Food and Nutrition Service March 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on the proposed information collection for Food Stamp Program Regulations, Part 275Quality Control. Specifically, this is the burden associated with the collection of information for the sampling plan, the arbitration process, and the good cause process. This proposed collection is a revision of a collection currently approved under OMB No. 0584-0303.

This action proposes to revise the current bonding requirements imposed against participating retailers and wholesalers who have violated the Food Stamp Program rules and regulations. Currently, all violating retailers and wholesalers that are disqualified for a specified period of time or have a civil money penalty imposed in lieu of a disqualification for a specified period of time are required to submit a valid collateral bond usually on an annual basis if they wish to continue to participate in the Food Stamp Program. Over the years, securing a collateral bond has become increasingly more difficult for retailers and wholesalers to obtain. Thus, the intent of this proposed rule is to revise the current requirement in order to help alleviate the financial burden to those retailers and wholesalers who are required to submit such a bond and also to reduce the recordkeeping burden with respect to the FNS field offices which have to keep track of the expirations and renewals of these bonds. This proposed rule would also place in the Food Stamp Program regulations the longstanding policy FNS has adopted to accept irrevocable letters of credit in lieu of collateral bonds. Lastly, this rule would establish a specified period of time for retailers and wholesalers to be removed from the program for accepting food stamp benefits in payment for eligible food on credit, a violation of the Food Stamp Program regulations.

This final rule establishes requirements for the disclosure of children's free and reduced price meals or free milk eligibility information under the Child Nutrition Programs. The Child Nutrition Programs include the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Special Milk Program, Summer Food Service Program, and Child and Adult Care Food Program. Within certain limitations, children's free and reduced price meal or free milk eligibility information may be disclosed, without parental/guardian consent, to persons directly connected to certain education programs, health programs, means-tested nutrition programs, the Comptroller General of the United States, and some law enforcement officials. Additionally, officials also may disclose children's free and reduced price meal or free milk eligibility information to persons directly connected with State Medicaid (Medicaid) and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) when parents/guardians do not decline to have their information disclosed. These regulations affect State agencies and local program operators that administer the Child Nutrition Programs and households which apply for and/or are approved for free and reduced price meals or free milk. The final rule reflects the disclosure provisions of the Healthy Meals for Healthy Americans Act of 1994 and comments received on the proposed rule published in anticipation of implementing those provisions. Additionally, this final rule includes the regulatory disclosure provisions implementing the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 and comments received on the interim rule issued to implement those provisions. This final rule also implements nondiscretionary provisions of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, allowing certain third party contractors access to children's eligibility status and will allow school officials to communicate with Medicaid and SCHIP officials to verify that children are eligible for free and reduced price school meals or free milk. The disclosure provisions are intended to reduce paperwork for administrators of certain programs that target low-income households and for low-income households which may benefit from those programs by allowing some sharing of household's free and reduced price meal eligibility information. This rule also includes several technical amendments.