Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collections; Comments Request(1) Food Stamp Application, Verification and Certification Activities, and (2) State Agency Options

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service

Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collections;

Comments Request--(1) Food Stamp Application, Verification and

Certification Activities, and (2) State Agency Options

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the

Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is publishing for public comment a

summary of proposed information collections. The information collection

requirements described in this notice are limited to those which are

necessary to carry out the application, verification, and certification

of food stamp applicants and recipients.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 8, 1999 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 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; and (d) ways to minimize

the burden of the collection of information on those who are to

respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic,

mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms

of information technology.

Send comments and request for copies of this information collection

to Margaret Werts Batko, Assistant Branch Chief, Certification Policy

Branch, Program Development Division, Food and Nutrition Service, USDA,

3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria, Virginia, 22302, (703) 305-2516.

Comments may also be faxed to the attention of Ms. Batko at (703) 305-

2486. The internet address is: [email protected] All

comments will be summarized and included in the request for Office of

Management and Budget approval of the information collection. All

comments will become a matter of public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Batko, (703) 305-2516.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The information collection requirements

described in this notice are limited to those which are necessary to

carry out Sections 3, 5, 6, 11 and 13 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977,

and Title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity

Reconciliation Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-193, enacted August 26, 1996,

as amended (PRWORA). PRWORA contained numerous amendments to the Food

Stamp Act of 1977 (hereinafter referred to as ``the Act''). PRWORA

contained several provisions designed to increase State agency

flexibility in administering the Food Stamp Program--especially in the

area of household application and certification for program benefits.

PRWORA changed the eligibility requirement for aliens without changing

the Food Stamp Act. PRWORA limited the eligibility of most able-bodied

adults without children to three months in a three-year period,

required that some individuals be sanctioned, and allowed some State

agency options. State agencies were notified in an agency memorandum

that they were required to implement the mandatory provisions of PRWORA

upon enactment for applicant households and at recertification for

participant households without waiting for formal regulations. The

alien provisions in PRWORA were subsequently amended by Public Law 104-

208, the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, dated September 30,

1996; Public Law 105-33, the Balanced Budget Act, dated August 5,

[[Page 473]]

1997; and Public Law 105-185, the Agricultural Research, Extension, and

Education Reform Act of 1988, dated June 23, 1998.

This notice contains two separate information requests and takes

the statutory changes discussed in the preceding paragraph into

account. The first information request is related to the collection and

processing of information provided by households. The second one is

related to State agency options.

Request 1

Title: Application and Certification of Food Stamp Households.

OMB Number: 0584-0064.

Form Numbers: None.

Expiration Date: (Three years from 10/31/00.)

Type of Request: Update of a currently approved information

collection and request for approval of new collections.

Abstract: Title 7, Part 273 of the Code of Federal Regulations

(CFR) sets forth the Food Stamp Program requirements for the

application, certification, and continued eligibility for food stamp

benefits. This rulemaking updates the collection burden and takes into

account changes required by PRWORA, as amended, in these areas. A

majority of the information collection or record keeping requirements

contained in this notice are currently approved by OMB under OMB Number

0584-0064. Proper notice and public comment were obtained prior to OMB

approval (see notice published in Federal Register of February 5, 1997,

62 FR 5380). No comments were received. At the time the February 5

notice was issued, proposed rules to implement the changes in these

areas were still in the development stage and some information

collection or record keeping requirements had not yet been identified.

The proposed rules are still in the Departmental clearance process, but

we have reevaluated and revised the time required to take actions

considering implementation of the new provisions and automation in most

State agencies.

Revisions to Current Burden Estimates Under OMB No. 0584-0064

In the February 5 notice, the new requirements for sponsored aliens

were included as a separate category. Since this is an integral part of

the application process, we have included them and the additional alien

eligibility and verification requirements in this rule in the burden

associated with processing initial applications. We separated

applications for initial application and recertification for both

household and State agency burden. We included burden previously

associated with application worksheets in the State agency's burden

associated with applications for initial certification and

recertification. We included the burden associated with giving an

explanation of monthly reporting and retrospective budgeting to

households in the State agency's burden for application processing

because the household must be given the explanation at the time of

certification and recertification. We separated State agency burden

associated with processing reports and changes during the certification

period into a separate category. We believe this will enable us to more

accurately estimate burden associated with these tasks.

In making the new burden estimates, we factored in savings due to

State agency computerized systems. We do not have reliable data on

which to base our estimates, and we believe that the collection of such

data would be counterproductive. However, we would welcome any data

State agencies would like to submit for our future consideration.

Burden associated with the items--Demand Letter for Overissuance,

Advance Notice of Administrative Disqualification Hearing, and Action

Taken on Administrative Disqualification Hearing, 7 CFR 273.17 and 7

CFR 273.18, are being transferred out of OMB NO. 0584-0064. We plan to

transfer the items to another existing OMB approval number or submit

the items to OMB for a separate approval number. This move is for

administrative management purposes because these forms are handled by a

separate division within the agency.

Burden hours associated with information collection, reporting, and

recordkeeping as it relates to household application, certification,

and continued eligibility are described below and are assessed by using

one of two specific base figures. Burden associated with initial

applicant households is based on the number of initial applications

expected to be received (7,400,000, as reported by State agencies on

form FNS-366B). Burden associated with participating households such as

recertification applicants and reporting of changes in household

circumstances is based on the estimated number of participating

households (10,900,000 as reported by State agencies on form FNS-388).

Using these two base figures, the methodologies used and estimated

burden hours are as follows:

7 CFR 273.2 Initial Food Stamp Application

Household burden: Households must complete an application in order

to obtain benefits. Section 11(e)(2) of the Act (7 U.S.C. 2020(e)(2))

provides that the State agency shall develop an application containing

the information necessary to comply with the Act. The Act requires an

adult representative to sign a statement, under penalty of perjury,

that the information provided on the application is true and correct to

the best of his/her knowledge, including information regarding the

citizenship or alien status of each member. Prior to PRWORA, State

agencies had to use a federally-designed application unless FNS

approved a State-designed deviation. The FNS-designed model application

sought information used to comply with the eligibility requirements of

Sections 5, 6, and 11 of the Act. Certain notices were required to be

provided on or with the State-designed applications to ensure

compliance other Federal laws governing nondiscrimination, civil

rights, privacy, and computer matching. All States were operating with

the FNS-designed model application or an FNS-approved deviation when

PRWORA was enacted.

Section 835 of PRWORA amended Section 11(e) of the Act to eliminate

some mandatory form content requirements and to allow State agencies to

design their own application forms.

Many State agencies have automated the application and application

processing requirements and some have on-line application systems. In

recognition of this, PRWORA provides that nothing in the Act shall

prohibit the use of signatures provided and maintained electronically,

storage of records using automated retrieval systems only, or any other

feature of a State agency's application system that does not rely

exclusively on the collection and retention of paper applications or

other records.

Section 11(e)(4) of the Act and 7 CFR 273.14 of the current

regulations require State agencies to send the household a notice of

expiration when its certification period is going to expire and require

households to submit a new application in order to renew its

eligibility. These requirements were not changed by PRWORA. Section

3(c) of the Act, as amended by section 801 of PRWORA, allows longer

certification periods than were previously allowed. PRWORA allows State

agencies to assign certification periods up to 12 months except that

certification periods may be up to 24 months if all adult

[[Page 474]]

members are elderly or disabled. A State agency shall have at least one

contact with each certified household every 12 months.

This information collection request takes into account additional

burdens imposed pursuant to PRWORA. These allow State agencies to

sanction food stamp households who are receiving grants under a State's

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program if minor children are

not attending school, or if the adults do not have or are not working

toward attaining a secondary school diploma or its equivalent (Section

103 of PROWRA), makes individuals convicted of drug-related felonies

ineligible for food stamps (Section 115), makes fleeing felons and

probation and parole violators ineligible (Section 821), allows States

to disqualify individuals for failure to cooperate with child support

agencies or who are in arrears in court-ordered child support payments

(Sections 822 and 823), and limits the food stamp participation of most

able-bodied adults without dependents to 3 months in a 3-year period

(Section 824). These requirements mean that additional information has

to be requested on the application.

Section 402(a)(2) of PRWORA, as amended, conditions food stamp

eligibility of some aliens on factors not related to their alien

status. For example, refugees and asylees are only eligible for 7 years

from the date of entry or the date status was granted. Some aliens

lawfully admitted for permanent residence must have earned or be

credited with 40 qualifying quarters of work as determined under title

II of the Social Security Act. Others have to have a military

connection, be battered, belong to certain Indian tribes, or belong to

certain Hmong or Highland Laotian Tribes during a certain period of

time. Some aliens are only eligible if they were lawfully residing in

the United States on August 22, 1996, or were age 65 or older on that

date. Determining and verifying these complicated new eligibility

requirements will significantly increase the information that must be

obtained on the application, and the household will have to submit

additional verification. Title IV of PRWORA requires the Department of

Justice (DOJ) to develop regulations to be used to verify citizenship

and eligible alien status. Under DOJ's August 4, 1998, proposed

regulations (63 FR 41662), applicants for food stamps must provide

verification of citizenship or alien status, each alien applicant 18

years of age or over must go to the food stamp office in person and

present his or her immigration document, and many aliens may be

required to submit an additional description identification document.

The total number of respondents is the number of initial

applications expected to be received (7,400,000 less 200 alien

households that will not apply = 7,399,800). Household burden to

complete an initial application (assuming entries on every line) is

estimated to average at least 11 minutes (.1833 hour). In some States

the applications are on paper and in others they are on-line in

computerized systems. In States that have multiple program

applications, we are only considering the time it takes to complete the

food stamp portion. Normally, verification is done through documentary

evidence from a household's own records, such as birth certificates,

bank statements, income tax returns, and utility bills. OMB does not

require a burden assessment when collection of the information is

provided from a respondent's own records, but it may take time to

gather exact information from various documents such as wage stubs,

immigration documents, social security number cards, and so forth. We

estimate total annual household burden for initial applications to be

1,356,630 hours (7,399,800 x .1833).

State agency burden in processing initial applications: The State

agency must interview the household to obtain all necessary

information; explain the program; obtain required verification; and,

for households determined to be eligible, explain the reporting

requirements and compute the benefit level. Section 11(e)(3) of the Act

requires that the State agency verify the household's eligibility and

provide a clear written statement explaining what acts the household

has to perform to cooperate in obtaining verification and otherwise

completing the application process. As the result of PRWORA, additional

information relating to the work history of able-bodied adults without

dependents, the eligibility of aliens, disqualifications, and fleeing

felon status must now be determined and verified.

At one time FNS designed a worksheet format to provide State

agencies a place to document additional information provided or

clarified by households during the interview; the type of verification

provided by the household; and computations of ineligibility or

eligibility and benefit levels. FNS does not have authority to approve

State forms, and many States have automated the eligibility

determination process. In some States the workers complete on-line

applications with households during the interview. The system stores,

interprets, and processes the information to determine if the household

is eligible and, if eligible, the correct benefit level. FNS will no

longer be making a worksheet format available to State agencies. State

agencies may develop a paper worksheet if they want one.

In estimating the burden, we considered the changes in the

eligibility criteria and the simplified procedures pursuant to PRWORA,

reductions due to computerized systems which vary from State to State,

and increases due to including the explanation for monthly reporting.

Some applications may be denied for obvious reasons such as excess

resources or income in a short period of time while other applications

may take an extremely long time to process if the household contains

aliens or has self-employment income. We estimate that on average a

minimum of 15 minutes or .25 hours is required to perform an initial

certification. We estimate total annual burden to be 1,849,950 hours

(7,399,800 x .25).

7 CFR 273.14(b) Food Stamp Application for Recertification

Household burden: The number of households expected to file an

application for recertification is based on the number of current

participants (10,900,000 less 228,000 ineligible aliens = 10,672,000).

Elderly and disabled households may now be certified for up to 24

months and other households may be certified for up to 12 months. A few

State agencies assign three-month certification periods to prevent

quality control errors. Our burden assessment assumes on average

participating households will submit one application for

recertification each year. We estimate that most States will choose to

simplify the recertification form since FNS approval is no longer

required and that the burden time will be reduced as households become

familiar with the form. We estimate burden time for completing and

submitting a recertification application to be 8 minutes (.1333 hour).

We estimate total annual burden for recertification applications to be

1,422,933 hours (10,672,000 x .1333).

State agency burden in processing applications for recertification:

We are assuming that the recertification process will be performed on

all applications for recertification (10,672,000). We expect State

agencies to streamline the recertification process, and previously

verified information does not have to be reverified. We estimate it

will take an average of 11 minutes or .1833 hours to process an

application for

[[Page 475]]

recertification. We estimate total annual burden to be 1,956,533 hours

(10,672,000 x .1833).

7 CFR 273.10(g) Notices of Eligibility, Denial, or Pending Status

State agency burden: Each household that submits an initial

application or a reapplication must receive a notice of eligibility,

notice of denial notice, or notice of pending status awaiting

additional information. Estimates are based on the number of

applications for initial certification and recertification expected to

be received (18,071,800). There will be a decrease in the number of

responses because of a decrease in the number of households that apply

and the fact that longer certification periods will likely be assigned.

Based on the fact that most State agencies have computerized notices,

we estimate that it will take 2 minutes or .0333 hours to input data

and initiate the notice. We estimate total annual burden to be 602,393

hours (18,071,800 x .0333).

7 CFR 273.21 Monthly Reports

Household burden: State agencies have the option to require certain

households to report information about household circumstances, changed

or unchanged, on a monthly basis. State agencies determine what

information is to be reported and how. The content of each State

agency's report is not readily available from which to estimate burden

time per response. When monthly reporting was a Federal mandate, about

32% of the caseload was submitting monthly reports. When monthly

reporting became optional, we previously estimated that 16% of the

caseload would still be subject to monthly reporting. A few State

agencies have since eliminated monthly reporting for households on

Indian reservations when the Act was changed to impose restrictions on

reporting, and some State agencies have reduced the number of monthly

reporting households for their own administrative reasons over the past

several years. Based on this, we estimate a further reduction to 15% of

the caseload. We estimate that 1,600,800 participating households

(10,672,000 x .15 = 1,600,800 ) will be subject to monthly reporting

and total annual responses would be 19,209,600 (1,600,800 x 12

months). We estimate burden time for a household to complete a monthly

report to be 7 minutes or .1167 hour. The monthly report is not

affected by automation and households must complete and return a paper

form. We estimate total annual burden to be 2,241,120 hours (19,209,600

x .1167).

7 CFR 273.12 (a) Change Report

Household burden: As stated earlier, we estimate that 15% of the

caseload will be required to report monthly. The remaining 85% of the

caseload (10,672,000 x .85 = 9,071,200 households) must report

changes in circumstances that may affect their eligibility or benefit

level within 10 days of the date the change becomes known. Data is not

collected on the number of such change reporters or how often they

report. Previous estimates assumed that 75% of those subject to change

reporting would actually report, 25% of those households would report

at least once a year, and 50% would report at least twice a year. State

agencies may require households not subject to monthly reporting to

submit information about child support payments quarterly on a change

report form that is used for reporting other changes, or State agencies

may develop a separate child support report form. Under PRWORA, States

may assign longer certification periods which will result in more

changes being reported. Taking these factors into consideration, we

estimate that each change reporting household on average will submit 1

report a year for a total of 9,071,200 responses. We estimated the time

to complete a report to be 5 minutes or .08333 hours. This burden time

is not affected by automation as households must complete and submit a

paper form. We estimate total annual burden to be 755,933 hours

(9,071,200 x .0833).

7 CFR 273.21(j)(2) Notice of Late or Incomplete Monthly Reports

State agency burden: State agencies must notify households if a

monthly report is late or additional information or verification is

needed. We estimate that 5% (19,209,600 x .05 = 960,480) of the

monthly reports expected to be received will be late or incomplete

resulting in the need to generate this notice. We estimate burden time

per response to be 2 minutes or .0333 hours and total annual burden to

be 32,016 hours (960,480 x .0333).

7 CFR 271.2 and 7 CFR 273.21(j)(2) Adequate Notice to Monthly

Reporters

State agency burden: State agencies must send monthly reporting

households a written notice if their benefits will be or have been

increased, reduced, or terminated based on information contained on the

monthly report. We estimate that 30% (19,209,600 x .30 = 5,762,880)

of the monthly reports received will result in an increase, reduction,

or termination of benefits. The remaining 70% of the monthly reports

will not require a change in benefits, so no notice is necessary. We

estimate burden time per response to be 2 minutes or .0333 hours and

total annual burden to be 192,096 hours (5,762,880 x .0333).

7 CFR 273.13 Advance Notice of Adverse Action

State agency burden: Households that submit a change report form

must receive a written notice of any action to reduce or terminate

benefits in advance of the date the action will become effective. We

estimate that 50% of the change reports expected to be received

(9,071,200 x .50 = 4,535,600) will result in a reduction or

termination of benefits which will require the State agency to generate

this notice. We estimate the burden per notice to be 2 minutes or .0333

hours and total annual burden to be 151,187 hours (4,535,600 x

.0333).

7 CFR 273. 14(b) Notice of Expiration

State agency burden: The State agency must send each participating

household a notice when its certification period is about to expire

that informs the household it must reapply to receive continued

benefits. Based on a 1995 report on the Characteristics of Food Stamp

Households, the average certification period of all households,

including those with elderly and disabled members was 9.8 months. (The

number of annual notices was underestimated in the prior request.)

Under PRWORA and this proposal, State agencies may establish longer

certification periods--up to12 months for most households and 24 months

for households in which all adult members are elderly or disabled.

Households with an elderly or disabled person represent 34% of the

caseload, but all adult members in these households may not be elderly

or disabled. However, based on this new authority, it is anticipated

that State agencies will in general establish somewhat longer

certification periods to conserve resources. We estimate that on

average each certified household (10,672,000) will receive at least one

notice of expiration every 12 months. We estimate burden time per

response to be 2 minutes or .0333 hours and total annual burden to be

355,733 hours (10,672,000 x .0333).

7 CFR 273.12(c) and 273.21(j) State Agency Burden in Processing

Reports and Changes

When a report is submitted that shows a change, the State agency

must determine if and how the change will affect the household's

eligibility and benefit level, resolve questionable information, and

obtain additional

[[Page 476]]

verification. We estimate that this will be performed on all change

reports and 30 percent of the monthly reports (9,071,200 + 5,762,800 =

14,834,080) received. We estimate that this will take approximately 5

minutes or .0833 hour per change and the annual burden to be 1,236,173

hours (14,834,080 x .0833).

Record keeping burden only: Local agencies are required to maintain

client case records for three years, 7 CFR 272.1(f), and to perform

duplicate participation checks on individual household members to

ensure that a member is not participating in more than one household, 7

CFR 272.4(f).

Data is not available on the actual number of local food stamp

offices in each State or the actual number of workers (recordkeepers)

that would be maintaining case files and performing duplicate

participation checks. Previous estimates reflected one record keeper

per State, but we believe this was too low. We are using the number of

food stamp project areas which is 2,715 for purposes of this

submission.

(A) Case Files: The number of case files to be established and

maintained is equal to the number of applications expected to be

received for initial application and recertification. The number of

times recordkeepers must access these case files is equal to the number

of documents (105,910,560 responses) expected to be filed annually. We

estimate that each action will take a minimum of 2 minutes or .0333

hours. We estimate annual recordkeeping burden associated with

creating, filing, and maintaining household case files to be 3,526,822

hours (105,910,560 x .0333).

(B) Monitoring Duplicate Participation: The estimated annual record

keeping burden for maintaining this system which is automated by most

States is based on the number of applications expected to be received

(18,071,800) and the average number of persons (2.5) in each applicant

household. Assuming that at least 80% of the applications expected to

be received will be subject to this check, the estimated number of

duplicate participation checks (responses) that must be performed by

State agencies is 36,143,600 (18,071,800 x .80 x 2.5). Burden is

estimated to be 15 seconds (or .0042 hours) per response, for a total

burden of 151,803 hours annually.

(C) We estimate total recordkeeping burden to be 3,678,625 hours

annually (3,526,822 + 151,803). Burden per recordkeeper would be 1,355

hours annually (3,678,625/2,715 recordkeepers).

Summary of burden hours for public--State and local governments,

potential applicants, and current participants:

Respondents: 18,071,800

Annual responses: 119,261,240

Total burden hours: 16,275,901

The net affect of these Program changes and adjustments is a reduction

in total burden hours of 3,752,042 from 20,027,943 to 16,275,901 due

primarily to a reevaluation based on State agencies' automated systems.

Request 2

Title: State Agency Options.

OMB Number: Will be assigned when approved.

Form Number: None.

Expiration Date: Three years after OMB approved.

Type of Request: New.

Abstract: The collections covered under OMB Number 0584-0064

address information that will become part of a household's case file.

The information collection and burden estimates associated with the

following 4 collections will be assigned a separate OMB number because

they are not related to household case files. The number that is

assigned will be included in the preamble to the regulations which

implements the PRWORA changes.

1. Homeless shelter estimate--7 CFR 273.9(d): Section 5(e) of the

Act, 7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(5), as amended by section 809 of PRWORA, allows

State agencies to use a homeless shelter cost estimate as a separate

deduction (instead of allowing only the amount that exceeds 50 percent

of income under the excess shelter cost deduction.) We estimate that 20

State agencies will choose this option and that these States will spend

1 hour per year updating the estimate for an annual burden of 20 hours.

2. Establishing and reviewing standard utility allowances--7 CFR

273.9(d): State agencies may establish standard utility allowances to

be used in lieu of actual utility costs in determining a deduction from

household income for shelter expenses. Currently, 49 State agencies

have a standard that includes heating or cooling costs and 21 have a

standard for utility costs other than heating or cooling. Of the 49

States, we estimate that 10 will develop one or more additional

standards each year for the next 3 years. We estimate that this process

will take an average of 4 hours since the basic information will likely

already be included as a component of the main standard that is now

being used. We also estimate that State agencies will continue to

review the standards yearly, although they will no longer be required

to do so, to determine if increases are needed due to the cost of

living. We estimate a minimum of 2.5 hours annually to make this review

and adjustment. Total burden for this provision is estimated to be

162.5 hours per year.

3. Mandatory utility standards--7 CFR 273.9(d). Section 809 of

PRWORA amended Section 5(e)(7)(C) of the Act (7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(7)(C))

to allow State agencies to mandate use of standard utility allowances

when the excess shelter cost deduction is computed instead of allowing

households to claim actual utility costs provided the standards will

not increase program costs. We expect less than 7 States will choose

this option so information collection and reporting burden is not

required to be assessed.

4. Establishing methodology for offsetting cost of producing self-

employment income--7 CFR 273.10. The gross amount of self-employment

income is reduced by the cost of producing such income. Section 5(m) of

the Act, 7 U.S.C. 2014(m), as amended by section 812 of PRWORA allows

State agencies to use a reasonable estimate of self-employment costs

rather than actual costs to compute net income from self-employment

provided the method will not increase program costs. Requests to use

such estimates must be submitted to FNS and must include a description

of the proposed method; the number, type, and percent of households

affected; and documentation indicating that the procedure would not

increase Program costs. We estimate that 10 State agencies will submit

requests each year for the next three years. It is estimated that these

States will incur a one-time burden of at least 10 working hours

gathering and analyzing data, developing the methodology, determining

the cost implications, and submitting a request to FNS for a total

burden of 100 hours annually. State agencies are not required to

periodically review their approved methodologies. We do not anticipate

that State agencies will voluntarily review their methodologies for

change on a regular basis, thus burden is not being assessed for this

purpose at this time.

Affected Public: State and local governments.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 49.

Estimated Number of Responses: 138.

Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 286.

[[Page 477]]

Dated: December 14, 1998.

Samuel Chambers, Jr.,

Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.

[FR Doc. 99-36 Filed 1-4-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-30-P