092812 0584-0002 Fns-10 Supporting Statement

REPORT OF SCHOOL PROGRAM OPERATIONS (FNS-10)

OMB CLEARANCE NUMBER 0584-0002

Sandra Foss, Program Analyst

Food and Nutrition Service, USDA

Child Nutrition Division

Program Analysis and Monitoring Branch

Special Nutrition Program

3101 Park Center Drive

Alexandria, VA 22302

PH: 703-305-2764

Sandra.Foss@fns.usda.gov

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection. Attach a copy of the appropriate section of each statute and regulation mandating or authorizing the collection of information.

This information collection is a revision of a currently approved collection for reporting school program operations data on a monthly basis for the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, and the Special Milk Program. These programs are administered by the Food and Nutrition Service as mandated by the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (NSLA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 1751, et seq.), and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended (42 U.S.C. 1771, et seq.). As provided in 7 CFR 210.5 (d)(1), 210.5(d)(2)(ii), 210.4(b)(1)(ii), 215.10(b), and 220.13 (b)(2) “Each State agency must submit a final report of School Program Operations (FNS-10) to FNS for each month.” FNS uses form FNS-10 to collect data on school program operations from State agencies on a monthly basis.

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.

State agencies use the form FNS-10 titled, “Report of School Program Operations” to report monthly data. The monthly data is reported as a “30-Day” estimate and a “90-Day” final. The report accounts for: the number of school meals and milk served monthly; for the month of October, the number of school programs in operation; and for the National School Lunch Program only, the total number of children approved for free and reduced-priced meals. Form FNS-10 has been revised to also report the number of lunches served in school food authorities certified for the performance based reimbursement as defined in 7 CFR 210.5(d)(2)(ii) per 42 U.S.C. 1753 (b)(3)(B). The reports are used by FNS to allocate funds to be used to reimburse claims submitted by schools.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision for adopting this means of collection. Also, describe any consideration of using information technology to reduce burden.

FNS is committed to complying with the E-Government Act, 2002 to promote the use of the Internet and other information technologies to provide increased opportunities for citizen access to Government information and services, and for other purposes. All 56 State agencies and United States territories that administer these programs, one hundred percent (100%), submit data electronically on the FNS-10 through the Food Program Reporting System (FPRS) https://fprs.fns.usda.gov/ to FNS.

3. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purpose described in item 2 above.

There is no duplication in reporting of FNS-10 data. Every effort has been made to avoid duplication. FNS solely administers FNS-10 data and has reviewed USDA reporting requirements, state administrative agency reporting requirements, and special studies by other government and private agencies. This information is not currently reported to any other entity outside of FNS.

3. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden.

This information collection has been held to the minimum required for the intended use. Although smaller State agencies are involved in this data collection effort, they deliver the same program benefits and perform the same function as any other State agency. Thus, they maintain the same kinds of information on file. FNS estimates that 1-3 percent of our respondents (out of 56) are small entities.

3. Describe the consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

Collecting information less frequently may result in the delayed allocation of Federal funds. Without the information collected on Form FNS-10, FNS would not be able to allocate funds for payment of reimbursement claims to schools in a timely manner.

7. Circumstances that would cause an information collection to be conducted in a manner that is inconsistent with 5 CFR 1320.5:

• requiring respondents to report informa­tion to the agency more often than quarterly;

• requiring respondents to prepare a writ­ten response to a collection of infor­ma­tion in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it;

• requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any docu­ment;

• requiring respondents to retain re­cords, other than health, medical, governm­ent contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records for more than three years;

• in connection with a statisti­cal sur­vey, that is not de­signed to produce valid and reli­able results that can be general­ized to the uni­verse of study;

• requiring the use of a statis­tical data classi­fication that has not been re­vie­wed and approved by OMB;

• that includes a pledge of confiden­tiali­ty that is not supported by au­thority estab­lished in statute or regu­la­tion, that is not sup­ported by dis­closure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unneces­sarily impedes shar­ing of data with other agencies for com­patible confiden­tial use; or

• requiring respondents to submit propri­etary trade secret, or other confidential information unless the agency can demon­strate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information's confidentiality to the extent permit­ted by law.

State agencies are required to submit monthly reports so that funding allocation occurs in a timely manner during the fiscal year.

There are no other special circumstances. The collection of information is conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5.

8. If applicable, provide a copy and identify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency's notice, soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB. Summarize public comments received in response to that notice and describe actions taken by the agency in response to these comments.

A notice was published in the Federal Register on April 27, 2012, Volume 77, number 82, pages 25122-25126. No program or information collection related comments were received.

• Describe efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting form, and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.

FNS consults with Regional Offices regarding any proposed changes as the result of legislative, regulatory or administrative changes. Regional offices are in constant contact with State agencies which provides feedback on FNS processes and procedures that may impact them.

8. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

No payment or gift was provided to respondents.

8. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

The Department complies with the Privacy Act of 1974. No confidential information is associated with the burden related to the analysis, implementation, record maintenance and reporting of school programs operations data by the State agency to FNS.

11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior or attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private. This justification should include the reasons why the agency considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.

There are no questions of a sensitive nature included in this information collection.

12. Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information. The statement should include:

• Indicate the number of respondents, frequency of response, annual hour burden, and an explanation of how the burden was estimated. If this request for approval covers more than one form, provide separate hour burned estimates for each form and aggregate the hour burdens in Item 13 of OMB Form 83-I.

Form FNS-10 collects information from 56 State agencies on a monthly basis. All State agencies are required to submit “30-Day” and “90-Day” FNS-10 reports monthly. State agencies may submit optional reports such as, revised “90-Day” FNS-10 reports due to audits, investigations, or management evaluations, and “60-Day” reports. In 2011, 23 states submitted revised 90-Day reports; the frequency of submission ranged from 1 revised 90-Day report to 12 revised 90-Day reports. The total revised 90-Day reports received in 2011 was 546. For the optional 60-Day report, in 2011, 1 state submitted 1 60-Day report. The 2011 submissions are considered representative of the expected burden for the next 3 years.

The estimated average burden hours per State agency have been determined to be two and one-quarter hours per response based on consultations with the State agencies submitting reports. The burden hours have decreased from the previously approved burden (-1,217.25) due to the decreased number of responses per State agency.

There is no recordkeeping burden with this information collection request.

ESTIMATED ANNUAL REPORTING BURDEN FOR OMB CONTROL

#0584-0002 REPORT OF SCHOOL PROGRAM OPERATIONS

Affected Public	Instrument	Instrument Reports	Estimated # Respondents	Responses Per Respondent	Total Annual Responses	Estimated Avg. # of Hours Per Response	Annual Burden Hours
State Agency	FNS-10, Report of School Program Operations	30-Day Monthly Report	56	12	672	2.25	1,512.00
		90-Day Monthly Report	56	12	672	2.25	1,512.00
		Revised 90-Day Report – Due to Audit, investigations or management evaluations	23	23.73913043	546	2.25	1,228.50
		60-Day Report	1	1	1	2.25	2.25
TOTAL REPORTING BURDEN			56	33.767857	1,891	2.25	4,254.75

• Provide estimates of annualized cost to respondents for the hour burdens for collections of information, identifying and using appropriate wage rate categories.

The estimate of respondent cost is based on the burden estimates and utilizes the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2010 National Occupational and Wage Estimates Statistics, Occupational Group 25-0000 (http://www.bls.gov/bls/wages.htm).  The hourly mean wage (for education-related occupations) for functions performed by State agency staff is estimated at $24.25 per staff hour.

TOTAL COST TO THE PUBLIC = 4,254.75 hours X $24.25 per hour = $ 103,177.69

13. Provide estimates of the total annual cost burden to respondents or record keepers resulting from the collection of information, (do not include the cost of any hour burden shown in items 12 and 14). The cost estimates should be split into two components: (a) a total capital and start-up cost component annualized over its expected useful life; and (b) a total operation and maintenance and purchase of services component.

There is no start-up, operating, or annual maintenance costs associated with this information collection.

14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government. Also, provide a description of the method used to estimate cost and any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information.

It is estimated that federal employees receiving an average General Schedule (GS) grade 12 step 6 wage based on the Washington DC-Northern Virginia locality area take approximately 80 hours to analyze data received from State agencies:

$40.19 x 80 hrs = $3,215.20 (estimated annualized cost to the Federal

government).

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 13 or

14 of the OMB 83-I.

There are three changes that adjust the number of burden hours associated with OMB Number 0584-0002; Expiration date August 31, 2012. The number of State agencies decreased from 57 to 56. Annual responses per respondent have decreased from an average of 48 to 33.8 per year due to program adjustments of a previous assessment of burden on the submission of optional reports of School Program Operations. These adjustments result in a decrease of 1,690 hours. The average time per response has increased by 15 minutes due to the revision to FNS-10. This program change due to new statute (42 U.S.C. 1753 (b)(3)(B)) has resulted in an estimated burden increase of 473 hours. The burden hours have decreased by 1,217.25 hours from the previously approved burden of 5,472 to 4,254.75.

16. For collections of information whose results are planned to be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication.

This collection does not employ statistical methods and there are no plans to publish the results of this collection for statistical analyses.

17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

The agency plans to display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection on all instruments.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in Item 19 "Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act."

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.