Fast Track Clearance Submission_Product Information Sheet and USDA Foods Database Survey_2024 - Business

Request for Approval under the “Fast Track Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0584-0611) - Business

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Product Information Sheet and USDA Foods Database Survey

PURPOSE: USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, Food Safety and Nutrition Division is seeking customer feedback from USDA Foods in Schools program stakeholders about the resources available to learn more about USDA Foods in Schools products, including USDA Foods in Schools Product Information Sheets and the USDA Foods Database. The purpose of this survey is to assess if and how these resources are currently being used. FNS will use the information internally for general service improvement and resource development purposes.

USDA/FNS intends to issue an electronic survey (Attachment A – Product Information Sheet and USDA Foods Database Survey Instrument – Screenshots) to collect qualitative customer feedback from state agencies, school food authorities (SFAs), including school districts, individual schools, and contracted food service management companies (FSMCs) that operate the National School Lunch Program and make use of USDA Foods.

USDA/FNS will send an email (Attachment B – Product Information Sheet and USDA Foods Database Survey – Outreach Email to Regions) to the seven FNS Regional Offices to notify them about the survey. No additional action is needed from the Regional Offices. FNS will send an email (Attachment C - Product Information Sheet and USDA Foods Database Survey – Email for States) to state agencies that will include instructions and a link to the survey in Microsoft Forms. State agencies will be asked to assign at least one staff member to complete the survey and send an email (Attachment D – Product Information Sheet and USDA Foods Database Survey – Email for SFAs) with a link to the survey to the SFAs within the state. SFAs will assign at least one staff member to complete the survey on behalf of their SFA. Multiple responses can be provided on behalf of the state and SFA if more than one person makes use of the resources. If the SFA contracts with a FSMC to operate the National School Lunch Program, they will forward the email (Attachment D - Product Information Sheet and USDA Foods Database Survey – Email for SFAs) to the FSMC. Over the data collection period, FNS will send regular email reminders to the state agency (Attachment E – Product Information Sheet and USDA Foods Database Survey – Reminder Email for States) and request that they send a reminder email to the SFAs (Attachment F – Product Information Sheet and USDA Foods Database Survey – Reminder Email for SFAs). Businesses will only be responding to Attachments A, D and F. State, local and tribal governments will be responding to attachments A, C, D, E and F.  Attachment B will be emailed to the Regional Offices.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Respondents will be staff from state agencies and staff from SFAs and/or contracted FSMCs that operate the National School Lunch Program and use USDA Foods.

USDA/FNS estimates that up to 15 percent of the SFAs and/or FSMC respondents are small entities. This information collection has been held to the minimum required for the intended use and is voluntary. Thus, a small entity that decides it is overly burdensome can choose not to respond.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [X] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software) [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [ ] Other: ______________________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name:_____Kathleen O’Donnell___________________________________________

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [ X ] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Sensitive Information:

1. Will sensitive information, such as demographic characteristics, be collected from respondents?

[ ] Yes [ X ] No

2. If yes, explain the necessity of such information to the programmatic objective(s)?

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [ X ] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
State, local, or tribal government	7,200	20 minutes	2,400 hours
Businesses	4,800	20 minutes	1,600 hours
Totals	12,000	20 minutes	4,000 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $6,807.98.

The cost includes:

• GS-13, Step 3 Nutritionist working 40 hours at a rate of $60.29/hour based on the 2024 General Schedule for the Washington/Baltimore/Arlington locality; estimated cost plus 33% fully loaded wage rate is $3,207.43 ($2,411.60 + $795.83)

• GS-13, Step 1 Nutritionist working 40 hours at a rate of $55.09/hour based on the 2024 General Schedule for the Denver/Aurora, CO locality; estimated cost plus 33% fully loaded wage rate is $2,813.75 ($2,115.60 + $698.15)

• GS-14, Step 2 Management Analyst working 6 hours at a rate of $69.26/hour based on the 2024 General Schedule for the Washington/Baltimore/Arlington locality; estimated cost plus 33% fully loaded wage rate is $552.69 ($415.56 + $137.13)

• GS-15, Step 4 Management Analyst working 2 hours at a rate of $88.01/hour based on the 2024 General Schedule for the Washington/Baltimore/Arlington locality; estimated cost plus 33% fully loaded wage rate is $234.11 ($176.02 + $58.09)

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe?

[ ] Yes [ X ] No

2. If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

USDA FNS has 56 state agencies that operate the National School Lunch Program. FNS will send an email (Attachment C - Product Information Sheet and USDA Foods Database Survey – Email for States) to the state agencies with a link to access the electronic survey on Microsoft Forms and an attachment (Attachment D – Product Information Sheet and USDA Foods Database Survey – Email for SFAs). The state agencies will identify at least one staff member to complete the survey on behalf of the state and distribute the attachment (Attachment D – Product Information Sheet and USDA Foods Database Survey – Email for SFAs) to the school food authorities (SFAs) within their state with a link access the electronic survey on Microsoft Forms. The SFAs will identify at least one staff member to complete the survey on behalf of the SFA.

If the SFA contracts with a FSMC to operate the National School Lunch Program, they will forward the email (Attachment D - Product Information Sheet and USDA Foods Database Survey – Email for SFAs) to the FSMC. Over the data collection period, FNS will send regular email reminders to the state agency (Attachment E – Product Information Sheet and USDA Foods Database Survey – Reminder Email for States) and request that they send a reminder email to the SFAs (Attachment F – Product Information Sheet and USDA Foods Database Survey – Reminder Email for SFAs).

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ X ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [ X ] No

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