Food and Nutrition Service November 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is publishing for public comment a summary of a proposed information collection. The proposed collection is an extension of a collection currently approved for the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

This interim rule amends the regulations governing the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to strengthen vendor cost containment. The rule incorporates into program regulations new legislative requirements that affect the selection, authorization, and reimbursement of retail vendors. These requirements are contained in the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, enacted on June 30, 2004. The rule reflects the statutory provisions that require State agencies to implement a vendor peer group system, competitive price criteria, and allowable reimbursement levels in a manner that ensures that the WIC Program pays authorized vendors competitive prices for supplemental foods. It also requires State agencies to ensure that vendors that derive more than 50 percent of their annual food sales revenue from WIC food instruments do not result in higher food costs to the program than do other vendors. The intent of these provisions is to maximize the number of eligible women, infants, and children served with available Federal funding.

This interim rule addresses and implements amendments made by Section 201 of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004. The rule amends the School Breakfast Program (SBP) regulations to eliminate the requirement that a school's costs exceed the rate of reimbursement as a criterion for receiving the higher severe need funding available in the SBP. This rule also allows State agencies to provide severe need reimbursements to certain new schools that are beginning participation in the school feeding programs and therefore have no historical second preceding year participation information, as was previously required. This rule is intended to simplify eligibility for severe need reimbursements by removing previous restrictions on receipt of those payments. This rule does not impose new administrative requirements on State or local governmental entities.