDC and NIH, as well as NCCOR or ASNNA members who may 
be employees of State Agencies or local program operators may 
voluntarily review interventions using the Intervention Scoring Tool.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 90.
    Estimated Average Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.24242.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 123.
    Estimated Average Hours per Response: 3.46341.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours (Reporting Only): 426.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: The estimated total 
reporting burden inventory for this collection is 400 hours. The 
Intervention Submission Form is expected to be completed once annually 
by 5 State Agencies and 52 local program operators (business-for-not-
for-profit) for approximately 57 total annual responses annually. This 
form takes approximately 4 hours per respondent to complete for a total 
of 228 burden hours of reporting annually for this form. 20 hours of 
this burden will be applied to State Agencies while 208 hours will be 
applied to local program operators (business-for-not-for-profit). This 
burden estimate was developed by averaging the time provided by two 
pilot testers of the form, who used interventions currently available 
in the Toolkit to test the Intervention Submission Form. The 
Intervention Scoring Tool is expected to be completed twice by a 
predicted 22 local program operators (business-for-not-for-profit) and 
3 State Agencies for a total 66 annual responses. This form takes 3 
hours per respondent to complete, for a total of 198 reporting hours 
annually. 18 hours of this burden will be applied to State Agencies and 
180 hours will be applied to local program operators (business-for-not-
for-profit). This burden estimate was developed by averaging the time 
provided by three pilot testers of the form, who used information 
provided by the pilot testers of the Intervention Submission form to 
test the Intervention Scoring Tool.
    There are no recordkeeping burden activities for these forms.

                                                         Table A.12-3--Summary Reporting Burden
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                                                                                                       Number of                 Estimated
                                                                                          Estimated    responses      Total     total hours   Estimated
           Affected public                 Respondent type                Form            number of       per         annual        per         total
                                                                                         respondents   respondent   responses     response      burden
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State, Local or Tribal Agencies......  Intervention Submitters  Intervention Submission            5            1            5            4           20
                                                                 Form (FNS 886).
State, Local, or Tribal Agencies.....  Intervention Reviewers.  Scoring Tool (FNS 885).            3            2            6            3           18
    States Agency Sub-Total..........  .......................  .......................            8        1.375           11       3.4545           38
                                                                                        ----------------------------------------------------------------
Business-for-not-for-profit..........  Intervention Submitters  Intervention Submission           52            1           52            4          208
                                                                 Form (FNS 886).
Business-for-not-for-profit..........  Intervention Reviewers.  Scoring Tool (FNS 885).           30            2           60            3          180
                                                                                        ----------------------------------------------------------------
    Business Sub-Total...............  .......................  .......................           82        1.365          112      3.46428          388
                                                                                        ----------------------------------------------------------------
        Grand Total Reporting for      .......................  .......................           90  ...........          123  ...........          426
         Each Affected Public.
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[[Page 35180]]

    Dated: July 20, 2017.
Jessica Shahin,
Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-15899 Filed 7-27-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P