Food and Nutrition Service 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces the surplus and purchased foods that the Department expects to make available for donation to States for use in providing nutrition assistance to the needy under The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016. The foods made available under this notice must, at the discretion of the State, be distributed to eligible recipient agencies (ERAs) for use in preparing meals and/or for distribution to households for home consumption.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This collection is a new collection for estimating erroneous payments due to meals claimed improperly by family day care home providers participating in the CACFP.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This is a revision of an existing collection for the Food and Nutrition Service to describe the roles of community-based organizations (CBOs) in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and to assess if, and how, the use of CBOs to conduct SNAP applicant interviews has impacted SNAP program outcomes such as timeliness, payment error rates, access, and client satisfaction across five (5) States.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this Notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on proposed information collections. This revision of an existing collection announces the intent of the Food and Nutrition Service to revise and continue the requirements associated with initiating and conducting Federal collection actions against households with delinquent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipient debts.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This collection is a revision of a currently approved collection. The purpose of the Uniform Grant Application Package for Discretionary Grant Programs is to provide a standardized format for the development of all Requests for Applications for discretionary grant programs released by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Agency and to allow for a more expeditious OMB clearance process.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This is a new collection for the Erroneous Payments in Child Care Centers Study (EPICCS).

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This is a revision of a currently approved collection for OMB No. 0584-0299.

FNS is seeking nominations for 8 vacancies on the National Advisory Council on Maternal, Infant and Fetal Nutrition (Council). The Council is composed of 24 members. Members of the Council from outside USDA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are appointed for 3-year terms. State and local officials may serve only during their official tenure. Parent participants are appointed for 2- year terms. Members appointed from USDA and HHS serve at the pleasure of their respective Secretaries. The Council studies the operation of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and related programs such as the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). Categories of membership are specified by law. To assure a balance of differing views, Council members are drawn from Federal, State and local governments, industry, and organizations with a common interest in the management of WIC and CSFP, including parent participants in both programs. The vacant positions include:

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is interested in identifying ways to stimulate increased competition in the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) marketplace and identify procurement or systems features that are barriers to new entrants. FNS is also seeking suggestions which will improve procurement of the delivery of EBT transaction processing services through modifications to, or replacement of, the existing business model. The procurement and implementation of EBT systems by State agencies administering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) needs to be sustainable for all parties involved. The landscape of EBT is in a heightened state of change, due in part to the recent decision by one of three primary companies providing EBT transaction processing services for SNAP and WIC to no longer solicit or accept any new prepaid card business, including for SNAP and WIC EBT services. In addition, there are numerous EBT projects moving toward the October 1, 2020, statutorily-mandated deadline for WIC Program implementation. This Request for Information (RFI) seeks to obtain input from EBT stakeholders and other financial payment industry members and interested parties, regarding options and alternatives available to improve the procurement and current operational aspects of EBT. In this document, FNS has posed various questions to prompt stakeholder responses. We intend to consider and follow up on the alternatives and suggestions that appear to be most viable from both a technical and a cost/benefit standpoint. Interested stakeholders are invited to respond to any or all of the questions that follow, and to identify issues which may not be listed. FNS is extending the comment period to provide additional time for interested parties to review this Request for Information.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on proposed information collections. The proposed information collection is a request for a revision of a currently approved collection of information relating to the reporting burden associated with completing and submitting form FNS-339, the Federal and State Agreement for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); the WIC Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (FMNP); and/or the Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP).

This notice announces the national average value of donated foods or, where applicable, cash in lieu of donated foods, to be provided in school year 2016 (July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016) for each lunch served by schools participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and for each lunch and supper served by institutions participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).

This rule proposes to revise program regulations to implement changes made by the Agricultural Act of 2014 (the ``2014 Farm Bill''), which amends the definition of ``retail food store'' in the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (the FNA) to include governmental or private nonprofit food purchasing and delivery services (P&D Services) that purchase and deliver food to households in which the head of household is an individual who is unable to shop for food, and who is 60 years of age or older, or physically or mentally handicapped or otherwise disabled. Expansion of the definition of ``retail food store'' to allow P&D Services to become authorized Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) retailers is expected to increase accessibility to the program for homebound elderly and disabled persons.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. APP., this notice announces a meeting of the National Advisory Council on Maternal, Infant and Fetal Nutrition. Date and Time: July 21-23, 2015, 9:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Place: The meeting will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn Arlington/ Shirlington, Environment Room, 4271 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, Virginia, 22206.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This is a revision of a currently approved collection for the purpose of collecting information from organizations fighting hunger and poverty.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This is a new collection for the purpose of evaluating the Fiscal Year 2015 Pilot Projects to Reduce Dependency and Increase Work Requirements and Work Effort Under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

In accordance with provisions of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, this proposed rule would revise the State agency's administrative review process to establish a unified accountability system designed to ensure that participating school food authorities comply with the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program requirements. The proposed administrative review process would include new procedures, retain key existing requirements from the Coordinated Review Effort and the School Meals Initiative, provide new review flexibilities and efficiencies for State agencies, and simplify fiscal action procedures. In addition to the new administrative review process, this rule proposes to require State agencies to report and publicly post school food authorities' administrative review results. These proposed changes are expected to strengthen program integrity through a more robust, effective, and transparent process for monitoring school nutrition program operations.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This collection is a new information collection for the Child Nutrition Program Operations Study-II.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on the proposed information collection for the Annual State Report of Verification of SNAP Participation. This is a new collection. The purpose of the Annual State Report of Verification of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Participants is to ensure that no person who is deceased, or has been permanently disqualified from SNAP, improperly received SNAP benefits for the fiscal year preceding the report submission. Section 4032 of the Agriculture Act of 2014 is the basis for this collection. Section 4032 mandates that States will ``submit to the Secretary a report containing sufficient information for the Secretary to determine whether the State agency has, for the most recently concluded fiscal year preceding that annual date, verified that the State agency in that fiscal year(1) did not issue benefits to a deceased individual; and (2) did not issue benefits to an individual who had been permanently disqualified from receiving benefits.'' An annual email from each State agency to the corresponding Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Regional SNAP Program Director will be used as the mechanism for State agencies to report their compliance with section 4032 of the Agriculture Act of 2014.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This is a revision of a currently approved collection for SNAP, Request for Administrative Review.