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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 154 / Friday, August 13, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
in the State case determinations was accurate. When State agencies do not properly retain such documentary records, FNS cannot adequately confirm data accuracy and integrity.
The Department has concluded that the existing regulations lack sufficient specificity for States to determine which QC-related records must be maintained for the required duration of three years post fiscal closure, which is when the error rate is issued for most States; for States in liability status, three years post fiscal closure begins on the date the State fulfills all requirements to close its liability. In an effort to strengthen the understanding of which records States must maintain and to increase the integrity of the QC system and quality of data, the Department is amending the regulatory language at 275.4c to provide more comprehensive detail, including specifying that all correspondence with the household and all case notes, digital or otherwise, be included in the QC case file, among other requirements. This will help ensure the accuracy of QC data collected by State agencies. This provision is effective upon publication of this rule.

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Subpart FResponsibilities for Reporting on Program Performance Quality Control Review Reports Individual Cases In the course of conducting a QC
review, FNS requires State agencies to accurately record, document, summarize, and code household circumstances, which includes completing the review forms associated with active and negative QC reviews, to ensure the accuracy of the data collected. Current regulations at 275.21b require States to submit edited findings for both Form FNS
3801 and Form FNS245. When these QC rules were originally written, the edits were related to the capability of computer systems to communicate with one another. Until computers were able to communicate more directly, without a dial up connection, it was common practice for States to review the files uploaded to FNS to ensure the data they submitted was consistent with data received on the other end. When the received data did not match what was sent, the State had to edit those mismatched fields to ensure the data was accurate.
As computer technology has dramatically improved since this provision was written and communication errors are now the exception rather than the norm, it is necessary to remove this reference to edited data to ensure FNS is clear that
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States are expected to submit thorough and final versions of the required QC
forms to FNS.
FNS, OIG and DOJ found that, in some cases, States interpreted 275.21b to allow significant editing of the facts of cases under review before submission to FNS and used that interpretation to misrepresent cases that contained payment errors and to artificially lower the reported State error rate. Since editing findings is an integrity concern and the original intent is no longer of concern due to advancements in technology, the Department is amending the language in 275.21b by removing the term, edited from regulatory text to better ensure the accuracy of the data collected. FNS will continue to provide a process for States to correct typos and data entry errors in their submissions.
This provision is effective upon publication of this rule.
In addition, the regulation at 275.21b does not currently require States to include Form FNS380, Worksheet for QC reviews, upon submission of QC cases to FNS.
Currently, States are required to use the Form FNS380 to record their notes and observations over the course of completing their review, but are only required to submit the form in the event that a case is selected for Federal subsample. Requiring the Form FNS380 be submitted for all cases, regardless of whether the case was included in the Federal sub-sample, will provide greater information about SNAP households to FNS for program analysis purposes and improve the consistency of documentation across cases by ensuring States submit all pertinent information before knowing a case has been selected for Federal review. The Department believes requiring that the form be thoroughly documented and submitted will enable case reviewers to fully understand the circumstances of the case, final finding, and disposition, and the quality of the State QC reviewers submitted reviews will be improved.
These changes will help to ensure more statistically valid results and will help to ensure the accuracy of QC data collected. As a result, 275.21b is modified accordingly. This provision is effective upon publication of this rule.
Procedural Matters Executive Order 12866 and 13563
Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
direct agencies to assess all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits
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including potential economic, environmental, public health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity. Executive Order 13563
emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and benefits, of reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, and of promoting flexibility. The Department has developed this rule in accordance with these orders.
Executive Order 12866 provides that the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs OIRA at the Office of Management and Budget OMB will review all significant rules. OIRA has determined that this interim final rule is significant and was accordingly reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget OMB.
Regulatory Impact Analysis A regulatory impact analysis RIA
must be prepared for major rules with economically significant effects $100
million or more in any one year. USDA
does not anticipate this interim final rule is likely to have an economic impact of $100 million or more in any one year, and therefore, does not meet the definition of economically significant under Executive Order 12866.
The provisions in this rule are not anticipated to have any impacts on SNAP participation or benefit issuance transfers and most are not expected to have measurable impacts on State Agencies or the Federal Government.
For example, the cost estimate for the burden associated with the new reporting provisions do not exceed a total of $110 combined for all State agencies per year. The interim final provisions implement statutory changes included in the 2018 Farm Bill; most of these statutory changes reflect policies and practices that are already in place and thus are not a substantive change from current practice. For example, requiring access to State computer systems for QC purposes is existing policy that has been in place since the current QC system was implemented.
While this interim final regulation would clarify that FNS must have remote access to State computer systems, this requirement is expected to have minimal impact on State administrative expenses. Currently 21
States already provide remote access to their systems. In 17 of these States there was no cost associated with allowing FNS access other than Federal staff time to resolve firewall issues. In the remaining 4 States there was a small cost for enabling remote access $200 for licensing in one State and $3000 for a dedicated laptop used to access all 3 of the other States, or an average of $800

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